Southern Miss
SMU
Volleyball Falls 3-2 To SMU
11/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2011
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
Southern Miss falls to 13-14 overall and 7-8 in league play while SMU improved to 12-15 and 8-7.
Seniors Ashley Mell and Amelia Hendrickson led Southern Miss with 16 kills apiece and came up with 25 and 21 digs, respectively. Lauren Sears tallied 13 kills while Sarah Jane Bowden chipped in 10. Kelsea Seymour totaled 54 assists and a career-high 26 digs. Senior libero collected 20 digs and defensive specialist Elizabeth Rinaudo came up with 18. Bowden and Sears tallied seven blocks each.
SMU also had four players in double digit kills led by Jessica Oliver with 16 followed by Caroline Young with 15, Courtney Manning and Dana Powell added 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Jessica Stewart grabbed a match-high 31 digs while Kelli Becerra tallied 27 digs to go with 33 assists. Powell also added 26 digs as did Kendrick Koch with 13 digs and 25 assists. Manning and Caroline Daly finished with nine total blocks apiece and Oliver added seven.
Southern Miss started the first set with a 3-1 lead before SMU came back to tie the set at 4-4. From there, USM pulled out front by a score of 8-4 before SMU called a timeout to slow the Eagle offense down. Oliver responded with a kill, but Hendrickson and Bowden regain the momentum with a combo block. USM led 14-8 after a Sears' kill, but SMU scored the next four points to cut the lead to 14-12. USM pushed its lead to 20-15 but the Mustangs fought back within three 22-19, but Southern Miss ended the set on two Mell kills for the 25-20 win.
Set two featured 13 ties and six lead changes. Both teams played evenly to start the second frame. There were 10 ties before USM got back-to-back kills to forge a 16-13 lead. After a SMU timeout, Halie Ecker added a kill to push the lead to 17-13. The Golden Eagles were able to maintain the lead during the next segment as SMU began to chip away at the lead and get within one, 19-18, before the Eagles called a timeout. Manning tied the set on a kill, but Sears answered with a kill and combined with Mell for a block to keep the Eagles out front, 21-19. Out of the SMU timeout, Mell added a kill for a 22-19 lead but an USM error and Oliver kill forced the Eagles to take their final timeout leading 22-21. SMU then used its blocking game to forge ahead, 23-22, but Sears tied it on a kill. Savannah Myklebust put down a kill to give SMU a 24-23 lead, then, Oliver finished the set with a kill for the 25-23 win.
Southern Miss opened the third set running out to a 5-2 lead. SMU took the lead using a 5-2 run. USM regained the lead after a block and two SMU errors for the 10-8 lead. Neither team could muster more than a two-point advantage before SMU called a timeout with USM leading 16-14. Following the timeout, the teams eventually battled to a 22-22 tie. Out of the Southern Miss timeout, the Eagles got a kill and a pair of SMU errors for the 25-23 win.
The two battled for the first 23 points to start the fourth set before SMU got a kill and a USM error to take a 14-11 lead. After the Eagles called a timeout, SMU tacked on another point. Southern Miss cut the lead to two, 18-16, but that was as close as the Eagles would get as SMU took a 25-20 victory to tie the match at two sets apiece. SMU hammered down 15 kills on a .231 clip while holding USM to 10 kills on .000 hitting.
SMU's Becerra served for the first three points and Carla Armstrong added a kill for SMU to start the fifth set as the Eagles tried to regroup after a timeout after being down 4-1. The Eagles were able pull to within 5-3, but SMU's offense was too much for the Eagles as the Mustangs led 7-3 before USM called its second timeout. Southern Miss got on a little roll and cut the lead to 10-6 before the Mustangs used a timeout. Southern Miss made it interesting as the Eagles clawed their way back to 12-11. The two teams traded kills before Manning, Oliver and Daly closed out the set on two straight blocks to take the final set, 15-12.
Southern Miss will go on the road for its final matches next weekend when the Golden Eagles travel to UAB (Nov. 11) and Memphis (Nov. 12).
