Saturday, September 17
UCF 3, Lipscomb 0 – Box Score
East Carolina 3, Mercer 1 – Box Score
Memphis 3, Little Rock 0 – Box Score
George Washington 3, Temple 1 – Box Score
Temple 3, Penn 1 – Box Score
Wright State 3, Wichita State 2– Box Score
South Dakota 3, South Florida 0 – Box Score
Xavier 3, Cincinnati 2 – Box Score
Oregon State 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
LSU 3, Tulane 0 – Box Score
Sunday, September 18
Houston 3, High Point 1 - Box Score
UCF 3, Lipscomb 0 – Box Score
LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the first time in program history, the UCF volleyball team finished non-conference play undefeated after a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-12) sweep of Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.
That wasn't the only history that happened on the court, as McKenna Melville became UCF's all-time kills leader when she got her sixth kill to give the Knights a 23-17 lead in the first set.
The previous record of 2,151 stood for 25 years and was held by Renata Menchikova. With 10 kills today Melville sits atop the list with 2,156 in her illustrious career.
The second was another wire-to-wire win for the Knights. There was only one tie in the set as they used a handful of runs to stretch the lead in route to a 25-15 win.
The only lead change of the game happened in the third set after Lipscomb took the first point. UCF immediately tied it then took a 2-1 lead and never looked back, en route to a 25-12 win.
This win was an all-around team effort. 12 Knights entered the game, and all contributed to the win. Melville led the team with 10 kills, and Abby Hansen was right behind her with nine.
Kari Zumach and Claudia Dillon led the team with three blocks apiece.
East Carolina 3, Mercer 1 – Box Score
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Angeles Alderete recorded a match-high 16 kills to lead East Carolina past Mercer 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-18, 25-18) Saturday afternoon in both teams' last contest of the Virginia Tournament inside Memorial Gymnasium.
The Pirates improve to 5-7 entering American Athletic Conference play while the Bears drop to 4-8.
Alderete committed just one attacking error to finish with a stout .484 hitting percentage while fellow rookie Carlia Northcross tallied a career-best four kills as well as five blocks. Kenzie Beckham paced the back row efforts with a contest-best 18 digs. Annie Karle and Paige Wagers registered 14 kills apiece to lead Mercer's offense.
The Bears notched one more kill (45-44) than the Pirates, but ECU limited Mercer to a .150 hitting percentage while turning in .279 efficiency itself. The Pirates also out-blocked the Bears 8.0 to 4.0.
Payton Evenstad got East Carolina off on the right foot with an ace on the first rally of the match and the Pirates soared to a 10-4 advantage from there. ECU kept the pressure on, eventually forcing another Mercer timeout after a kill by Sophia Kruczko made the score 19-12. The Bears got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Mercer flipped the script in the second set, racing out to a 6-1 advantage. The Bears were able to keep the Pirates at an arm's length for the remainder of the frame and tie the match at the intermission.
East Carolina asserted the upper hand in the final two sets, hitting .471 and .333 in the third and fourth to seal the victory.
Memphis 3, Little Rock 0 – Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis Volleyball (10-3) finished the 2022 non-conference schedule with a 3-0 victory against Little Rock (3-9).
The Tigers built up a 2-0 lead after winning both set 15-17 over Little Rock.
With a comfortable lead in the third set, the Trojans would pick up momentum to go on 8-0 run. Memphis held on to win the set 25-21 with kills from Tate and Crezceno rounding out the match.
The Tigers have now won six-straight without dropping a set and extend their home court win streak to eight.
Jasmyn Tate led the way for Memphis, hitting a match high 13 kills on a .478 hitting percentage. She also picked up 11 digs. Jasmyn Tate and Loren Robertson were named to the All-Tournament team
George Washington 3, Temple 1 – Box Score
Temple 3, Penn 1 – Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Temple volleyball team improved to 6-5 overall on Saturday with a split of a pair of matches with George Washington and Penn to close out the Sheraton University City Invitational at the Palestra in University City.
Sophomore Taylor Davenport led the Owls with 31 kills on the day, leading each match with 18 and 15, respectively. Behind the service line, Falanika Danielson saved her best for last as she set a career-high five aces in the evening victory versus Penn.
State 3, Wichita State 2– Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio -- Wright State rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit for a 17-25, 25-20, 25-14, 21-25, 10-15 win over Wichita State on Saturday afternoon at McLin Gymnasium.
The Raiders (7-3) won despite hitting .034 for the match, as the Shockers committed 16 service errors and 31 attack errors. Wright State controlled the opening set, turning an 8-8 tie into an 18-11 lead that prompted a Wichita State timeout. WSU fought back to within four on two different occasions, including 20-16, but Wright State finished with a flurry to take a 25-17 opening set.
The Shockers (5-6) calmed things down with a strong second set, highlighted by seven kills from Sophia Rohling. Wichita State also got six blocks in the set, holding Wright State to a .000 hitting percentage. WSU never trailed in the frame, bursting to a 10-4 lead and keeping Wright State at arm's length the rest of the way. Back-to-back kills from Morgan Weber and Brylee Kelly reestablished a six-point cushion at 18-12, and Sophie Childs came off the bench late for a kill that kept the lead comfortable. A Callie Martin attack error eventually nailed down the set for the Shockers, 25-20.
In the third, Wichita State found an offensive rhythm. Four different Shockers had three or more kills, including Morgan Stout's five. Though the Shockers never trailed in the set, it was a 5-0 burst at the service line from Morgan Weber that put WSU firmly in control at 12-6. The lead eventually swelled to ten following a solo block from Childs, and another block from Stout and Weber gave Wichita State a 2-1 lead with a 25-14 win.
Wichita State was out of the gates quickly in the fourth, taking a 10-7 lead. Wright State answered with a set-defining run, rattling off six in a row to flip a three-point deficit into a three-point lead. The Shockers later battled back to within 19-18 when Kelly slammed a kill, but the Raiders regrouped out of a timeout to win three of the next four points and see the set out, 25-21.
The fifth was deadlocked 10-10 when Stout came through with consecutive blocks to erase an early deficit, but Wright State again had the answer out of a timeout, scoring five straight points to win the match.
Rohling led the way offensively with 18 kills, while Lily Liekweg set a new season high with 23 digs. Morgan Weber had 22 digs of her own, and Kayce Litzau delivered 48 assists and four service aces.
South Dakota 3, South Florida 0 – Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of South Florida Bulls (6-6) fell to the University of South Dakota on Saturday afternoon to wrap up its home weekend invitational and final non-conference match of the season.
Kelsey O'Loughlin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Amiree Hendricks-Walker (Los Angeles, Ca.) were named to the Bulls Volleyball Invitational All-Tournament Team after South Florida went 2-1 on the weekend.
CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas), Tizi Puljiz (Resistencia, Arentina) and Marta Cvitkovic (Rijeka, Croatia) each conquered new career milestones in Saturday's setback. Clausen, who recently broke the program career record for digs (1,747), concluded the weekend with her 101st service ace, Cvitkovic floored her 700th kill and Puljiz posted her 110th career block. Cvitkovic is also only 56 digs away from 1,000 total digs.
South Dakota claimed the weekend finale match by set scores of 25-18, 25-20, 25-22.
Maria Clara Andrade (São Paulo, Brazil) paced the team with 12 kills and five digs. Puljiz and Hendricks-Walker had five kills and four blocks a piece. The Bulls saw a total of 36 kills throughout the three-set seesaw battle against the Coyotes.
O'Loughlin and Tatiana Johnson (Frederick, Md.) posted 14 and 13 assists, respectively.
Clausen led the back row with 10 total digs.
Xavier 3, Cincinnati 2 – Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The University of Cincinnati volleyball team suffered a five-set loss to rival Xavier in the Queen City Classic on Saturday night at the Cintas Center.
The Bearcats conclude non-conference play with a record of 2-8. Cincinnati will now turn its attention to its AAC slate, scheduled to begin at Tulane on Sept. 23.
Cincinnati hit a season-best .286 behind a career-high 67 assists from freshman setter Caroline Endres. Her 67 assists are tied for the seventh-most in a match in the rally scoring era in program history. Three players finished with double-digit kills, including a match-high 20 kills from sophomore Abby Walker, who hit at a .390 clip.
Freshman Avry Tatum put down a career-high 18 kills at a .293 clip to go along with three blocks. Sophomore Shaye Eggleston registered her first double-double as a Bearcat with season bests in kills (14) and digs (17).
Along with Eggleston, seniors Payton Frederick (15) and Maria Tobergte (13) finished with double-digit digs.
Oregon State 3, Tulane 1 – Box Score
LSU 3, Tulane 0 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS, La.- The Tulane volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday to Oregon State and LSU to end their non-conference slate. They fell in four sets to Oregon State before being swept by LSU.
In the first match, Senior Amarachi Osuji and graduate student Melissa Kolurbasi led the Green Wave with 10 kills each. Senior Kate Van Houten took control of the leader board for Tulane with 33 assists and senior Jillian Dits paced Tulane with 19 digs.
In the second match, Tulane hit .170 in the match, while the Tigers countered with a .330 hitting percentage. Graduate student Kayla Kaiser led the Green Wave with 9 kills, hitting at .250 and tallying 9.5 points for Tulane. Senior Jillian Dits led Tulane with 9 digs and graduate student Melissa Kolurbasi counted 3 blocks to top the leaderboard.
Houston 3, High Point 1 - Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas – The University of Houston volleyball team wrapped up its non-conference slate with a hard-fought win over a good High Point team on Sunday in Fertitta Center 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22).
Houston (9-2) ends conference play with a 4-1 record against Power 5 teams and receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll. The Cougars enter American Athletic Conference play perfect at home (4-0) and just one road loss (2-1), at top ranked Texas.
For the fifth time this season, graduate Isabel Theut led Houston with 20 kills on a robust .457 percentage. The 20 kills matches her career-high set at Mississippi State earlier this season.
In a 6-2 offense, Houston's setters Morgan Janda and Annie Cooke dished out 48 assists, guiding the Cougars to a .200 attacking clip in the match.
For the eighth time this season, junior Kate Georgiades wrangled in 20 digs. Georgiades' highlight moment came on set point in the third set, recording her fourth career-kill, and first of 2022.
High Point (7-6) dropped its third match in a row after falling at Texas