NIVC Round 1, 2 recaps from Friday, Dec. 3

VALPARAISO 3, TOLEDO 0 (25-20, 25-21,25-21)
 
VALPARAISO, IN – Haley Hart had 12 kills for Valparaiso, which authored its second sweep of the 2021 NIVC by taking down Toledo and advancing to Round 3.
 
The Beacons (24-9) also got 10 kills from Peyton McCarthy. Rylee Cookerly had 20 digs, which pushed her career total to 3,139 digs, just 37 shy of the NCAA D-I record. Elise Swistek had 14 digs, Brittany Anderson added 21 assists and Victoria Bulmahn had 17 assists.
 
In Set 1, Valpo broke open a tight 12-10 lead to an 18-12 advantage, winning the set as six players registered kills. A 7-1 run in Set 3 set the Beacons up for their comeback win.
 
The Rockets (20-13), who got their first-ever postseason win Thursday, also reached 20 victories in a season for the second time. Sinalauli’I Uluave had 11 kills and 13 digs, Taylor Alt came through with 11 kills and 15 digs, and Elaine Redman added.29 assists.
 
TROY 3, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-14)
 
TROY, AL – Troy hit a strong .325 overall in its Round 1 win over Middle Tennessee, getting the sweep as Tori Hester rang up 12 kills.
 
The Trojans (18-12), who had trailed in the all-time series against the Blue Raiders 16-5, will face North Florida on Saturday in Round 2.
 
Cheyenne Hayes had 11 kills for Troy; Amara Anderson added 33 assists and Caroline Darracott came up with 11 digs.
 
Middle Tennessee (9-12) saw Samira Lawson Body get 12 kills and 10 digs. Taylor Eisert had 23 assists and Marley Banton added 11 digs.
 
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 3, JACKSON STATE 1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12)
 
NACOGDOCHES, TX – Leah Powell paced the attack for Stephen F. Austin, ringing up 14 kills and 16 digs as the Ladyjacks won the fourth set in dominant fashion to advance in the 2021 NIVC.
 
The Ladyjacks (19-9) will play Arkansas in Round 2 on Saturday.
 
Payton Cerny had 12 kills for SFA; Maddy Bourque dished out 20 assists, Kodi Garcia added 16 assists and Ariana Pagan came up with 19 digs.
 
The Tigers (17-14) saw Jylen Whitten bash away to the tune of 18 kills. Marina Brito had 10 kills, Damassy Thompson added 38 assists and 15 digs and Alana Washington finished with 17 digs.
 
ARIZONA 3, UTRGV 0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-16)
 
TUCSON, AZ – Arizona got a big bounce after coming back to win the first set, rolling to a sweep of UT-Rio Grande Valley to kick off the Wildcats’ time at the 2021 NIVC.
 
The Wildcats (17-15) hit an impressive .395 overall; they will face UNLV on Saturday in Round 2. Jaelyn Hodge had 12 kills, Puk Stubbe chipped in with 10 kills and Emery Herman came through with 31 assists and nine digs.
 
The Vaqueros (17-11) saw Sarah Cruz secure 12 kills; Luanna Emiliano had 20 assists and Evana Ramos closed with 12 digs.
 
EVANSVILLE 3, BRADLEY 1 (25-18, 25-27, 25-15, 25-20)
 
CHICAGO, IL – Missouri Valley Conference freshman of the year Giulia Cardona led Evansville with 23 kills, pushing the Aces past conference mates Bradley for a Round 2 victory in the 2021 NIVC.
 
The Aces (21-11) saw Melanie Feliciano and Alondra Vazquez each jump in with 15 kills; Taya Haffner directed the show with 53 assists and 14 digs, and Blakeley Freeman added 23 digs. Evansville, which reached the 20-victory mark for the first time since 1988, will play at Valparaiso in Round 3 on Monday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. ET.
 
The Braves (17-15) had Hannah Thompson and Karagan Coggin each register 10 kills. Serena Sparks had 25 digs and Kora Kauling closed with 24 assists.
 
WEBER STATE 3, CSU BAKERSFIELD 1 (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21)
 
OGDEN, UT – Weber State had an 8-1 edge in service aces and outlasted CSU Bakersfield in a Round 1 matchup of the 2021 NIVC.
 
The Wildcats (21-9) will face Portland State in Round 2 on Saturday. Dani Nay had 12 kills for Weber State; Rylin Adams added 11 kills to go with 12 digs, and Emma Mangum closed with 10 kills. Ashlyn Power dished out 35 assists and four aces, and Makayla Sorensen added 12 digs.
 
The Roadrunners (18-11) got 20 kills from Brooke Boiseau, 43 assists from Seleisa Elisaia and 12 digs from Paige Calvin.

UTEP 3, COLORADO STATE 1 (25-22, 13-25, 25-18, 25-19)
 
FORT COLLINS, CO – UTEP started off strong and shook off a lull in Set 2, taking charge at the net and going on to take down Colorado State in Round 2 of the 2021 NIVC.
 
The Miners will face Portland State or Weber State in Round 3.
 
UTEP had five aces in set 1. In set 4, CSU went down 5-1 but a challenge on a UTEP foot dig turned the score back to 4-2, and the Rams used that to bounce back and take a 8-7 lead. UTEP used a 5-0 to take control, 19-14, and closed out the match.
 
The Miners (23-7) saw Paulina Perez Rosas close with 11 kills, and Serena Patterson had 10 kills. Kristen Fritsche had 23 assists and Alyssa Sianez closed with 17 digs.
 
The Rams (19-11) had won 30 straight sets on their home floor of Moby Arena. Kennedy Stanford had 14 kills, Ciera Pritchard dished out 30 assists, and Helena Perez added 11 digs.

PORTLAND STATE 3, PACIFIC 2 (26-28, 25-15, 25-12, 23-25, 15-7)
 
OGDEN, UTAH – Portland State’s volleyball team advanced to the second round of the 2021 NIVC with a 5-set victory over Pacific on Friday afternoon.
 
The Vikings dropped the first set, 28-26, after leading 14-5 in the first set, but didn’t let that carry over to the next two sets. In Sets 2 and 3, Portland State beat Pacific, 25-15 and 25-12, respectively, and held Pacific to a negative hitting percentage in both frames.
 
In Set 4, however, Pacific once again showed its resolve in a back-and-forth affair. The Tigers racked up 16 kills in the set and held on to a 25-23 victory to forth a deciding fifth set.
 
The fifth set belonged to Portland State once again, though. The Vikings raced out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 15-7 victory in the final set. With the win, Portland State advances to the second round of the 2021 NIVC and will play Weber State on Saturday.
 
The Vikings were led by Parker Webb, who had 15 kills on .480 hitting, and Makayla Lewis, who added 14 kills and 12 digs. Ellie Snook had two service aces in the match, setting a new single-season school record with 48. For the match, Portland State registered 17 aces, which was just one shy of a single-match team record.

UNLV 3, NEW MEXICO STATE 0 (25-21, 25-10, 25-22)
 
TUSCON, AZ – The UNLV Rebels advanced to the second round of the 2021 NIVC with a convincing sweep over New Mexico State on Friday afternoon.
 
UNLV racked up 12 blocks compared to two blocks for New Mexico State and hit .288 in the match compared to just .115 for the Aggies. The Rebels were led by the trio of Mariena Hayden (10), Kate Brennan (nine) and Chloe Thomas (nine), who combined for 28 of UNLV’s 45 kills, and hit a combined .400 in the match.
 
UNLV trailed early in Set 1, 9-5, but rattled off five-straight points to take the lead. The first set remained back and forth until UNLV scored the final three points of the set to take it, 25-21. In Set 2, there was never a doubt, with UNLV jumping out to an 8-2 lead en route to a 25-10 set victory. In the set, the Rebels hit .480 and didn’t have a single attack error.
 
The Rebels carried the momentum through to Set 3, which once again was a back-and-forth affair. Holding just a one point lead, UNLV went on a mini 4-1 run to make it 24-20, and put the pressure on New Mexico State. The Aggies scored the next two points before UNLV finally put them away. UNLV will take on Arizona in the second round of the NIVC.