TOWSON 3, COLGATE 2 (18-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-11)

HAMILTON, NY – Towson (27-5) pulled off the improbable over region’s host, Colgate (18-11) on Thursday. Down two sets after two, the Tigers rallied together and proceeded to roll off three straight sets to secure a spot in Round 2 of the 2017 NIVC.

The Tigers will face the Orange of Syracuse on Friday, December 1, at 7 p.m. ET in Hamilton.

Despite the loss, Alli Lowe was spectacular for the Raiders, grabbing a game-high 25 kills, three digs and three blocks. Katie Stansbury contributed 12 kills of her own to go along with 21 digs and three blocks.

Towson was paced by Carola Biver and Julymar Otero, who finished with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, and each tallied 13 digs and two blocks. The Tiger’s two aces and two fewer service errors played a monumental roll in the historic win. 
 

NORTH TEXAS 3, ORAL ROBERTS 1 (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16)

DENTON, TX -- North Texas hit .279 on the night and worked its way past Oral Roberts to advance to Round 2 of the NIVC.

The Mean Green (29-3) will face TCU in Round 2 on Friday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. ET.

North Texas was led in kills by Holly Milam and Valerie Valerian, who both rang up 16. Karley York had 45 assists and 10 digs.

Oral Roberts (15-14) got 14 kills from Shelby Cox, and Laura Milos added nine kills.

GREEN BAY 3, BOWLING GREEN 2 (25-21, 32-30, 18-25, 16-25, 16-14)

GREEN BAY, WI – Green Bay (16-15) fought hard for a two-set lead early over Bowling Green (17-12) on Thursday night. The Falcons battled back, however, winning the third and fourth sets to force a decisive fifth. Ultimately, the grit of the Phoenix prevailed, launching them into Round 2.

Bowling Green’s front line was dynamic throughout the night, forcing 21 blocks to Green Bay’s 11. The Falcons were paced by Nicole Slimko who finished with 16 kills, one dig and seven blocks.

Green Bay had four in double figure kill totals. Lydia Deweese (17), Roberta Todd (13), Taylor Wolf (12) and Jessica Wolf (11) took turns attacking throughout the night. Defensively, the Phoenix also came up with 126 digs to Bowling Green’s 96.
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In Round 2, Green Bay will face Illinois State on Friday, December 1, at 6 p.m. CT.

TEXAS STATE 3, RICE 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20)

SAN MARCOS, TX -- Texas State moved to 25-9 on the season with a three-set sweep of Rice, advancing the Bobcats to Round 2 of the NIVC.

Texas State will play Texas Tech on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Bobcats got 19 kills from Jaliyah Bolden and 12 kills from Megan Porter. Erin Hoppe came through with 46 assists, and Micah Dinwiddie added 30 digs.

For Rice (21-9), Nicole Lennon had nine kills, and Madison McDaniel had 28 assists.

OLE MISS 3, ARKANSAS STATE 1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-21)

OXFORD, MS – It took four sets, but Ole Miss (19-14) knocked off Arkansas State (21-12) in Round 2 of the 2017 NIVC to secure a spot in Round 3.

Ole miss will face fellow SEC foe, Georgia, in Oxford on Sunday, December 3, at 1 p.m. CT.

The Rebels welcomed a big performance from Emily Stroup on Thursday. Stroup had a team-high 18 kills, six digs, six blocks and even threw in an assist. The entire front line for Ole Miss was stellar in the win. Alongside Stroup, Lexi Thompson and Nayo Warnell also finished in double figure kill totals with 12 and 10, respectively.

For the Red Wolves, it was Carlisa May who tried to keep her team’s postseason campaign alive. May tallied a game-high 20 kills and contributed two digs and a block. Payton Uhlenhake also had 12 big kills, six digs and an ace for Arkansas State.

TCU 3, WYOMING 0 (28-26, 25-21, 26-24)

DENTON, TX – The final score between TCU (13-16) and Wyoming (17-14) indicates a sweep in favor of the Horned Frogs, but each set featured back-and-forth action that could easily have gone the other direction. Ultimately, TCU’s 49 kills were the final difference it needed to secure a Round 2 spot in the 2017 NIVC.

TCU will await the winner of Oral Roberts and the region’s host, North Texas. The Round 2 game is scheduled for Friday, December 1, at 8 p.m. ET.

Jackie McBride led the way for the Cowgirls on Thursday. McBride was the only Wyoming player in double figures with 12 kills while also ringing up four blocks. Lily Austin added a game-high 16 digs and three of the five aces for the Cowgirls.
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Trailing the majority of the way through the third set, TCU stormed back, including a 3-0 run to finish off the third frame to claim victory. Abigail Buckingham (19 kills, 2 digs, 3 blocks) and Anna Walsh (12 kills, 5 blocks) each had big nights for Horned Frogs. Lamprini Konstantinidou was every on the court in the first round matchup. Konstantinidou ended her night with 25 assists, one ace, three digs and five blocks.

SYRACUSE 3, ALBANY 1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21)

HAMILTON, NY -- Syracuse dropped the first set but played excellently in all phases the rest of the way, topping Albany and advancing to Round 2 of the NIVC

The Orange (21-13) will face either Colgate or Towson in the next round.

Santita Ebangwese had 13 kills to lead Syracuse; Ella Saada added 11 kills and Kendra Lukacs had 10 kills. Jalissa Trotter had 41 assists and 17 digs

Albany (11-15) was led by Akubatta Okenwa with 11 kills, and three players (Tatiana Tiangco, Danielle Tedesco, Chloe Evering) had 10 kills.

TEXAS TECH 3, SMU 0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-20)

SAN MARCOS, TX – Texas Tech’s (16-14) 59 kills on the night were enough to get the sweep, 3-0, over SMU (21-11) on Thursday night. However, the Mustangs made the Red Raiders a bit more uncomfortable than the 3-0 score appears.

SMU forced 14 attacking errors from Texas Tech and out-blocked the Red Raiders 8-4 on the night. Kelly Brunstein and Brittany Adams each finished in double figure kill totals with 13 and 10, respectively.

Texas Tech’s defense, combining for 62 digs, made it possible to overcome the errors and set up Emily Hill and Chandler Atwood for a big night of the front line. Hill tallied a game-high 20 kills and 13 digs while Atwood added 17 kills of her own.

The Red Raiders move on to Round 2 where they’ll await the winner of Texas State and Rice. The Round 2 matchup is slated for Friday, December 1, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

ILLINOIS STATE 3, IUPUI 0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-16)

GREEN BAY, WI -- Illinois State had just nine hitting errors overall, building solid leads in all three sets and winning comfortably in its Round 1 matchup with IUPUI.

The Redbirds (22-12) will play either Green Bay or Bowling Green in Round 2.

Illinois State got 12 kills apiece from Sydney Holt and Juma Armando, and Ella Francis added nine kills. Stef Jankiewicz came through with 38 assists and eight digs, and junior Courtney Pence finished with 14 digs, which gives her a school-record 2,063 digs for her career.

IUPUI (16-15) got six kills from Gabby Fisher.

UC IRVINE 3, PACIFIC 2 (25-21, 25-13, 19-25, 13-25, 15-13)

STOCKTON, CA -- UC Irvine won the first two sets in their Round 2 match with Pacific, only to see the Tigers bounce back and win the next two to force a fifth set. But the Anteaters took a small lead in the final set and made it hold, winning the match 3-2 and earning a Round 3 berth in the NIVC.

Haley Desales had 17 kills, and Harlee Kekauoha added 16 kills for UC Irvine (24-7), and Ali Koumelis had 45 assists and 16 digs. For Pacific (17-14), Emily Baptista had 19 kills, and Andie Shelton came through with 12 kills and 16 assists.