University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
4-1
Little Rock
4-1
Golden Eagles Win Twice On Day Two
9/2/2018 6:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss volleyball team got back to its winning ways on Saturday at the Rebel Invitational. The Golden Eagles opened the morning by knocking off Little Rock (5-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) in five sets (25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 15-4) and continued to stay hot by defeating Samford (2-5, 0-0 SoCon) in five sets (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 15-3).
Game 1
Southern Miss quickly jumped on the Trojans and led by five early in the first set. Little Rock was able to hang around in the first set Southern Miss pulled away for a 25-21 win in the opening set.
The second set saw Southern Miss jump ahead 10-3, but Little Rock was able to cut the deficit to one late in the set. The Golden Eagles went on to score four of the final five points to take a two-set lead. Despite the two-set lead, Southern Miss was unable to close things out in the third and fourth sets. The Trojans forced a fifth set and to the Golden Eagles' credit, they dominated the final set.
Southern Miss ripped off the final 11 points of the final set to secure a 15-4 win. For the first time in her career, Kylie Grandy recorded at least 20 kills in back-to-back games. Catherine Repsher, the C-USA hitting percentage leader, added 15 kills and a .538 hitting percentage.
Sarah Bell continues to chip away at the Southern Miss all-time assists record after accumulating 52 assists. The 69 kills topped Southern Miss' season high and were the most since recording 69 against Rice in the 2017 C-USA Tournament. The Golden Eagles recorded at least 60 kills on just seven occasions last season.
Game 2
Five sets was the theme of the day. Much like the morning game, Southern Miss took the first two sets and appeared to be heading to a sweep. However, Samford had other ideas and mounted a comeback in the third set.
The Bulldogs went on to win the third and fourth sets via 25-22 scores. The fifth set ended in favor of Southern Miss, which gave the Golden Eagles their second win of the day.
Grandy, once again, amassed 21 kills and Bell ended with 53 assists. The win meant that the Golden Eagles went five sets in three consecutive games and won back-to-back five-set games for the first time this season.
Repsher stayed hot and added 13 kills with a .429 hitting percentage. Alexis Coombs also added 13 kills to the stat sheet and Madison Lawler posted 18 digs for the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss will close out the Rebel Invitational at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday when they take on Ole Miss.
Game Notes
- Southern Miss won back-to-back five-set games for the first time since Sept. 29 and Oct. 2, 2015.
- Madison Lawler, Sarah Bell, Kellie Garraway and Chandler Marshall all surpassed their career highs in digs today.
- Sarah Bell has recorded 50-plus digs in three consecutive games for the first time in her career.
- Kylie Grandy has recorded 20-plus kills in three consecutive games for the first time in her career.
