Adams, Hilligas Reach 1,000 Digs as Ole Miss, Iowa State Win in Ames

  0 Wendy Mayer | August 25th, 2018 | ACC, Big 12, College - Women's Indoor, News, Pac 12, SEC

Iowa State Challenge

  • Ames, Iowa
  • Aug. 24-25, 2018

Iowa State, Ole Miss and Oregon State each got their first win of 2018 under their belts at the Iowa State Challenge on Friday in a mixed bag of results.

Ole Miss def. Virginia 3-1

Key Stats: A dominant serving effort helped Ole Miss rally past Virginia in four sets. The Rebels outdid the Cavaliers 10-3 from the end line to overcome deficits in hitting percentage (.199 to .125), kills (55-49) and blocks (12-9).

Virginia hit .343 in the opening set and .294 in Set 3, despite losing 25-23. Ole Miss hit .172 in Set 1 and trended down from there to a .073 effort in the finale. Fifteen service errors hurt the Wahoo cause.

Stat Leaders: Emily Stroup posted a 21-kill, 11-dig double-double and added a team-best three aces and three blocks to lead the Rebels. Aubrey Sultemeier followed with 11 kills on a team-best .333 hitting effort and put up a match-high six blocks. Caroline Adams joined the 1,000-dig club with 24 saves in the match.

Three Cavalier players managed double-digit kill tallies: Sarah Billiard (14), Alex Spencer (11) and Jelena Novakovic (10). Kat Young (9) and Chino Anukwuem (8) were right behind. Young hit at a match-best .368 clip and added five blocks, while Anukwuem put up six stuffs.

How It Happened: Ole Miss led 9-5 in Set 1 only to see it slip away as Virginia went up 18-16 and held on for victory. In Set 2, the Rebels built a 14-8 lead and, despite a Cavalier charge to tie it up at 16, managed to pull out the 25-20 win as five UVa errors piled up down the stretch.

Virginia cracked into a 13-9 Ole Miss lead in Set 3, tying it up at 14 and 19 before grabbing a 20-19 lead on back to back kills by Billiard. Down 23-22, the Rebels looked to Stroup, who provided two kills, and an ace by Caitlin Wernentin, to seal the 25-23 win.

The Cavaliers led 9-6 in Set 3, before a string of four ties, last at 13. Ole Miss took over from there with a 5-1 run to make it 19-14. Virginia tied it up at 21 and 22 and thwarted two Rebel match point tries to tie it at 24. UVA had its own set point try at 26-25, but couldn’t convert. Ole Miss eventually won on its eighth attempt as Wernentin and Sultemeier put up a final block.

 

Oregon State def. Virginia 3-2

Key Stats: Oregon State rallied to take the final two sets in a five-set battle with Virginia, despite being outhit in both stanzas. The Beavers, which was buoyed by a .654 hitting effort in Set 2, hit .207 for the match, while the Cavaliers managed a .172 clip. OSU also boasted a 63-54 lead in kills, 15-7 advantage in blocks and a 4-3 edge in aces.

Stat Leaders: Oregon State started transfers Allison Hughes and Amy Underdown as well as redshirt freshman Lindsey Schell in the match. Schell impacted the match with 16 kills and seven blocks, while Underdown turned in a 14-kill, 12-dig double-double. Maddie Goings led the team with 17 putaways.

Sarah Billiard posted a match-high 19 kills, but hit just .145. Jelena Novakovic (13) and Chino Anukwuem (10) followed. Anukwuem hit at a .500 clip and put up six blocks, while setter Megan Wilson turned in a 47-assist, 10-dig double-double.

How It Happened: The Beavers trailed 11-7 in Set 4, but rallied to tie it at 12 and took their first lead of the stanza at 21-19. Two blocks by Underdown and Schell and two Goings putaways sealed the 25-22 win and sent the match to a decisive fifth set.

In the tiebreak, Oregon State jumped ahead 3-0 only to see Virginia score nine of the next 11, including four OSU miscues,  for a 9-5 advantage. The Beavers answered with a 7-1 run, including three Underdown putaways, to push in front 12-10. The Cavaliers called timeout and tie it at 12, setting off a string of four ties, last at 15. Oregon State won it on their fourth match-point try, following two Goings kills and a Virginia hitting error.

Iowa State def. Ole Miss 3-0

Key Stats: The Cyclones hit at a .433 clip for the match, while holding the Rebels to a .104 effort. Five aces and a 45-29 lead in kills also aided Iowa State. ISU hit .353 in the opening stanza and only got better from there, following with .500 and .469 clips.

Stat Leaders: Grace Lazard turned in 11 kills and a team-best three aces, while hitting at a .550 clip (11-0-20) for Iowa State. Eleanor Holthaus tacked on 10 putaways at an eye-popping .714 clip (10-0-14) and Jess Schaben chipped in 10 kills. Hali Hillegas posted a match-high 17 digs and two aces, becoming the 15th Cyclone to reach the 1,000-dig milestone.

Emily Stroup was the top scorer for Ole Miss, posting her second double-double of the day with 12 kills and 12 digs. Stroup’s nearest help came from Caitlin Wernentin‘s six putaways.

How It Happened: Iowa State pulled away in the second half of Set 1, outscoring Ole Miss 8-5 down the stretch with help from three hitting errors.

The Cyclones boasted a 16-9 lead midway through Set 2 and put their foot on the gas from there, scoring seven straight, including three Lazard putaways, to vault ahead 23-10. A hitting error clinched the 25-11 win.

Trailing 5-3 in Set 3, Iowa State turned it on care of three Lazard aces and two Candelaria Herrera kills, jumping out to a 12-5 lead. Down 24-13, Ole Miss made a late charge to extend the match, scoring six straight, three on ISU miscues, prompting an Iowa State timeout. Hannah Bailey scored out of the break to wrap up the win.

Leave a Reply

avatar

About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

Read More »

Don't want to miss anything?

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates!