Nov. 15, 2008

Box Score |Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - Southern Miss placed four players in double-digit kills as the Golden Eagles came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat UCF in five-set thriller, 3-2 (24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 16-14), to Conference USA-foe UCF Saturday night.

With the win, Southern Miss improved to 17-12 on the season, with a 7-9 record in C-USA play, while UCF fell to 14-16 and 6-10.

Angela Hlavaty led the group with a team-high 17 kills to go with 11 digs, while Ashley Petrinec finished with 15 kills, Lauren Sears had 12 kills and Stevi Cherry chipped in 11 kills in the contest. Junior Maia Ivanova tallied a season and match-high 30 digs.

The Knights took an early 5-1 lead in the opening set, eventually going up as many as seven points, 17-10, before Southern Miss went on a 13-6 run to even the set, 23-23. UCF got a kill, giving the Knights the lead. The Golden Eagles tied the set again with a kill, but two-consecutive errors by Southern Miss gave UCF the opening-set victory, 26-24.

UCF jumped out to an 11-3 lead to open the second set behind three-straight service aces by Andrea Youngblood. The Knights led by as many as nine points, 21-12, near the end of the set, before a 6-0 run by the Golden Eagles cut UCF's lead to three. UCF got three consecutive kills, capping off the set for a 25-21 win and a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The third set featured nine ties and seven lead changes with both teams trading points early on. The Golden Eagles held a three-point advantage before UCF used an 8-3 run to go up, 15-13. The set was tied at 18-18 when Southern Miss ended the set on a 7-2 run to win, 25-20.

Southern Miss took the lead early and UCF could not get any closer than three points during the set. The Golden Eagles cruised to a 25-19 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.

In the fifth and final set, UCF popped out to a 3-1 and held on until Southern Miss managed to tie the set at 6-6. From there, both teams traded points and leads down the stretch. With the set tied at 14-14, Southern Miss finished the match when UCF had an attack error and Sears ended the set with a kill for a 16-14 win.

Both teams were evenly matched throughout the contest, with each squad totaling 66 kills on 178 attacks. UCF controlled the match in digs, aces, assists and blocks. The difference in the contest came down to errors, with UCF totaling 33 errors to only 24 for the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss will now prepare for the Conference USA Championship, Nov. 20-23, in Memphis, Tenn.