University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Memphis
Golden Eagle Volleyball Defeats Memphis in Conference USA Home Opener
9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Golden Eagle volleyball team snapped a two-match losing streak with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-18) victory against Memphis (13-4, 2-2) in their Conference USA home opener. The Golden Eagles improved to 7-8 on the season and are 1-2 in league play.
Three Eagles totaled double-digit kills against the Tigers with junior Halie Ecker leading the way with 12. Seniors Ashley Mell and Lauren Sears finished second on the squad with 10 each on .714 and .526 hitting, respectively. Senior setter Kelsea Seymour led the team with 39 assists. Senior libero Lisa Knecht tallied 16 digs while Elizabeth Rinaudo collected 13 on the evening.
Southern Miss attacked at a .406 clip, while holding the Tigers to .226. The Eagles posted a total of 47 kills, 37 digs and 4.0 total team blocks. Memphis recorded 38 kills, 40 digs and 3.0 team blocks.
Altresse Hawkins led all players with 14 kills while teammate Marija Jovanovic added 10 and 10 digs. Hajnalka Molnar handed out 33 assists to go with 11 digs.
The first set started out close until Southern Miss registered four straight points for a 10-5 lead. Sears sparked the run with a kill and an ace that forced the Memphis to take a timeout. Southern Miss remained in control of the set and pushed its lead to 17-10. The Golden Eagles were able to finish off the first set, 25-18.
The Golden Eagles fell behind early as Memphis ran out to a 7-2 lead to start the second set. With a Sears' kill and two Memphis errors got the Eagles with 7-5. Southern Miss found themselves down 13-9 when the Eagles took a timeout and managed a kill from Mell and a Memphis error for a 13-11 score. Southern Miss continued to fight its way back into the set as the Golden Eagles used a 4-2 run to tie the set at 15-15 and forcing Memphis to take a timeout. For there, the two teams went back and forth for the next 12 points until the Eagles managed to score three straight points on an Amelia Hendrickson kill, a Memphis error and a combo block by Hendrickson and Sears for the 24-21 lead. Memphis quickly got the score to 24-23 on back-to-back USM errors. After a Southern Miss timeout, Sears ended the set on with kill for a 25-23 win.
The third set was an entirely different story for both squads as the lead changed hands two times and the score tied on 14 occasions. The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead thanks to a Mell kill, but Hawkins answered with a kill to tie the set at 1-1. An Ecker kills and Memphis error would put the score at 3-1 for the Eagles. A Southern Miss ball handling error and Jovanovic kill knotted the set again, 3-3. From there, the set would go back and forth totaling 11 ties. Southern Miss managed to develop some momentum just past the midpoint of the frame taking an 18-16 lead on big block by Sears and Hendrickson. After a Memphis timeout, an Alexis Wesley kill got the Tigers within 18-17, but a Memphis error and back-to-back Ecker kills gave USM a 21-17 advantage. Memphis took its final timeout and the Eagles responded with a Hendrickson ace for a 22-17 lead. Jovanovic recorded another kill for Memphis before Sears answered with a kill in keeping a five-point lead. The Eagles took the final set, 25-18, after Memphis committed two errors.
Southern Miss will be back in action Sunday at 1 p.m., against UAB.
