Box Score BOWLING GREEN, Ky.
- For a team that played with so much passion and emotion for the entire
season, it was no surprise that the 2012 volleyball Trojans ended their season
with so much heart.
UALR (13-14), put up a valiant effort after losing the first
two sets, but Arkansas State (19-13) claimed a wild fourth set in a 25-23,
25-18, 22-25, 30-28 win in Thursday night's Sun Belt Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals final match.
Senior Eva Xie put
up quite the final match in a Trojan uniform, recording 21 kills with only
three errors on 48 swings (.375 hitting percentage). SBC Player of the Year Edina Begic finished with her 21st
double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Marleen de Zoete contributed a double-double
of her own with 51 assists, 15 digs to go along with four kills with no errors on
nine attacks (.444 percent).
Senior Emily Pepperman, the school's all-time leader in digs, ended her career by
leading UALR is bumps with 15. Sophomore Adisa Hodzic added 12 kills and five blocks.
Arkansas State was led by setter Allison Kearney's
double-double of 66 assists and 12 digs. Kelsey Sullivan matched Xie's 21 kills
while Jasmine Terry added 16 spikes. Megan Baska contributed a match-high 17
digs.
Both teams hotly contested a first set where Arkansas State never
took a lead of more than two. Tied at
18, Sullivan added a kill and a Hodzic attack error gave the Red Wolves a
critical service break. UALR broke right back when a service error and a
setting error on Arkansas State knotted the match again at 20. UALR actually
took a 22-21 lead on kills by Hodzic and Xie, but both teams sided out the next
three points as the match was tied at 23. A senior Sawyer Schaedig attack error and a Terry kill ended the set and
gave ASU the 1-0 lead.
Set two saw UALR gradually fall behind when it could not
force the initial sideout off of Arkansas State's serve. With UALR up 5-4,
Kearney added a kill and two Trojans errors put ASU up 7-5. Both teams sided
out followed by a Terry kill gave ASU another break point. UALR could never
catch up as ASU took the second set by seven to go up 2-0.
UALR came out strong after break and gave ASU a match. With
the Trojans down 13-12, Hodzic tied the match with a kill and a Begic spike and
a Pepperman ace put UALR up 15-13. ASU pulled with 20-19, but a Begic kill and
a pair of Arkansas State attack errors gave UALR back a four-point lead. The
Red Wolves fought back within 23-22 to force a UALR timeout. A Xie kill and a
Xie-senior Daniele Souza Moura block
sent the match to the fourth.
UALR had a 15-14 advantage in the fourth before a Xie kill
and an ASU error put the Trojans up by three. Both teams traded the next four
points until UALR went up two more breaks thanks to an ASU attack error and a
Hodzic kill. ASU answered with a 6-1 run to tie the match at 22. UALR actually
went on set point thank to a pair of Xie kills, but ASU rebuffed both set
points to tie the match. The Trojans took had three opportunities to end the
match on its own serve, but a kill by Kearney on an overpass and a Terry stuff
put ASU on set point up 28-27. UALR fought back to tie the match, but a Terry
and Kelsey Sullivan kill ended the match.
UALR finishes the season 13-14, was 9-5 in the
Sun Belt to claim the West Division title and boasted its first SBC Player of
the Year in
Edina Begic in four
seasons.
