University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Memphis
Golden Eagle Volleyball Clips Memphis in Five
10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2010
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Southern Miss volleyball team downed Memphis in five sets (25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-8) Friday night. The Golden Eagles improve to 14-9 and 7-5 in the Conference USA while the Tigers fell to 13-10 overall and 4-7 in conference action.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Ashley Mell pounded a team-high 21 kills on .259 hitting as junior Lauren Sears notched 11 kills and junior middle hitter Amelia Hendrickson posted 10 kills.
Junior setter Kelsea Seymour dished out 49 assists as junior libero Lisa Knecht led a group of five Eagles in double digits with 16 digs followed by Seymour with 14, Mell with 13, Halie Ecker and Elizabeth Rinaudo added 12 and 10, respectively.
Southern Miss outblocked Memphis, 14.5 to 1.0, led by junior Sarah Jane Bowden with 10 and Mell was next with six. Hendrickson added in three stuffs while Sears recorded three blocks.
Altrese Hawkins led Memphis with a match-high 29 kills as Marija Jovanovic and Vesna Jelic posted 11 apiece. Hajnalka Molnar dished out 58 assists and Christine Bach topped the squad with 22 digs. Molnar, Becky Shaffer and Jelic notched 17, 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
Southern Miss trailed only once in the first set that involved seven ties. The Golden Eagles led by as many as three points early, but Memphis battled back to tie the set. With the score tied at 16-16, Southern Miss got a Shelby Schacher kill and a Tiger error to go up 18-16. Out of the Memphis timeout, Sears put down a kill and teamed with Mell for a block to put the Eagles up, 20-16. Memphis cut the lead to 22-20, forcing USM to take a timeout. Following the timeout, Jelic recorded one of her three aces to get within 22-21. With a kill from Mell, an attack error from the Tigers and a Hendrickson kill, USM came away with a 25-21 win.
Memphis stormed out to an 8-3 lead to start the second set. USM battled to get within two, 19-17, but Memphis held on for the 25-20 win.
Southern Miss went up 3-0 to start the third set, aided by consecutive kills by Sears and Mell and a Tiger error. Memphis fought back to tie the set for the first time at 4-4 and led for the first time at 7-6. The two teams battled with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage for most of the set. With USM leading 14-12, Memphis scored three straight points to take the lead for good at 15-14. The score remained close and ended up tied at 23-23 before Hawkins ended the set with two kills for the 25-23 win.
Southern Miss battled back from a 6-3 deficit using a 5-0 run in gaining an 8-6 lead. Out of the Memphis timeout, Mell had a kill to push the lead to 9-6. USM stretched its lead to 14-9 that led to another Memphis timeout. The Eagles held the momentum in building an 18-11 lead. Memphis then made a run to cut the lead to 18-14 forcing USM to take a time out. Memphis eventually cut the lead to just two, 21-19, but USM outscored Memphis 4-1 to even the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 win.
Southern Miss ran out to an 8-3 lead before the Tigers called their first time out. A block by Bowden and Schacher made it, 9-3. After a kill from the Tigers' Jelic, the two teams traded consecutive service errors. A Schacher kill gave the Eagles a 12-5 lead. USM closed out the set and match with a three kills for the 15-8 win.
Southern Miss remains on the road for a match at UAB, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m.
