MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Continuing its Sunshine State Conference streak, No. 2 Tampa swept Florida Tech in consecutive sets. The win gives the Spartans a 22-1 season record with a 9-0 tally in conference matches while the hosting Panthers dip to 14-9 overall with a 4-5 mark in SSC play.
Tampa has won 29 consecutive conference matchups dating back to Oct. 29th, 2011.
The Spartan offense was led by sophomore duo Marissa Lisenbee and Berkley Whaley, as the twosome grounded seven kills apiece. Outside hitter Holly Reschke swatted an errorless six kills while middle blockers Meagan Burke and Jessica Wagner notched five kills.
Setting tandem Gina Clarke and Kahley Patrick paced the offense to a .337 team hitting percentage while the latter Patrick spun a double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs.
No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul 3, Minnesota State-Moorhead
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (23-1, 15-0 NSIC) came from behind for a four-set victory against Minnesota State-Moorhead (14-9, 7-8 NSIC) on Friday night. The Golden Bears extend their 2013 season winning streak to 21 matches and pushed the program's NSIC winning streak to 29.
The Golden Bears have also won eight consecutive against the Dragons and 23 out of the last 24 in the series between the teams.
Concordia sophomore Heather Schiller connected on kills on her first 11 swings in the match, finishing with 12 kills at an .800 clip in 15 attempts. She added five total blocks (two solo).
Senior right side Kayla Koenecke delivered a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs, adding seven assists. The 13 kills push her over 1,500 for her career (1,504) and the 11 digs bring her to 1,264. It was her 13th double-double on the year.
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth 3, Sioux Falls (S.D.) 0
Duluth, Minn. -- Minnesota-Duluth made quick work of another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival, defeating the Sioux Falls in consecutive sets at Romano Gym on Friday night.
The No. 3 Bulldogs improve to 23-2 (13-2 NSIC) after hitting a monstrous .452 on the night. Five UMD players had six or more kills and none of them hit below .357. Senior outside hitter Kate Lange led the way with 13 kills and three blocks. No Bulldog may have had a better night as junior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin, who notched seven kills without an error to hit .777 on the night.
Sophomore setter Ashley Hinsch collected 37 assists on the night. On the defensive end, junior libero Julie Rainey hauled in 15 digs. The Bulldogs totalled seven blocks while holding the Cougars (14-10, 6-9 NSIC) to a .152 hitting percentage on the night. Sydnie Mauch led the way for UMD with five total blocks while also adding eight kills.
No. 4 Central Missouri 3, Southwest Baptist 1
BOLIVAR, Mo -- Central Missouri beat Southwest Baptist for the second time this season on Friday night at the Meyer Sports & Wellness Center. The Jennies beat the Bearcats 25-9, 25-12, 23-25, 25-19.
The Jennies (24-1, 10-1 MIAA) took a 5-0 lead to start the set, Maddie Jones with a kill and two blocks. The Bearcats (14-11, 4-8 MIAA) won two points before the Jennies scored four more points in a row to take a 9-2 lead. The Jennies maintained the lead through the set, and won five points in a row to finished the set at 25-9.
Julia Bates had 48 assists in the match, with four kills, two blocks, and a serving ace. Carly Sojka had her fifth double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 11 digs. taylor Goodness had the most kills on the team with 16 total kills, and hit .361 through the match.
No. 6 West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico
CANYON, Texas -- West Texas A&M took the opening set 25-8 and never looked back as the registered their 21st consecutive home victory behind Lexi Davis' .917 hitting percentage to tie the single match school record. With the sweep of the rival Zias of Eastern New Mexico (25-8, 25-11, 25-16), the Lady Buffs move to 22-3 (12-0 LSC) on the season to remain alone atop the Lone Star Conference standings as the lone remaining unbeaten while the Zias fall to 5-16 (3-9 LSC) on the season.
"Another pretty big win, I thought we played pretty well offensively and stayed within the system" WT head coach Jason Skoch said. "Lexi had a big night like we expect from her every match, now we have a short turnaround for a good Southern Nazarene team tomorrow afternoon."
The win lifts the Lady Buffs to 60-11 all-time against Eastern New Mexico with WT taking the past 15 meetings dating back to the 2004 season. The win also gives WT its 16th consecutive win this season including their 15th sweep with seven of those coming against LSC opponents.
No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney 3, Pittsburg State 2
KEARNEY, Neb. -- The 7th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team had to dig deep for a win Friday night against Pittsburg State.
Against the new-look Gorillas, UNK not only won the fourth set but also scored nine of the last 12 points to win in five sets (25-16, 21-25, 22-25, 25-12, 25-12).
To improve to 23-3 (9-2), the Lopers had to come back from a 9-6 deficit in the final set. Senior outside Ashley Leitner had three of her 19 kills in a closing 9-3 run with freshman middle Bailey Sokolowski recording two of her seven kills in this stretch.
This pair also combined on a block that made the score 14-10. Senior middle Katie Sokolowski then finished the match with her 11th kill of the night.
No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State 3, St. Cloud State 0
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Southwest Minnesota State swept its tenth opponent of the season on Friday night when the Mustangs defeated St. Cloud State by scores of 25-15, 25-23, 25-23. With the win, Terry Culhane secured his 254th career win which ties Jeri Madden's mark for second most in SMSU all-time history.
The win was SMSU's 13th consecutive win against the Huskies as the Mustangs haven't suffered a loss at the hands of SCSU since Nov. 9, 2004.
SMSU combined to hit .265 in the three sets with Abbey Thissen leading the way with 20 kills. Thissen finished the match with a .500 hitting percentage as she collected 20 kills on 36 attempts and just two errors. Claire Sames followed with 11 kills on 21 attacks (.429).
No. 9 Wingate 3, Carson-Newman 1
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Wingate dropped the opening set at Carson-Newman on Friday night, but rallied back to win the match 3-1 in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. The Bulldogs won by scores of 11-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-19 to improve to 20-2 overall and 16-0 in the SAC. Wingate has now won 17 consecutive matches this season and 31 straight SAC matches dating back to last year. Carson-Newman falls to 9-14 overall and 4-12 in the SAC.
Junior outside hitter Susie Murach had 11 kills and 11 digs to lead the Wingate attack. Redshirt senior right-side hitter Anna Hilton added 10 kills, 14 digs and four blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Shelly Stumpff had nine kills and six digs. Junior middle blocker Lexi Potter hit .500 with eight kills, adding a pair of blocks. Redshirt junior setter Alison Cooke piled up 28 assists, nine digs and five kills, while junior libero Stephanie Tassone added 14 digs.
