Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Southern Miss
Southern Miss Outlasts Volleyball, 3-1
11/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University received an 11-kill and 10-block effort from Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad), but Southern Miss received a match-high 13 kills from Stevi Cherry to help pace the Golden Eagles to a 3-1 (18-25, 25-14, 21-25, 18-25) victory over the Thundering Herd in Sunday afternoon's Conference USA volleyball match at the Cam Henderson Center.
With the loss, Marshall falls to 11-14 overall, 4-11 in league action, while Southern Miss improves to 16-12, 6-9 in the conference. Sunday's victory gives the Golden Eagles the regular season sweep of Marshall, and the all-time series is now 5-3 in favor of the Herd.
Leading the contest 2-1, Southern Miss built a 20-11 cushion and extended that lead to 23-14 before three Golden Eagles errors brought the set to 23-17. Angela Hlavaty drilled a kill to give Southern Miss match-point at 24-17. From there, Layne Kehl (Mountain Top, Pa.) smashed her seventh kill of the afternoon to cut the lead to 24-18, but Lauren Sears closed out the contest with her sixth kill.
In the opening stanza, the teams battled to seven ties and a 9-9 score before Southern Miss took a 13-10 lead. After an assisted block from Ross and Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.), the Golden Eagles scored the next five points in a row to push the lead to 18-11. Marshall then used a kill by Elizabeth Herman (Dunwoody, Ga.) and Kehl in addition to a Southern Miss attacking error to cut the deficit to four at 18-14. The Golden Eagles responded by recording six of the next eight points to post a 24-16 edge. A pair of errors by Southern Miss brought the score to 24-18 but a Marshall service error allowed the Golden Eagles to claim the first set 25-18.
The second set saw Marshall soar to a 19-10 lead highlighted by three kills each from Sullivan and Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) as well as three assisted blocks (Ross and Sullivan, Sullivan and Kehl, Ross and Fleming). Hlavaty downed a kill and Sarah Jane Bowden and Cherry teamed on a block to stop the Herd run and cut the gap to seven at 19-12, but Marshall answered with six of the next eight points on the strength of an assisted block by Herman and Ross, a kill by Fleming and four errors by Southern Miss.
With the match tied at 1-1, and the score locked at 11-11 in the third set, Southern Miss used a 13-2 run to post a 24-13 advantage. From there, Marshall rallied for eight straight points, highlighted by a pair of Susan Waldie (Charleston, W.Va.) kills, a kill by Ross, a pair of assisted blocks (Ross and Fleming, Ross and Waldie), and a Marcum service ace to bring the Herd to within three at 24-21. Hlavaty then ended the Marshall comeback with her eighth kill of the match to preserve the 25-21 set three victory and give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 edge in the match.
Ross finished with nine assisted blocks and a solo stuff, while Fleming and Sullivan assisted on four blocks each, as the Herd out-blocked Southern Miss 13.0-6.0.
Sullivan also tallied nine kills, while Kehl chipped in seven to lead the Herd offense. Fleming finished with 33 assists while adding six kills.
Megan Carlson (Andover, Minn.) led the Marshall floor-defense with a match-high 17 kills, while Marcum finished with 10.
Southern Miss setter Kelsea Seymour guided the Golden Eagles offense with a match-best 36 assists and Hlavaty finished with 11 kills in addition to Cherry's 13. The Southern Miss defense was led by Maia Ivanova's 14 digs, while Ashley Petrinec and Seymour dug 13 and 10 balls respectively.
Marshall concludes regular season action, Saturday, Nov. 15 with a home contest against East Carolina. First-serve for senior day is slated for 1:00 p.m. at the Henderson Center and admission is free.
GameTracker will be provided for that match and is available by visiting www.herdzone.com.
Photos from Sunday's match can be viewed by visiting www.herdzone.com.
The C-USA volleyball championship will take place Nov. 20-23, and will be hosted by Memphis. For tickets, visit www.C-USA.org.
