UT ARLINGTON 3, UT SAN ANTONIO 2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 15-13)
ARLINGTON, TX – Host UT Arlington fell behind 10-6 in the deciding fifth set but fought back with a 9-3 run to top UT San Antonio and advance from Round 1 of the 2019 NIVC. The Mavericks (19-13) will play Sam Houston State in Round 2; the match is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The Roadrunners end their season at 16-14. With the score tied at 13-all in the fifth set, Bre Walp authored a kill for UTA for match point, and Walp followed with a solo block for the match winner. Kylie Jedlicka had 15 kills and 16 digs for the Mavs; Madison Hill added 12 kills, and both Walp and Brooke Townshend had 11 kills. Madelyn St. Germain had 23 digs. Brianna McCulloch had 17 kills, 10 digs and just two errors for UT San Antonio. Kirby Smith had 13 kills and 11 digs, and Courtney Walters chipped in with 36 assists. WYOMING 3, NORTHWESTERN STATE 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-19)
LARAMIE, WY – Wyoming had a terrific effort offensively, hitting .357 overall and getting 17 kills from Tara Traphagan to move past Round 1 of the 2019 NIVC. The Cowgirls (22-8) will face Weber State in Round 2; the match is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The Demons end their season with a record of 20-13. Mackenzie Coates had 33 assists for Wyoming, and Madi Fields added 17 digs. Northwestern State got 13 kills from Alexis Warren, and Hannah Brister closed with 10 kills. Cayman Sutton added 24 assists. SOUTH DAKOTA 3, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-19)
VERMILLION, SD – South Dakota entered the 2019 NIVC with the highest RPI in the 32-team field and quickly lost the first set to Central Michigan, but the Coyotes South Dakota (28-2) will face UNLV in Round 2; the match is set for 3 p.m. ET Friday. The Chippewas ended their season at 21-9. The Coyotes were led by the 16 kills of Elizabeth Juhnke; Sami Slaughter had 12 kills and Maddie Wiedenfeld added 11 kills. Madison Jurgens had 49 assists and Anne Rasmussen closed with 27 digs. Central Michigan got nine kills apiece from Anna Erickson and Savannah Thompson; Megan Kern had 27 digs. BOWLING GREEN 3, PURDUE-FORT WAYNE 1 (25-12, 25-18, 17-25, 25-19)
BOWLING GREEN, OH – Bowling Green doubled up Purdue-Fort Wayne in the first set and responded immediately after dropping the third set, moving through Round 1 of the 2019 NIVC after getting 18 kills from Katelyn Miller. The Falcons (20-12) will play TCU in Round 2, with the match set for Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The Mastadons finish their season at 18-15. Katie Crowe had 11 kills for Purdue-Fort Wayne; Elizabeth Fuerst added 10 kills. Rachael Crucis was strong on the back line with 22 digs. Isabelle Marciniak had 42 assists for Bowling Green, and Julia Walz added 20 digs. Katie Kidwell closed with 12 kills. WEBER STATE 3, BOISE STATE 1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-19, 25-21)
LARAMIE, WY – Weber State closed its match with Boise State hitting .245 overall, good enough to move past the Broncos and into Round 2 of the 2019 NIVC. The Bobcats (25-8) will play Wyoming or Northwestern State in Round 2. Boise State closes its season at 18-12. Dani Nay had 19 kills for Weber State; Rylin Roberts added 16 kills and Megan Gneiting had 11 kills. Ashlyn Power provided 46 assists. Lauren Ohlinger closed with 12 kills for Boise State, and Jessica Donahue added 10 kills. Shae Duffy came through with 10 kills. Danielle Boss added 43 assists, and Allison Casillas had 30 digs. SAM HOUSTON STATE 3, HOUSTON 1 (16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21)
ARLINGTON, TX – Sam Houston rolled into Round 2 of the NIVC, getting 17 kills from Samantha Rodgers and 13 kills from Breanne Chausse. The Bearkats (19-13) will play either UT Arlington or UT San Antonio in Round 2. The Cougars end their season at 16-17. Addison Miller had 22 digs for Sam Houston State, and Ashley Lewis added 17 digs. Megan Duncan had 12 kills for Houston, and Abbie Jackson closed with 11 kills. Kelsey Childers added 35 assists. UNLV 3, KANSAS CITY 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-13)
VERMILLION, SD – UNLV dropped the first set against Kansas City but took control afterward, hitting .237 overall in advancing to Round 2 of the 2019 NIVC. UNLV will face either South Dakota or Central Michigan in Round 2. Alison French had 14 kills for the Rebels (20-10), and Mariena Hayden added 12 kills to go with her 14 digs. Playing their first-ever postseason match, the Roos (17-12) were paced by Melanie Brecka with 12 kills, and Alicia Harrington added 11. Alli Schomers had 33 assists. TCU 3, MIAMI (OH) 2 (27-25, 23-25, 25-14, 18-25, 15-12)
BOWLING GREEN, OH – TCU pulled ahead late in the fifth set to advance past Miami (OH) in the first round of the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Horned Frogs (10-17) will play either Purdue-Fort Wayne or Bowling Green on Friday in Round 2. The RedHawks clse the season at 17-12. Miami jumped ahead early in sets 1 and 2; TCU fought back to win the first set and used a 10-1 run to take a 15-14 lead in the second set. It was tied as late a 19-19, but the Redhawks finished it off on a kill from Margaret Payne. In Set 3, Miami had two clusters of hitting errors which allowed TCU to comfortably pocket the set, but the RedHawks responded in the fourth set, closing it off with another kill from Payne. In the fifth set, TCU used a kill from Julia Adams to tie it at 12-all. An error from Miami and kills from Katie Clark and Adams proved to be the difference. Clark and Adams each had 13 kills; McKenzie Nichols had 40 assists for the Horned Frogs, and Dani Dennison finished with 25 digs. Elan McCall had 11 kills and 21 digs. For the RedHawks, Payne had 20 kills and Gaby Harper added 15 kills. Volleyball programs can change uniform styles, or how they schedule, or any and all coaches being paid to push the program forward.
The toughest thing is to change the mood, the feel, and sometimes the pall of dead air hanging over the enterprise. Josh Lauer knew upon his arrival at Troy in January of 2017 that the atmosphere needed a serious reset, just as he understood he’d likely pull in the type of recruiting classes the Trojans required to shake off the effects losing. Nothing happened quickly, but Troy is definitely seeing clearer skies after going 22-9 this year and earning a berth in the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championship, which is the first postseason bid in program history. The Trojans will take on another first-time postseason squad in North Carolina A&T (16-14) at 4 p.m. ET on Friday at regional host school Georgia Tech. Lauer immediately brought in Jenni Young (a transfer from Towson) and Cheyenne Hayes, then leaned heavy and hard on an eight-person recruiting class in 2018. Hayes, a springy 5-foot-9 junior, has 426 kills on the year and earned first-team all-Sun Belt honors, helping lead the way for the type of player Lauer saw as the right fit. “We needed to hit three core areas when we came in. We needed to recruit high talent, high character players who are going to be here for a while,” said Lauer, who coached for nine years in the SEC before taking over at Troy. “There’d been a history of, a mix of, recruiting transfers along with freshmen, about a 50-50 mix. We want players we could grow with. Jenni Young had four years of eligibility and that followed our model. “Culture change was big for here. We needed to build some trust with players, it was all of us together and that we are here to help you. We’ll also have a standard that is very understood – it’s there up in the hallway, and it says ‘Best teammate, Best effort.’ There aren’t a ton of rules, but we challenge our players to give their best effort and to be the best teammate on and off the court. That clears things up; if you make a bad choice socially, is that your best effort? It’s easy for players to wrap their heads around that, they see what’s below that line.” Lastly, Lauer was big on refreshing how the Trojans trained and what they emphasized week in and week out. He wanted more offensive punch, and a corresponding roster that went hard and fast for kills rather than wait around. Hayes has been a revelation in that role; there’s balance on that topic thanks to Ashley Guenveur (284 kills), Julia Brooks (274) and Halston Hillier (271). “The second recruiting class – we told them they had a chance to have an impact and take the program where it’s never gone before. That’s stuck with them, they’ve believed in it and sacrificed for it,” Lauer said. “We added some freshmen this year, two of whom are starting (Guenveur and Brooks). For us, (it’s been about) getting better offensively. We’re not the best blocking team, but we can kill balls. You’ve got to earn about 18 points a set, and the majority of that comes from killing the ball. “One player who gets overlooked is Lacey Jeffcoat, our libero. She’s in every rotation, making all the plays that don’t go in the stat book. She covers ground as well as anyone in the country. Down 14-10 in fifth set to Arkansas State in Sun Belt tournament, she went to the service line, and we ended up winning.” Troy was an impressive 14-2 at home this year and had a handful of important moments that announced this roster was ready to direct the past several campaigns (69-125, .355 from 2013-18) into distant memory. A late September sweep of Arkansas State and Little Rock created some early buzz that really hasn’t slacked off. “We felt we were playing pretty good in preseason; once you know why you are losing, and can pinpoint it and it’s not a laundry list, you know you are on a good path. A couple losses were just that one thing that got off track, and that was a good sign,” Lauer said. “The weekend against the Arkansas schools, we swept it, and as coaches by then we had believed, but that opened the eyes of the fans and administration. That had never been done in school history. “There was a big bounce back win, where we lost to Texas State and came back to beat (UT Arlington), and that showed a lot of resilience. Then there was another home weekend with us beating Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina, maybe the defining weekend. We’ve been up and down since; we have turned the corner on believing we can win. Now, we are chasing the idea of becoming a winning program. One season does not make a winning program. It’s a different journey than when you’re the underdog. Following up 13 wins in a row is different than just trying to get your fifth win of the whole year.” Like a lot of programs in the NIVC, Troy is embracing the charge that comes with life in a postseason bracket. Players have to adjust to extended schedules and figuring out the academic side of their lives, while staying steady with the hard work of changing expectations of the program. “The beauty of the NIVC is the team needs to learn about the pressure of postseason play. This builds the team’s understanding on how to prepare and play in the games that mean the most, when you are mentally and emotionally fatigued,” Lauer added. “That’s one of the cool things about being in this tournament, as we get to play different teams and get more experience for the future. If this is what you want out of volleyball, this is part of the effort and sacrifice of being a great student and a great team. This is unchartered territory that is so good for our players’ and program’s growth.” There’s no doubt Hal Clifton felt great excitement when he landed his first Division-I volleyball head coaching job, taking over at North Carolina A&T in 2011.
But it’s possible his mood took a bit of a hit when he sat down with his first roster and realized he had a pretty thin bench, as in zero. The Aggies had six players total and were in serious improvisation mode, as Clifton took the job in August. That campaign was a rough ride (2-27 overall), but Clifton survived the tumult and has been rewarded over time, with NC A&T claiming its first-ever postseason berth in the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Aggies (16-14) will play another team new to the postseason in Troy (22-9); their match is 4 p.m. ET on Friday at host school Georgia Tech. “It was crazy. We held open tryouts to get a few more bodies and ended up with nine players to get through the season,” Clifton said, “and we were able to recruit a pretty good starting class for 2012, getting them to buy into the vision that the A&T program was going to get to. That was the springboard; lo and behold we were able to compete for a (MEAC) conference championship last year and made the NIVC this year.” NC A&T had serious designs on winning the MEAC tournament this year, or at least getting to the final and a tasty rematch with Howard, but the Aggies fell short in five sets to Morgan State. After going 13-1 in conference play, that setback stung, but Clifton said the bigger picture and the chance to feel postseason energy helped blunt the frustration. “The NIVC hits at a great time for our program. We’re super excited, the first time in postseason play, and it’s great to get another first for the program,” Clifton said. “They hurt for a few days after (the Morgan State loss); the team really wanted a rematch against Howard like last year. We took a couple days off, had some conversations, and they got back in the gym. They were excited, full of energy and ready to compete. It’s another opportunity to play and for the seniors to wear the jersey. The vibe has been high in the gym.” NC A&T has a nice mix of younger players on the roster, with three players having more than 300 kills to go with a defense that can muscle up at the net. One player has a particularly interesting resume – junior Edie Brewer earned co-player of the year honors in the MEAC after ringing up 313 kills and 643 assists. Her ability to affect any given match in multiple ways (she also leads the team in aces) can be very taxing on the opposition. “She’s such a joy to coach and be around. There are kids like this that only come around once in a while. She grew up with the game, her mom coached and played, and she just knows the game at a different level,” Clifton said. “She sees the court from different angles and perspectives, where to hit and set, and the last couple years she’s worked really hard at the setter position, learning the game and studying opponents and looking for weaknesses. She’s a special kid, and we’re very fortunate to have her here. She does things you can’t coach, and she does a lot of things at a very high level … and she’s very hungry to win.” Brewer was second in the NCAA this year in triple-doubles with eight and came very close to a quadruple-double in a five-set win over Coppin State with 15 kills, 23 assists, 10 digs and eight blocks. She’s the ideal Swiss-Army-knife-option for Clifton, who hoped for and got a more diverse and potent offense in 2019. “We knew after last year that Courteney Pitt was leading the league in kills per set, taking a tremendous amount of swings for us, and you know that after a while you can only ride that horse so long. Defenses set up and blocks set up … being able to balance the offense has taken a lot of pressure off Courteney (375 kills) and allowed her to play,” he said. “Fatima (Shabazz, 301 kills) on the right side has done a phenomenal job with her willingness to move to (that position) and to compete, such a physical kid. The other team’s defense gets spread out, and we try to make sure no one gets keyed on. If a player is struggling, there’s someone else who can step in.” Being very prepared for the MEAC schedule probably wouldn’t have happened if not for some key tests early in the year. The Aggies went 0-3 at the UNC Wilmington tourney but ended up wiser for the experience; there were also two huge five-set victories in early October versus North Carolina Central and Coppin State. “The UNC Wilmington tournament was a big change for us. Playing Western Carolina and Drake, pushing those to five-set matches … we didn’t win, but it gave the kids the confidence that they could compete at a different level than the MEAC or against other HBCU’s,” Clifton said. “That propelled them. Those North Carolina Central and Coppin State matches were huge from a mental aspect. The resilience to be able to pull out two five-set matches early in the season gave us confidence in how far we can be pushed and bend but not break. That was high-tension stuff; that led the players to see that as long as we stay confident and cool-headed, we can compete.” |
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