Beste's kills and block party & Cagla's maiden voyage
HIGHLIGHTS
Freshman Cagla Bengi made her collegiate debut after her injury and she finished with 18 assists and 7 digs. She added 19 assists and 5 digs the following day, leading her Seton Hall Pirates to an important win against Villanova in Big East Conference action. Beste Ayhan recorded a career-high 10 kills on .667 hitting with no errors and seven blocks. Beste is helping her young UMBC Golden Retrievers to their best season in recent years. Cansu Gunaydin recorded a career-high 3 blocks against Purdue. UNI won against strong MVC rival Loyola on Saturday, and Yagmur Cinel recorded 3 kills and 2 blocks. Bradley has won three straight three-set matches in conference play for the first time since 2003. Doga Topcicek helped in Bradley's victory with 11 digs and 2 aces. UTEP swept Louisiana Tech with Hande’s assists. She had a total of 32 assists this weekend. Ada’s UTRGV Vaqueros dropped the regular season finale at Tarleton and they are starting to prepare for the WAC Conference tournament.
Cagla Bengi
Seton Hall Falls in 5 Sets (03.19.2021)
The Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell to Villanova, 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 14-25, 30-28, 14-16), on Friday.
Freshman Ilieva's (Sofia, Bulgaria - EVE 2018 participant) 20 kills were a match-high. She also had nine digs and three service aces. Ilieva now has two matches with at least 15 kills in her career. Freshman Cagla Bengi (Bursa, Turkey - EVE 2020 participant) made her collegiate debut. She finished with 18 assists and seven digs.
Seton Hall falls to 3-5 overall on the season and 1-4 in the BIG EAST, while Villanova improves to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Pirates dropped to 16-31 all-time against the Wildcats and has now dropped the last six matches in the series.
Seton Hall taking revenge (03.20.2021)
After Friday's loss, Seton Hall took revenge with a gutsy win over Villanova in 5 sets.
The Pirates beat Villanova on Saturday in the fifth set for the second BIG EAST victory of the year, 3-2 (13-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-23, 15-8). Tsvetelina Ilieva (Sofia, Bulgaria) recorded another double-double. Ilieva had a team-best 12 kills to go with 11 digs, four assists and two service aces. Freshman Cagla Bengi recorded 19 assists, 1 ace, 5 digs.
Seton Hall will return to action next weekend to complete the 2021 regular season with a pair of matches at Connecticut on Friday and Saturday. Match time on both days is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.
Yagmur Cinel
UNI Volleyball Picks up 5-Set Victory over Loyola (03.21.2021)
The UNI volleyball team beat the Ramblers of Loyola on Sunday afternoon, winning in 5 sets with set scores of 25-13, 23-25, 25-13, 21-25, 15-6. The match was the 6th five set match of the season for the Panthers. Freshman outside hitter Yagmur Cinel recorded 3 kills and 2 blocks.
The Panthers hit .268 as a team with 66 kills while recording 54 assists, 61 digs and 8 total blocks. The Ramblers hit .125 as a team with 41 kills, 37 assists, 49 digs and 10 total blocks. The Panthers and Ramblers will meet on Monday night, the final home match of the 2021 spring season. The team will honor seniors Kate Busswitz, JJ Seehase, and Tayler Hedges following the match. The match is scheduled to begin at 5 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Panthers Falling to Loyola in 4 Sets (03.22.2021)
The Panthers fell to the Ramblers in 4 sets with scores of 18-25, 25-18, 24-26, 17-25. Freshman Yagmur Cinel finished with 3 kills, 2 digs and 2 blocks. UNI hit .118 for the match, recording 50 kills, 5 aces and 6.5 blocks. The Ramblers finished with 43 kills and hit .201 as a team. The win not only snapped the Ramblers' four-match losing skid, but also was Loyola's first victory over the Panthers in series history. UNI had won the previous 22 meetings between the teams.
The Panthers now look to finish the MVC regular season on the road at Bradley March 27and 28. The Panthers and Braves are set to begin at 3 pm on March 27 and March 28.
Cansu Gunaydin (03.20.2021)
The Rutgers volleyball team fell to No. 10 Purdue
The Rutgers volleyball team fell to No. 10 Purdue on Saturday, 3-0 (15-25, 21-25, 12-25). With Purdue's sixth sweep of the season, the Boilermakers improve to 9-1 in its last 10 matches. Freshman Cansu Gunaydin recorded three blocks in her third set appearance.
Rutgers will meet the Terps in College Park on Wednesday, Mar. 24 in front of the BTN cameras at 7 p.m.
Doga Topcicek (03.21.2021)
Bradley Keeps Sweeping
The Bradley volleyball team swept Missouri State on the road, 25-17, 25-21, 25-16, on Sunday afternoon. The three-set win for Bradley is its first against Missouri State since 1999 and just the second in school history in Springfield. Overall, Bradley has won three-straight three-set matches in conference play for the first time since 2003 and has won its last 12 sets overall. Freshman Doga Topcicek recorded 1 assist, 2 aces, 11 digs.
Bradley Lost the Winning Streak (03.22.2021)
The Bradley volleyball team lost a four-match winning streak at Missouri State on Monday afternoon, falling in four sets, 24-26, 10-25, 25-22, 23-25. The Braves are now 11-5 this season in Missouri Valley Conference action, while the Bears improve to 9-5 versus league foes. Freshman Doga Topcicek recorded 2 assists and 15 digs. Head coach Steven McRoberts scored his 600th career win. "The adjustments this group made after yesterday's game were incredible," said McRoberts following the match. "Our serving was much better tonight with the 11 aces and we minimized our errors in this game. Give credit to our blockers too, we held one of the top-hitting teams in the conference to a .122 average and that was a key to our success today. This was a big win for us to head into the final regular-season games and then the conference tournament with a confidence boost."
The Braves are back in action next weekend, hosting Northern Iowa in the final series of the regular season. The schools begin their series on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Peoria.
Hande Yetis (03.21.2021)
UTEP Sweeps Louisiana Tech
UTEP volleyball (6-6, 5-4 C-USA) swept Louisiana Tech (1-18, 0-11 C-USA), 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18), at the Thomas Assembly Center. Freshman setter Hande Yetis finished with 12 assists and 3 digs. “Our defensive effort was good against a team that doesn't hit it out of bounds and tries to tip-roll a shot,” head coach Ben Wallis said.
LATech Volleyball Drops Season Finale to UTEP
The UTEP Volleyball team defeated LATech 3-0 on Monday afternoon in the Thomas Assembly Center, with the set scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-17. Freshman Hande Yetis recorded 20 assists and 9 digs. "It's what my team expected to get," head coach Wallis said. "It's what a good volleyball team that's competing to put themselves in a good spot to (earn a high) seed needs (to do)."
UTEP volleyball will compete to seal the second seed in the C-USA's West Division versus Southern Miss March 26 and 27 at 12 p.m. and 11 a.m. MT, respectively, after being selected to finish fourth in the division in January's Preseason Poll.
Beste Ayhan
Two Wins in One Day! (03.21.2021)
The UMBC Volleyball team to a pair of four set wins over New Hampshire (18-25, 25-18, 28-26, 25-19) and host NJIT (25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21) on Saturday. With the victories, UMBC moves to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in America East play. Freshman Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) had a career-high 10 kills on .667 hitting with no errors and seven blocks and also she added 1 ace and 1 dig in the first game. In the second game, Ayhan recorded 3 kills, 4 aces, 2 digs, and 4 blocks. UMBC and NJIT will play again, tomorrow, at 10 a.m., and then the Retrievers will finish pod play with New Hampshire at 4 p.m.
Ada Bulgur
Vaqueros Falling to Texans
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the Tarleton State University Texans 0-3 (17-25, 15-25, 13-25) on Monday at Wisdom Gym. Freshman Ada Bulgur recorded 2 kills and a block. As a team, the Texans hit .338 with 35 kills and only eight errors. The defense limited UTRGV to a .052 hitting percentage and forced 22 errors. With the win, the Texans move to 12-11, 5-8 WAC and guarantee themselves at least a .500 overall record in its inaugural Division I season while playing a full D1 schedule.
Volleyball Drops Regular Season Finale at Tarleton
The UTRGV volleyball team finished the regular season final in Tarleton, with falling to Tarleton State University Texans 3-1 with scores of 14-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-25. Freshman Ada Bulgur had 4 kills and 1 block. The Texans ended the season with a winning record, going 13-11 overall and placing fourth in the WAC with a 6-8 league record. UTRGV opens the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a matchup against No. 5 Chicago State on Thursday, April 1 at 5 p.m. at Utah Valley.