CANYON, Texas -- The No. 6 Lady Buffs claimed their 18th consecutive win this season and clinched the program's 18th Lone Star Conference Championship in the process as they swept the No. 17 Rambelles (25-20, 25-23, 25-22) in front of 887 fans at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" on Friday night. The Lady Buffs move to 24-3 (13-0 LSC) while the Belles fall to 19-7 (11-3 LSC) on the season.
The victory is also big in the national picture as the Lady Buffs, who were ranked fourth in the regional rankings released on Wednesday afternoon, move to 24-1 in the South Central Region while the topped ranked Belles move to 18-4 in-region.
The Lady Buffs were led offensively by Lauren Bevan with 13 kills followed by Laura Iwuchukwu with 10 kills and Halie Harton/Lexi Davis with nine each. Kameryn Hayes led the team with 36 assists on the night while Lauren Britten tallied 18 digs while Harton had 13.
WT hit .239 as a team with 14 attack errors and 11.5 total blocks on the night while the Belles hit .147 with 24 attack errors and just 2.0 blocks in the match.
The Belles were led offensively by Arielle Bond with 13 kills followed by Maddie Huth with 10 and Courtney Bartusiak with eight. Maggi Jo Keffury dished out a match high 41 assist on the night while Shelby Wilt led all players with 24 digs.
No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul Bemidji State
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Concordia-St. Paul (25-1, 17-0 NSIC) extended its winning streak to 23 overall and 31 in NSIC play with a three-set win against Bemidji State (5-20, 1-16 NSIC) on Friday night. The nation's best offensive unit hit .400 in the match and held BSU to just a .120 attack percentage. The Golden Bears have now won 25 in a row against the Beavers.
Kayla Koenecke picked up her 15th double-double on the season with 10 kills and 10 digs as she hit .417 in the match. Amanda Konetchy assisted on 43 of the 51 kills for CU as she added to her nation-leading average of 13.14 assist per set coming into the match. Erienne Lauersdorf had a big night for the Golden Bears with a match-high 14 kills with a .522 attack percentage. She also chipped in six digs, three blocks and two aces.
No. 2 Tampa 3, Eckerd 1
TAMPA, Fla. -- Rolling its way to another conference victory, No. 2 Tampa defeated visiting Eckerd 3-1 on Friday evening (25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16).
With the win the Spartans earn their 30th consecutive Sunshine State Conference contest win and improve to a perfect 11-0 in conference play this season. UT’s overall record now stands at 24-1 while the Tritons dip to 16-9 with a 7-5 tally in SSC contests.
Reigning SSC Defensive Player of the Week Jessica Wagner continued to be a wall at the net, notching eight blocks and grounding six kills. Tampa totaled 11 blocks as a team in the four-set triumph.
Outside hitter Berkley Whaley pummeled the Tritons for 21 kills at a .318 attack percentage. The sophomore added nine digs, five blocks and three service aces for her dominant performance. Senior Holly Reschke and sophomore Marissa Lisenbee reached double digit kills, as the duo grounded 13 and 12 respectively, the latter at an impressive .474 clip.
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth 3, Winona State 0
WINONA, Minn. -- The Bulldogs withstood the assault and eventually bombarded the Warriors in consecutive sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-22) to extend their winning ways, winning six in-a-row and 12 of their last 13. WSU stifled UMD in the opening set, hopping out to a 16-11 lead. Head coach Jim Boos called timeout to collect his team, and they responded to take first set. The Bulldogs ran away with the second set but found themselves in a tightly contested third set. Leading 17-16, the Bulldogs ultimately closed out the final game, notching their 20th sweep of the 2013 campaign.
UMD held the Warriors' offense to a .142 hitting average but also struggled offensively committed 19 errors. Junior libero Julie Rainey led the squad with 23 digs defensively that featured three other Bulldogs with double digit digs. Kate Lange scooped up another double-double with 22 kills and 17 digs. Lange, a native of Hibbing, Minn., also registered five blocks.
No. 4 BYU-Hawaii 3, Cal Baptist 0
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Staying in control for all three sets, No. 4 BYU-Hawaii took care of Cal Baptist in three sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) on Friday night.
The Seasiders improve to 22-1 on the season and 17-1 in the Pacific West Conference to sit atop the standings. BYU-Hawaii has won 15 in a row.
Lacy Miyahira posted 10 kills with a solid .474 hitting percentage, Ying Chun (Michelle) Chenhad 35 assists and four aces while Shih Ting (Stella) Chen led the match with 21 kills.
No. 5 Central Missouri 3, Missouri Western 2
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Central Missouri forced set five against Missouri Western to win their 27th match of the season. The Jennies came back after losing set two and three to win the match, 25-21, 21-25,21-25, 25-17, 15-13. The Jens had 64 kills and 10 blocks in the match.
Annie Reilly had 20 digs, seven assists, and a kill in the match. Julia Bates had 42 assists, eleven digs, for her third double-double of the season. Bates also had three serving aces in the match. Taylor Goodness had 17 kills, with a .353 hitting percentage, and a block assist. Carly Sojka had 20 kills, and a block assist. Maddie Jones had seven kills, and eight blocks. Thompson had eight kills and two block assists in the match.
No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State 3, Minot State 0
MARSHALL, Minn. -- Claire Sames denied Minot State's last three attack attempts to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a four-point rally in set three to seal the set and match. The Mustangs won by set scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-20 to take their second match against MISU this season. Sames, SMSU's leading blocker, finished the match with six block assists and one solo denial. She now has 62 block assists and 17 solos on the season.
Abbey Thissen led SMSU (19-6, 14-3 NSIC) offensively as she tallied a match-high 15 kills on 27 attempts (.370%). Whitney Burmeister chipped in with 11 kills on 28 attacks.
With the loss, MISU dropped to 12-15 overall, 7-10 in the NSIC, but still remains in the hunt for a berth into the NSIC conference tournament.
No. 9 Wingate 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 2
HICKORY, N.C. -- Ninth-ranked Wingate never trailed in the fifth set, claiming a 3-2 South Atlantic Conference volleyball victory against Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday night in Shuford Gymnasium. The Bulldogs win their 19th consecutive match, improving to 22-2 overall and 18-0 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne slips to 13-9 overall and 10-8 in the SAC. Both teams are ranked in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region.
Wingate plays its third five-set match of the season and its first since Sept. 6, when the Bulldogs won back-to-back marathons against Hillsdale and then-No. 9 Indianapolis at the Concordia-St. Paul tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne has lost four consecutive five-setters to SAC foes. The Bears are 2-7 overall in five-set matches this season.
Wingate junior middle blocker Lexi Potter led the Bulldogs with her .452 hitting percentage. She had 18 kills and only four errors in 31 swings. Sophomore outside hitter Shelly Stumpff posted 17 kills and a .389 hitting percentage. The .389 output is her second-best night of the season; the 2012 SAC Freshman of the Year hit .500 in limited action at Coker. Stumpff added 12 digs.
