GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3, WINTHROP 2 (20-25, 26-24, 26-24, 23-25, 15-10)
GREENVILLE, NC — In the first five-set match of the 2023 NIVC, Georgia Southern took the lead in the deciding set and made it hold up to slip past Winthrop in Round 1 of the event. Georgia Southern (22-8) will play The Citadel or East Carolina in the Super 16; Winthrop closes the year at 14-14. Winthrop trailed early in Set 1, 8-5, but an 8-1 run swung it back the other way, capped by an ace from Avery Jolley. Two GS errors got it to game point, and a kill from Brookelynn Thomas closed the deal. Set 2 was a true scuffle, as no team led by more than three points, with Georgia Southern getting the difference makers on two blocks from Megan Vickery and Jordan Christy. Set 3 played out as another nail-biter, with Winthrop coming back from an 11-4 deficit to taking the lead, 21-20. GS sealed it with a kill from Chamblee Russell and a block from Ally Barnhart and Jillian Gray. After Winthrop forced a deciding fifth set, Georgia Southern claimed a 7-5 lead on a kill from Gray. Kills from Christy (10-7) and Paige Powers (13-9) kept the lead intact, with the match ending on a Winthrop error and a kill from Gray. Georgia Southern got 15 kills from Russell and 14 kills from Gray. Kirsten Barrett had 28 assists to go with 12 digs, and Ashlyn Lovett had a career-high 45 digs. For Winthrop, Thomas had 16 kills and Karli Shepherd had 15 kills. Isabella Murray dished out 48 assists to go with 17 digs; Madison Gorniak had 27 digs, Jolley closed with 15 digs, Rylie McMahen added 13 digs and Alicia Davis finished with 11 digs. WICHITA STATE 3, TULSA 1 (25-12, 15-25, 25-16, 25-21) WICHITA, KS — Wichita State hit .295 and worked hard defensively with four players getting 10 or more digs, as the Shockers topped Tulsa to advance to the Great 8 of the 2023 NIVC on Friday. The Shockers (23-8) will play Drake (24-10) in the next round. The Hurricane end the season at 18-15. Tulsa had a quick 7-6 lead in Set 1 before Wichita State ran wild and allowed just five points the rest of the way. The Hurricane responded nicely in Set 2, turning a 6-3 lead to 11-4 and closing the frame with 12 kills, four aces and just two errors. Set 3 saw the Shockers take a 12-7 lead, pushing it to 18-13 on two kills from Brylee Kelly and another from Izzi Strand. The concluding set saw Wichita State take a 14-10 lead on a kill from Kelly, prompting a Tulsa timeout, and two straight kills from Sophia Rohling made it 17-11, leading to another timeout. Arianna Mongare’s kill for Tulsa made it 18-16, and after a WSU timeout the Shockers got their footing, with kills from Emerson Wilford and Morgan Stout and an ace from Rohling enough to tidy up the win. Rohling had 15 kills for the Shockers; Kelly had 11 kills and Strand closed with 40 assists and 17 digs. Katie Galligan had 20 digs, Gabe Maas came through with 17 digs and Morgan Weber had 10 digs. For Tulsa, Kayley Cassaday had 17 kills and 10 digs. Avery Kalsu came through with 35 assists and 14 digs; Marta Pecalli had 21 digs and Brayden closed with 10 digs. SOUTH FLORIDA 3, BUFFALO 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-14) QUEENS, NY — South Florida rolled to a sweep of Buffalo in Round 1 of the NIVC, with Niki Khoshatefeh notching 10 kills. Caroline Dykes dished out 27 assists and added 11 digs for USF, now 20-11 on the year. Tizi Puljiz added nine kills. Buffalo (23-9) got 11 kills from Katrin Trebichavska; Mandy Leigh added 29 assists and Julianna Lopez had seven digs. |
Archives
December 2023
|