MIAMI, Fla. (11/17/11) – The Arkansas State volleyball team was
eliminated from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon with a
20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 loss to North Texas.
A-State (21-10) jumped out to an early lead in the first set and carried
the momentum to a 25-20 victory, but struggled over the next three sets as the
Mean Green (17-16) advanced to Friday's semifinal match against Middle
Tennessee.
In the first set ASU had strong attacking game led by Jasmine Terry and
built a 20-14 lead. Terry had six of her 14 kills in the set to help the Red
Wolves hit for a .294 hitting percentage. ASU pushed the lead to 23-16, but
North Texas rallied to pull within 23-19 and forced Ingram to take a timeout.
North Texas scored the first point coming out of the timeout, but Taylor
Szypulski pushed the lead to 24-20 with a kill and Allison Kearney put the set
away with a service ace to give ASU a 25-20 first set victory.
ASU struggled in the second set and managed just a .163 hitting
percentage. North Texas, meanwhile, hit for a .375 percentage and tied the
match with a 25-20 victory.
In the third set North Texas quickly built a 15-8 advantage that was too
much for A-State to overcome. Cayla Fielder helped spark an A-State rally that
closed the gap to 20-19, but the Mean Green scored five of the set's final
seven points to take the 25-22 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set ASU rebounded with a .405 hitting percentage, but North
Texas was also impressive with a .390 percentage, but the Red Wolves failed to
convert on key opportunities and ended the set and match with a 25-22 loss.
ASU finished the match with a .264 hitting percentage, but also had 22
attacking errors and 12 service errors. Szypulski led A-State with a match-high
18 kills, while Cayla Fielder added 16 kills. Allison Kearney finished with 47
assists and 22 digs, while Megan Baska had 15 digs and 10 assists.
