LITTLE ROCK — VOLLEYBALL ASU eliminates UALR
No. 5 seed Arkansas State eliminated No. 4 UALR 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 30-28 Thursday night in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Bowling Green, Ky.
Allison Kearney finished with 66 assists and 12 digs. Megan Baska had 17 digs for the Red Wolves (19-13), who won their first Sun Belt Tournament match since 2000.
UALR (13-14) was led by Emily Pepperman and Marleen de Zoete, who each had 15 digs.
ASU will face top-seeded Western Kentucky in a semifinal match at 6:30 p.m. today.
Harding advances in GAC Tournament
Junior outside hitter Mollie Arnold had 20 kills to lead topseeded Harding to a 25-4, 25-20, 25-9 sweep of Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday at the Great American Conference Tournament in Searcy.
It is the fourth time this season Arnold has had 20 or more kills in a match for Harding (26-6). She also had 13 digs. Lisa Copeland led the Lady Bisons with 20 digs and Taryn Eubank added 16.
Southeastern Oklahoma State, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, was led by sophomore outside hitter Emily Gentle’s six kills.
Arkansas Tech sweeps UAM
Kaitlyn White led Arkansas Tech with 14 kills, while Brittany Ryan and Sara Motsinger had nine each, to lead the Golden Suns to a 25-13, 25-5, 25-20 sweep of Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday in Searcy.
In the second set, Arkansas Tech (26-9) scored 15 consecutive points on the serve of junior Amber Cerillos, who ended the match with seven aces.
Amy Kleypas led Arkansas-Monticello (11-24) with seven kills and 13 digs. Holly Schweigert and Christina Rini had five kills each.
SAU edges East Central
Senior Courtney Smith had 15 kills and junior Denise De Vine had 11 kills and 13 digs to lead Southern Arkansas to a 25-22, 12-25, 15-25, 25-18, 15-11 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Thursday in Searcy.
Klaire Blasco Vine had 35 assists for the Muleriders (23-11), Lauren Woods had a match-high 18 digs and Courtney Geesing had 11 digs and nine kills.
Noelle Cope and Tatiana Booth had 16 kills each to lead Ouachita Baptist (10-23). Danielle Essix added 13 kills.
Arkansas-Fort Smith duo honored
Arkansas-Fort Smith senior Heidi Luks and Coach Jane Sargent were honored by the Heartland Conference on Thursday as its player and coach of the year.
Luks, who was named the conference’s hitter of the week seven times, led the conference in hitting percentage, kills and blocks. She was also seventh in the conference in digs.
Sargent led the Lady Lions to their second-most regular-season victories and fewest losses since joining NCAA Division II in 2009. It was the first season in which Arkansas-Fort Smith earned a national ranking in Division II and earned its highest region ranking.
Junior Jordan Pickett also earned a spot on the 15-player all-conference team. She was second on the team with 3.23 kills per set.
John Brown players earn honor
John Brown freshman outside hitter Audrey Dearien, junior middle blocker Erin McIlroy, junior outside hitter Staci Williamson and junior setter Kailey Bain all earned All-Sooner Conference honors Thursday.
Dearien, who is also a finalist for the Sooner Conference Freshman of the Year award, was a first-team selection after leading the team in kills and total attacks. McIlroy was a secondteam selection who had 286 kills and 118 blocks. Williamson and Bain were honorable mention selections.
Sports, Pages 26 on 11/16/2012