ORLANDO, Fla. – UNCG narrowly lost an extremely tight first set, 31-29, and was never able to recover as the Spartans fell to South Florida, 3-0 (31-29, 25-20, 25-16), on Sunday at the UCF Invitational.
The Spartans fell to 4-7 on the year, while the Bulls improved to 3-5.
Karrian Chambers led the Spartan attack on Sunday as she had a team-high 12 kills and added 11 digs for the lone UNCG double-double. Ariel Newman also added nine kills and Kellie Orewiler had a match-high 17 digs.
Valerie El Houssine had a match-high 17 kills and registered a .368 hitting percentage for South Florida and J'beria Davis added 11 kills herself.
The opening set was a wild one as there were 17 ties and eight lead changes. USF had two set points with a 24-22 lead late in the set, but UNCG got a kill from Newman and Morgan Freeman to tie the set at 24.
South Florida also had set point at 25-24 and 26-25 and weren't able to close out UNCG. The Spartans fought back to have set point of their own at 27-26, 28-27 and 29-28, but like the Bulls they weren't able to win the set. USF then took advantage of back-to-back errors by UNCG before registering a service ace to win the set, 31-29.
The second set was another tight one that saw 10 ties and five lead changes between the two teams. A kill by Freeman late in the set gave the Spartans a 19-18 advantage, but the Bulls answered with four straight points to go in front for good as they won the set, 25-20.
The Bulls never trailed in the final set of the match as they cruised to winning the last set, 25-16, to win the match, 3-0.
UNCG will return home next weekend as it hosts Memphis, Radford and Howard for the second annual Spartan Spiketacular.
AGATE
USF def. UNCG 31-29, 25-20, 25-16
USF (3-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - EL HOUSSINE, Valerie 17-6-3; DAVIS, J'beria 11-1-4; WALTON, Kayla 6-0-3; RODRIGUEZ GOMEZ, And 5-0-7; ROZIER, Kimika 1-0-4; BREEN, Caitlyn 0-0-1; Totals 40-7-12.0. (Assists) - DAILEY, Shelbie 34. (Dig leaders) - RIVERA, Janice 15; CABRERA, Claudia 9
UNCG (4-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Karrian Chambers 12-0-1; Ariel Newman 9-0-1; Morgan Freeman 6-3-0; Chelsea Evans 5-0-0; Kelsey Sidney 5-0-2; Vicky Harley 2-0-2; Sarah Eldridge 1-0-0; Ari Lysacek 1-0-0; Totals 41-3-3.0. (Assists) - Sarah Eldridge 21; Ari Lysacek 11. (Dig leaders) - Kellie Orewiler 17; Karrian Chambers 11
Site: Orlando, Fla. (The Venue at UCF)
Date: Sep 11, 2011 Attend: Time: 1:32
Referees: Terry Bush, Tony Hines
- UNCG -
