University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
SMU
Golden Eagle Volleyball Out-Duels SMU in Five Setter
11/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2011
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
"I thought going into this match it was going to be a battle and going to be a long match because SMU is a very good defensive team statically and so are we," head coach Abbey Sutherland said. "There were a lot of long rallies, a lot of very interesting plays on going on and when it counted in the fifth set, we made less errors and sided-out very well. I'm really happy with the way the team played. It was a total team effort. We're going to enjoy tonight, however, we need to think about what we can do better to prepare for tomorrow because it's going to be another battle."
Senior Ashley Mell pounded out 20 kills and collected 15 digs. Senior Amelia Hendrickson was second on the team with 13 kills and 13 digs while senior Lauren Sears added 10 kills on a .375 hitting clip. Senior libero Lisa Knecht and senior setter Kelsea Seymour posted a 20 digs each, while junior Elizabeth Rinaudo had 16 digs. Senior Sarah Jane Bowden led the Golden Eagles with eight total blocks, while junior Halie Ecker had five blocks.
Southern Miss out-hit, out-killed and out-dug the Mustangs. The Golden Eagles totaled 65 kills on .164 hitting with 92 digs. The Eagles also had 13.0 total team blocks. SMU finished the match with 60 kills on .138 hitting, six aces, 86 digs and 17.0 team blocks.
Four Mustangs tallied double digit kills led by Jessica Oliver with 14. Dana Powell, Courtney Manning and Caroline Young totaled 12 kills apiece. Sidney Stewart posted a match-high 21 digs while Powell added 19 digs. Kendrick Koch and Kelli Becerra each posted double-doubles with 23 assists and 15 digs, 26 assists and 11 digs, respectively. Manning also collected nine total blocks for the Mustangs.
Mustangs jumped out to a 5-2 lead to open the match, but a 3-1 run by the Eagles got the score to 5-6. Four kills and a block put SMU up by five, 11-6, forcing USM to take a timeout. Sears put down a kill out of the timeout, but SMU responded with an Oliver kill and Oliver and Manning block to put the Mustangs up 13-7. SMU continued to dominate the set pushing the score to 17-10 before the Eagles called its second timeout. Manning recorded one of her four aces after the timeout, but Southern Miss had a little fight left as the Eagles were able to cut the lead to four, 22-16 before SMU called a timeout. SMU then record a kill and two blocks to end the set at 25-16.
Neither team managed to develop a comfortable lead early in the second frame. With a 6-5 edge, Southern Miss embarked on a 4-0 run for a 9-6 advantage. SMU clawed its way back to take the lead using an 8-3 run for the 14-12 lead. Out of the Southern Miss time out, the teams traded kills but a couple of back-to-back USM blocks and SMU error put the Eagles up 17-15. From there, the teams battled before SMU called at timeout with USM leading 20-18. Hendrickson gave USM a 21-18 lead before Young countered with a kill to keep the Mustangs within two. Back-to-back Hendrickson kills increased the gap to four, 23-19, and forced a Mustang timeout. Hendrickson notched and Bowden and Halie Ecker block secured the 25-20 win.
Southern Miss ran out to a 9-5 lead early and even after a SMU timeout continued to build on its lead. The Mustangs began to charge back, even tying the set at 11-11 before the Golden Eagles ran off five straight points for the 16-11 lead, and forcing a Mustang timeout. A Powell kill sparked a 4-1 run and enabled the Mustang to cut the lead to 17-16. Out of the USM timeout, Manning and Young combined for a block to tie the set. The teams went back and forth for the next seven points as Powell and Caroline Daly block put the Mustangs ahead, 21-20. Out of USM's timeout, back-to-back Eagle errors gave SMU a 23-20 lead before Mell pounded down a kill to end the run. SMU held on for the 25-22 win.
Despite a slow start by the Golden Eagles and trailing the Mustangs 7-3, Southern Miss took off on an 8-2 run for an 11-9 lead. SMU regained its composure and rallied for a 13-11 lead to force USM to take a timeout. A Manning and Myklebust block put the Mustangs up 14-11. Ecker then accounted for three kills and a block in helping the Eagles regain the lead at 16-15. USM was able to control the set for the rest of the way in taking a 25-22 win.
SMU opened the fifth with a 2-0 lead, but Southern Miss answered tying it at 2-2. The teams traded points for the next six points before SMU got kills from Young and Myklebust to back ahead by two, 7-5. Out of the Southern Miss timeout, Manning added another kill, but Hendrickson answered with a kill to keep the Eagles within two. With the Mustangs leading 10-8, Southern Miss put down three straight kills for the 11-10 advantage. Out of the SMU timeout, Mell and Oliver traded kills for the next five points with USM keeping the two-point advantage and match point. SMU called a timeout but the Eagles were able to hold off SMU for the 15-12 fifth set win.
Both teams are back in action Saturday with first serve set for 7 p.m.
