Saturday, Jan. 23

USF 3, North Florida 1 (25-19, 15-25, 25-23, 25-16)	Box Score
Tulane 3, UNO 2 (25-18, 31-33, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11)	Box Score
Wichita State 3, Oral Roberts 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-20)	Box Score
Temple 3, Morgan State 2 (25-14, 17-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-12)	Box Score
Rice 3, Houston 2 (20-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-12, 15-11)	Box Score
Southern Illinois 3, Memphis 2 (22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13)	Box Score

Highlights

USF 3, North Florida 1

The USF women's volleyball team improved to 2-0 on the 2020 campaign after dropping UNF, 3-1, on Saturday in the Bulls' first match back in The Corral in over 14 months.

"I am really proud of such a young team to be so mature in how they responded today," first-year Bulls head coach Jolene Shepardson said. "To maintain that focus in the middle of the match was big. Agata new what was going on and she's a freshman. Marta took some big swings out of the system, just kept the pressure on them, and it was hard for UNF to deal with."

The Bulls hit .218 in the match and recorded 13 blocks while UNF hit .174 and was out-blocked 13-6 in the Bulls four-set win: 25-19, 15-25, 25-23, 25-16.

The Bulls were led by freshman Makayla Washington (Tallahassee) with 13 kills and .458 hitting percentage while adding six blocks. Freshman Marta Cvitkovic (Rijeka, Croatia) added 11 kills, four blocks and three service aces, while sophomore Ally Barnhart (Lenexa, Kan.) posted nine kills and a team-high seven blocks. Masha Idjilov (Moldova) was once again strong leading the offense with 38 assists and added three kills and three aces.

"She has huge potential upside," Shepardson said of Washington who sat out last season with an injury. "She got a little attitude on that three on a great set from Masha and that unleashed her power."

After trailing 6-4 out of the gate, USF put together a 6-1 run to take a 10-7 lead and seize early control of the first set. A kill and a block from Washington gave the Bulls a 19-16 lead. Washington smoked another kill down the center of the court for a 23-18 lead and it was all Bulls from there as Washington recorded four kills and three blocks in the opening stanza.

UNF rebounded in set two, jumping out to a 14-5 lead. An ace from Cvitkovic and a kill from Washington made it 16-9 as the Bulls tried to rally. A Barnhart block cut the margin to six, 17-11, but the Bulls' attack struggles, hitting just -.029 in the set, were too much too overcome as UNF claimed the second, 25-15.

The Bulls jumped to a 5-1 lead in the third set behind strong serving from Cvitkovic, including an ace. Back-to-back kills for Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg) gave the Bulls a 10-4 lead. A UNF ace cut the lead to 14-11, but the Bulls responded with a Cvitkovic kill and a Barnhart block to lead 16-11. Another Barnhart kill made it 20-15 and the Bulls brought it home with a Cvitkovic kill, taking the third set, 25-23.

A big combo block from Washington and St. Cin gave the Bulls a 13-10 lead in the fourth set. St. Cin got another solo block to make it 16-12 and the Bulls closed it out from there, recording 12 kills in the set to post a decisive 25-16 set win and end the match.

Tulane 3, UNO 2

Tulane volleyball moved to 2-0 this season after defeating UNO (0-1) in five sets (25-18, 31-33, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11) to close out the team's opening weekend of non-conference action in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

"After we dominated the first set, I give credit to UNO for fighting back and attacking aggressively," head coach Jim Barnes said. "We learned some important lessons today. Overall, both matches this weekend will make us better for next week."

Four Green Wave hitters finished the match with double-digit kills, led by senior outside hitter Lexie Douglas with 14. Junior right side hitter Yvette Burcescu had 11 while freshman right side hitter Anna Davis and junior middle hitter Kayla Dinkins each had 10.  Douglas also recorded 12 digs to earn a double-double in the match. Freshman outside hitter Makenzie Martin was just short of reaching a double-double, totaling nine kills and 12 digs. 

Junior setter Amanda Giardina recorded 34 assists in the match, while junior outside hitter Makala Heidelberg led the way defensively with a career-high 28 digs.

The first set was close at the start, with back-and-forth points and 10 tie scores early, until a kill from Burcescu sent Tulane on an 11-2 run that put the Green Wave up 21-13. The Olive and Blue recorded five consecutive kills on five attempts in the run, with three from Davis. Tulane held its lead for the remainder of the set despite a 5-0 run from UNO, closing it out with a kill from Burcescu to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Privateers held the lead for a majority of the second set, with UNO ahead by six at one point with an 18-12 score. A 7-1 Green Wave run tied the set at 19 before Tulane was able to jump ahead by one, 24-23, and force a New Orleans timeout. Back-and-forth points from both teams extended the set, before UNO was able to close it out and tie the match at 1-1.

The third was close all the way through, with no team gaining an advantage of more than three points at any point during the set. The Green Wave held the Privateers to a hitting percentage of .089 while hitting .154 as a team in set three. A solo block from Dinkins put Tulane at set point before a kill from senior middle hitter Markenzie Benoit finished it off and gave the Olive and Blue a 2-1 match lead.

New Orleans took an early lead to start the fourth and would go on to hold it for the remainder of the set. Tulane was able to close a 12-point gap after being down 8-20 as the team went on an 8-1 run to make it a five-point game at 16-21. The Green Wave held the Privateers at set point for four points but were unable to make up for the deficit as UNO evened the match at 2-2 and forced a fifth set.

A 3-0 run from the Green Wave in the fifth set put Tulane ahead 9-7, where they would ultimately stay for the remainder of the match after a back-and-forth start. A kill from Davis put the Olive and Blue at match point before one from Martin finished it off to solidify the win for the Wave.

Wichita State 3, Oral Roberts 0

The Wichita State University volleyball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 3-0 sweep of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Saturday, Jan. 23, in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center. The set scores were 25-16, 25-18 and 25-20.

Wichita State is scheduled to wrap up play in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, with a match against the host Missouri State Bears (1-0).  

Sophomore Nicole Anderson continued her stellar start to the 2021 spring campaign, tallying a match-high 14 kills on 25 attempts with just two errors for a career-best .480 hitting percentage.

Fellow sophomores Kayce Litzau (19 assists) and Sinalauli'I Uluave (14 digs) rounded out the WSU leaders in the contest.

For the match, the Shockers outhit the Golden Eagles (0-2), .345 to .117, and tallied advantages in kills (38-33), digs (47-39) and assists (32-30).

Jeslyn Spencer paced ORU in the contest with nine kills on 21 swings and a .333 hitting percentage.

Temple 3, Morgan State 2

The Temple volleyball team opened the long awaited 2020-21 season with a thriller that was worth the wait. Temple rallied from a 2-1 deficit and won a 3-2 match against Morgan State on Saturday night at McGonigle Hall. The Owls used set scores of 25-14, 17-25, 25-27, 25-20, and 15-12 to start the year 1-0.

Match Notes
> Temple last played a match on November 16, 2019 when the Owls also won a 3-2 home court five setter.
> The Owls had 10 players available for the match and all 10 saw action in at least two sets.
> Four freshman made their debuts in Cherry & White during the match, including Ilayda Dincer, Taylor Davenport, and Nina-Symone Williams who all made the starting lineup.

Individual Highlights
> Three player registered double-digit kill performances, led by junior Miray Bolukbasi who tallied 18 kills and 10 digs for a double-double.
> Junior Peyton Boyd came on strong in the final three sets to finish with 13 kills, recording just three errors to hit at a .455 clip.
> Dincer finished with 10 kills, while also adding eight digs.
> Junior Tyler Lindgren tallied the first double-double of the season for Temple with 45 assists and 15 digs.
> Davenport hit a team-best .636 with eight kills, also adding a match-best five aces and four blocks.
> Williams led Temple at the net with five blocks, one solo, while Boyd added four.
> Sophomore Nikki Saito led the Owls with 17 digs, while junior Xeryah Salanoa added a career-high 12 in the win.

Statistically Speaking
> Temple ended with a .210 attack, holding Morgan State to a .155 clip.
> The Owls also held advantages in digs (70-61), blocks (10-8), and aces (11-8).
> Temple sided out 63.6% of the time, while Morgan State finished at a 58.5% sideout percentage.

Set One: Temple 25, Morgan State 14
> Temple got hot midway through the first set, turning a slim 11-9 lead into a large 18-11 advantage.
> After a kill from the Bears, Temple kept its pace, closing out the set on a 6-1 run to take the first set.

Set Two: Morgan State 25, Temple 17
> Neither team created momentum in the early action, settling on a 10-10 tie after the first 20 points.
> Tied still at 15-15, Morgan State began to pull away. The Bears put together a 10-2 run to close out the set and tie the match at 1-1.

Set Three: Morgan State 27, Temple 25
> It was another tight set early in the third, with neither team going up by more than two points.
> Temple tied the match at 19-19 on a Gem Grimshaw kill, but Morgan State used a 5-1 run to go up 24-20 with set point.
> The Owls spoiled five total set points to tie the match at 25-25 on a Taylor Davenport kill.
> However, Morgan State got kills on the next two points to take it 27-25 and go up, 2-1.

Set Four: Temple 25, Morgan State 20
> Needing a win to stay alive, Temple delivered, hitting .344 in the set to take it 25-20. 
> Temple went up 8-4 early on a long serving run from Bolukbasi, but Morgan State tied it at 10-10.
> Temple surged forward, going up by three, before Morgan State closed the gap to 20-18.
> The Owls got four of the next five points and then worked around a pair of late kills to force a fifth frame.

Set Five: Temple 15, Morgan State 12
> An early 4-2 Temple lead was erased by Morgan State, who used a 5-2 run to go up 7-6.
> The Owls responded with a surge of their own, going up 10-8 on a Boyd kill.
> Leading 12-11, Temple forced a pair of Bears' attack errors to lead 14-11, before a final Lindgren kill sealed it for the Owls.

Rice 3, Houston 2

After jumping out to a 2-0 match lead, the University of Houston Volleyball team fell to RV Rice in five sets (25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 12-25, 11-15) on Saturday inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
In the match, Houston (0-1) found a balanced attack on the offensive side, with three different Cougars posting double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jackson led the way with a match-high 20 kills. She was joined by junior outside hitter Kortlyn Henderson, who tallied 16 kills in her Houston debut and junior middle blocker Isabel Theut, finishing the afternoon with 12.
 
In her first collegiate contest, freshman setter Annie Cooke, dished out 52 assists. Junior libero Torie Frederick tied a career-high 25 digs in the match, with senior defensive specialist Abby Irvine (10) joined Frederick as those with 10 or more digs against the Owls (1-0).
RV Rice 3, Houston 2

Set 1
Rice jumped out to a quick, 4-0 lead, but Houston rallied to score four of the next six to trim the deficit to a pair.
Jackson's fifth kill brought the Cougars back to within two, making the score 13-15.
Four unanswered points from Houston put them out in front, 19-17.
The Owls bounced back to tie the score at 20, but the Cougars ended the set scoring five-straight points to win 25-20.

Set 2
The fifth kill of the match from Theut put Houston out in front by four, 10-6.
A block at the net from sophomore outside hitter Celeste Darling and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Tullos, followed by a solo stop from Jackson forced a timeout from Rice with the Cougars ahead, 15-8.
Theut continued to make her presence at the net felt, as a block stretched to lead to 18-9.
Tullos sealed the 25-18 set victory with her first kill of the match.

Set 3
Henderson joined Jackson as those with double-digit kills for the Cougars, as her 10th kill brought Houston to within three at 11-8.
Jackson continued to pace the Cougars with her 13th kill that kept Houston at arm's length to make the score 16-13 in favor of Rice.
After Houston climbed back to tie the score at 20, the Owls pulled away late and won 25-22 to force a fourth set.

Set 4
With the score tied at five, Rice put together a 4-0 run to force a timeout from Houston.
Following the break in action, the Owls score six of the next seven points to take a 15-6 lead and never looked back in route to the 25-12 set win.

Set 5
An ace from Irvine tied the score at the seven, but a 5-2 run from Rice resulted in a timeout from the Cougars.
The deficit would be too much to overcome, as the Owls ran away with the set, winning 15-11.

Southern Illinois 3, Memphis 2

Despite a valiant effort that extended Saturday's match to five sets, the Memphis Tigers (1-1, 0-0) came up just short in the fifth and decisive set to Southern Illinois (1-1, 0-0). The win for the Salukis earned them a split in the opening weekend pair of matches against the Tigers.
 
"SIU is certainly a good opponent with a great coaching staff that made adjustments," said head coach Sean Burdette. "We got a little tentative at times and they thrived on that. They were able to do some things offensively tonight that we were able to slow down defensively last night."
 
The Tigers built off of last night's victory with an opening set win, but Southern Illinois eked out second and third set victories. SIU won the match 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, and 15-13. Memphis freshman Sam Drewry once again led both teams in kills with 19, a night after she posted 20 kills in her Memphis debut. Likewise, freshman Bailey Houlihan led all players in digs (29) for the second straight match.
 
"At the end of the day, we go to five sets and it was a great learning experience for our team," said Burdette. "I told them in the locker room that I saw some plays this weekend that I haven't seen from them before, and they're all signs of good things to come. We won nearly every statistical category tonight, they just made the right plays at the right time."

First Set
Sam Drewry opened up the night with the first of her match-high 19 kills
Memphis held leads of 10-5 and 14-9, while the Salukis never got closer than three points
Transfer Elizabeth Orf picked up a kill and ace in a span of four points, which put Memphis ahead 14-9
The longest rally of the match came at 22-18 and ended in a perfect kill from Miaya Smith
Smith followed with her fourth kill of the opening set, which gave Memphis the first set victory
Drewry tallied five of her 19 kills in the opening set, while Sabrina Bianco recorded 15 of her career-high 61 assists
The first set saw just two ties and zero lead changes, while the remaining four sets featured 36 and 22 respectively

Second Set
Southern Illinois jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead on consecutive service aces from Alex Washington
Gigi Crescenzo tied the set 4-4 with consecutive kills
Memphis followed a 5-0 Salukis run with its own 4-0 run that tied the set 10-10
The Tigers built a 20-15 lead, highlighted by multiple diving saves from Houlihan
A 4-0 run from Southern Illinois pulled them within a point at 20-19
Southern Illinois then erased a 23-20 lead with a 4-0 run that gave them set point at 24-23
Drewry picked up a kill that tied the set 25-25, but Southern Illinois won the next two points, as a service ace from Katy Kluge wrapped up the set for SIU 27-25
SIU won seven of the final nine points in the set

Third Set
Southern Illinois picked up two quick points to start the set
A block from Andrea O'Connor led to a Southern Illinois error and a 5-5 tie
The Tigers won five of six points to take a 10-7 advantage
Emma Baalman ended her team's 3-0 spurt with a service error, while a kill from Drewry made it 13-13
Out of a timeout, a big point from Orf preceded another point on her serve, which tied the set 19-19
The Tigers took a 21-19 edge as part of a 4-0 run, but SIU won three of the next four points
A kill from Imani Hartfield set up set point for Southern Illinois, which won the set two points later, 25-23
The set featured a match-high 14 ties and a match-high eight lead changes

Fourth Set
Three straight kills for the Tigers, two from Crescenzo and one from Drewry, put Memphis ahead 6-5
Bianco's no-look tip that just cleared the net earned her the kill and an 11-10 Memphis lead
Consecutive kills from Crescenzo and Autumn Hamilton put Memphis ahead 16-13
Crescenzo's 13th kill of the match gave the Tigers a 20-15 edge
Consecutive kills from O'Connor earned the Tigers the final two points that won the set 25-20

Fifth Set
A 3-0 lead from SIU forced Memphis to use an early timeout
Drewry scored Memphis' first two points of the set, as Southern Illinois led 4-2
A cross court kill from Crescenzo kickstarted a 5-0 run for the Tigers and gave them a 10-9 lead
Another kill from Drewry tied the set at 11-11
Drewry's final point of the night, her match-high 19th kill, caught the back line and pulled Memphis within one at 13-12
The Salukis won the next two points and won the set 15-13, the match 3-2