Volleyball advances to 2nd round of SLC tourney

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

NACOGDOCHES – After a slow start, No. 2-seed Lamar University dominated games three and four to post a 3-1 win over No. 7-seed Nicholls State in the opening round of the 2008 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament at Johnson Coliseum.

            Lamar (15-11), who won by scores of 25-27, 27-25, 25-14 and 25-16, will face No. 6-seed McNeese State Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first of two semifinal matches. The Cowgirls posted a 3-0 upset of No. 3-seed Texas-San Antonio in Friday’s first match.

            “It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win,†said Lamar volleyball coach Justin Gibert. “I thought we executed pretty well in the first game, but we were a little flat. We need to play with more energy.

            “We pulled out a win in game two and that gave us a spark. We just overpowered and dominated them in games three and four.â€

            The Cardinals hit a respectable .244 in game one compared to .308 by Nicholls State. However, the Colonels had seven more kills on the strength of five more digs in claiming a 27-25 win in game one.

            Leading 24-20, Lamar served for the game. The Colonels reeled off four straight points to tie the game at 24-24 and outscored the Cardinals 7-1 to end the game.

            Nicholls State led 18-12 in game two before Lamar started to rally. The Cardinals went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 20-20. A solo block by Ashley Todd tied the game at 24-24. Back-to-back kills by Kaci Brewer and Megan Adams put Lamar up 26-25. The Cardinals claimed a 27-25 win on a double block by Adams and Lauren Holdorff.

            Lamar rolled to a 25-14 win in game three despite hitting just .103. The Cardinals defense, combined with 10 Colonel hitting errors, limited Nicholls to a negative .08 hitting percentage.

            Game four was tightly contested until Lamar put together an 8-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. The Cardinals cruised from there to post a 25-16 win. Brewer and Shalayne Blythe each posted four kills, and Todd added 11 assists and seven digs.

            Adams and Brewer each recorded double-doubles for the Cardinals. Adams had 12 kills and 18 digs while Brewer contributed 12 kills and 15 digs. Blythe led the team with 13 kills and posted a .458 hitting percentage. Todd passed out 28 assists and had 15 digs. Bailey Smith also had 18 digs for the Cardinals.

            “I thought Adrianne Meengs did a good job setting in game one, but Ashley just gives us a little more energy from the setter position and the team responds to that energy,†said Gibert. “Megan had a very balanced game today and Shalayne really dominated at the net, especially in games three and four.â€

            Lamar was the top-seed in last year’s tournament, but bowed out in the semifinals. The Cardinals are likely to need a more inspired effort Saturday against McNeese State to avoid a similar fate.

            “McNeese is very similar to Nicholls, so I think today’s match was good for us in that respect,†commented Gibert. “I want to see us come out with energy early in the match. We are more talented than them offensively, and they are very good defensively. If we can play with a lot of energy and avoid silly mistakes, we should be able to move on to the championship game.â€

[Guest abovetherim]

Congratulations, let's keep it going!

[UNLV]

SHSU beat SFA...

Lamar vs Mcneese

Texas st vs SHSU

[Guest abovetherim]

Thanks for the post UNLV. That is huge news.