University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Northwestern State
Volleyball Falls to Northwestern State, 3-1
9/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2012
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Southern Miss volleyball team had its three-match winning streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to Northwestern State in the Chilly Filmore's Invitational Saturday morning.
Sophomore Jasmine and freshman Lydia Bonner led the Golden Eagles with 16 kills apiece while senior Elizabeth Rinaudo tallied a career-high 28 digs with sophomore Alex Pfefferle adding 15. Sophomore Kristen Fleming notched a double-double with 40 assists and 11 digs.
The Golden Eagles started off strong in the first set jumping out to a 5-1 lead before the Lady Demons used a 4-0 run to tie the set. The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the set. Neither team managed more than a two-point advantage in the set. There were 17 ties and six lead changes. Southern Miss took a 25-24 lead, but could hold on as NSU scored the final three points for the 27-25 win.
Southern Miss popped out to a 7-2 lead only to see Northwestern State used an 8-0 in taking a 10-7 lead. After a USM timeout, the Golden Eagles put together their own 8-0 run to regain the lead at 15-10. From there, the two battled to a 19-19 tie before the Golden Eagles ended the set with a 6-0 run for the 25-19 win.
NSU stormed out to a 7-1 lead to start the third set. The Golden Eagles closed the gap to 10-7 after a 6-3 after scoring six of the next nine points. NSU pushed its lead to 14-8 forcing the Eagles into a timeout. Out of the timeout, NSU recorded an ace before the USM got back-to-back kills from Rachel Johnson and Bonner to go a Demon error to get within 15-11. Northwestern ended the set on a 10-7 run for the 25-18 win.
The Lady Demons scored five of the first seven points to start the fourth set and never looked back. Southern Miss was able to cut the lead 9-8 but NSU reeled off the next 13 of the next 15 points en route to a 25-12 win.
Mackenzie Neely and Glynna Johnson recorded 13 kills each while Stacey DiFrancesco added 11. Keelie Arneson came up with 24 digs while Kelly Jimenez and DiFrancesco added 11 and 10 respectively.
The Golden Eagles are back in action at 7 p.m. against host Stephen F. Austin.
