Irem Ucar: 1 girl, 2 different schools, 3 double-doubles in a week, 4th time all-tournament team!
We literally have no words for Irem Ucar!. Last week, the redshirt junior setter that transferred from TCU, recorded a double-double in all 3 matches, made a new personal record of 57 assists and 16 digs and made it to the all-tournament team for the 4th time! Ranking in the top five of three statistical categories in America East, Beste is second in blocks per set (1.12), fourth in hitting percentage (29.5) and fifth in service aces per set (0.36)! After her fantastic performance against Seton Hall, Melisa Nur Temiz made it to the UNF Sunshine Tournament All-Tournament Team! Alexandra Koleva not only helped her team sweep all 5 matches in 4 days, but also ended the week with a double double! The incredible Odessa duo broke their personal records! Freshman Peyman Yardimci had 30 kills in total in the last two matches! Read more below:
Irem Ucar
FAMU, who started Friday by beating the host Auburn 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11), finished the day by sweeping Belmont 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-19) in the second match of the day. Setter Irem Ucar played a big role in the wins by recording 6 kills, 57 assists, 11 digs and 1 ace in the first match; and recording 4 kills, 36 assists, 1 ace, 1 block, 16 digs in the second match. Facing Nicholls State on the last day of the tournament, Florida A&M defeated their opponent in 3 (25-21, 25-23, 25-23) and closed the week with 3 wins. Irem Ucar helped the team with 5 kills, 34 assists, and 14 digs. Ucar made her 4th All-Tournament team as she set a new season-high with 57 assists in the win versus Auburn and a new season-high with 16 digs in the win versus Belmont.
Next Obligations:
24/9 vs Jackson State
25/9 vs Mississippi Valley State
Beste Ayhan & Mila Ilieva
Adding two more wins, UMBC volleyball finished the Mountaineer Invitational. The tournament occurred on the 16th and 17th of September. UMBC played vs Robert Morris on Friday morning and won 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-19) while the same afternoon lost in 3 from West Virginia (25-15, 25-16, 25-16). The next day, they returned stronger and managed to beat George Washington in 3 (19-25, 14-25, 14-25). Freshman Mila Ilieva played well in the Mountaineer Invitational and managed to contribute to the team’s performance with 10 kills, 6 digs, 2 assists, and 4 blocks (1 solo). Meanwhile, sophomore middle blocker Beste Ayhan had a great performance in these matches, leading her team’s blocks with a total number of 14. Beste managed to add 10 kills, 1 assist, 9 digs, 1 ace, and 14 blocks (4 solo), in total from this tournament.
Next obligations:
20/9 vs Coppin State
25/9 vs Stony Brook
Melisa Nur Temiz & Melisa Tore
MTSU makes a fantastic comeback from being down 2-0, winning the match 3-2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-23 , 25-13, 15-11) against Seton Hall. Melisa Nur Temiz played a huge role in this win, recording 7 kills, 6 aces, 2 blocks and 12 digs and Melisa Tore added 1 kill.
Next Obligations:
Alexandra Koleva
What a long, but successful, week for Tyler Junior College and Alexandra Koleva! The Apaches have a 10-4 record and 6 winning streak after the 6 matches they played last week. Firstly, on the 14th they swept Navarro College and Koleva had 28 assists, 8 digs and 2 blocks. Then, despite having to play 5 matches in 4 days, they swept every single one of them! On the 16th against Coastal Bend College, the Turkish setter had 31 assists, 2 aces and 9 digs. The next day, against Dallas College she had 2 kills, 31 assists, 8 digs and 2 blocks and against North Lake she recorded 2 kills, 36 assists, 4 digs and 2 blocks. Lastly, on the 18th against Lee Alexandra had 1 kill, 33 assists, 1 ace, 6 digs and 3 blocks (1 of which was solo) and ,like that was not enough, she ended last week’s performances with a double - double against Cisco with 39 assists, 12 digs, 1 kill, 3 aces and 1 block.
Next obligations:
Elif Yasar - Isil Naz Yilmaz
Yasar and Yilmaz are literally killing it! On the 15th, despite the 3-0 loss to Western Texas College, Yilmaz had a new season high of 26 digs and Yasar had 1 ace and 7 digs. On the 18th, playing against New Mexico Military Institute and their compatriots Yavuz and Suvarioglu, the Wranglers were able to get the ‘dub’ after 5 really tiring sets. Yasar had a new season high of 48 assists and also added 4 kills, 2 aces, 8 digs and 2 blocks, while Yilmaz contributed to that win with 4 aces and 12 digs.
Next obligations:
Peyman Yardimci
University of Miami volleyball wrapped up its off-conference matches with an almost undefeated overall record of 9-1. Playing in the Sunshine State Classic, the Miami Hurricanes had their first loss against UCF on September 16th. The match was long and the girls fought until the end of the 5th set. The final score was 3-2 in favor of UCF (25-23, 25-11, 26-24, 25-22, 9-15) with freshman Peyman Yardimci having another outstanding performance with 15 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs, 1 block, and 1 assist. Later that day, they played against FAU and after that morning’s exhausting game they knew they couldn’t add another loss to their record, so they won FAU in 3 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18). The next day, they completed the tournament with another 3-0 win over FGCU. Peyman continued her dominant role, scoring 20.5 points in total, and adding 15 kills, 2 aces, 16 digs, 2 assists, and 7 blocks in her individual stats.
Next obligations:
Selin Isik
University of North Alabama and Selin Isik, faced Alabama A&M on Tuesday, September 14th, in their home gym and easily managed to win in 3 (14-25, 16-25, 12-25). Freshman Selin Isik, might not have had a long play time, but she scored 3 points (3kills) and 2 digs.
Next obligations:
Irem Elmas
This past week, St. Francis College played their last pre-season tournament. Participating in the Fordham Tournament, St. Francis played against Lafayette on Tuesday, September 14th, then with Fordham on Friday and lastly with Providence on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Terriers lost all the three matches in 3 with scores (20-25, 18-25, 25-27), (19-25, 19-25, 20-25), and (19-25, 16-25, 15-25) respectively. During this tournament, Irem Elmas was one of the offensive leaders of her team with 23 kills. Besides her kills, Irem contributed with 2 aces, 6 digs, 1 solo block , and 1 assist.
Next obligations:
Ece Emrullah
Before starting the Southland conference matches, TAMUCC volleyball hosted the Islanders Classic Tournament. The Islanders first match was against Texas State and accomplished a big win with score 3-2 (25-21, 25-7, 20-25, 25-15, 15-13) on Thursday, September 16th. Next, they faced UTEP on Friday and lost 3-1 (12-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-20), and for the last game they played against Tarleton State, but lost in 4 (25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20). Right before conference starts, Ece Emrullah had a good performance in this last tournament, adding 9 kills, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 digs in her individual statistics.
Next obligations:
25/9 vs UIW
Elif Su Yavuz
With an overall of 8-1, Auburn University finishes its successful off-conference games. The Tigers had their first loss in their home tournament on September 17th against Florida A&M. The game was really interesting and both teams battled with heart, but they were defeated in 5 (23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11). The same afternoon, Auburn played against Nicholls and won in 4 (25-8, 25-15, 26-28, 25-15). For their last game, they faced Belmont and accomplished an easy win in 3 (25-8, 25-12, 25-12). Overall, Middle Blocker Elif Su Yavuz recorded 13 kills, 7 blocks, and 6 digs.
Next obligations:
22/9 vs Ole Miss
Ece Oztuna, Ece Erol & Ezgi Dokuzlar
Chicago State University played one match on September 16th and two on September 17th for the last off-conference week. The Cougars first faced Ole Miss and lost in 4 (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15). The next day, they played Indiana University and Alabama A&M and managed to win both matches in 3 [(25-21, 28-26, 25-23) vs Indiana and (25-17, 25-22, 27-25) vs Alabama]. Ece Oztuna was the first setter for the Cougars for this tournament, and she did a great job controlling her side of the net. She finished these matches with 69 assists, 5 kills, 10 digs, and 5 blocks (1solo)! Beside her, rightside Ezgi Dokuzlar had her first game-time opportunity for this year and managed to contribute to the team with 10 kills, 3 aces, 4 digs, and 6 blocks (1 solo). Erol Ece had 1 block and 1 dig overall.
Next obligations:
Sabire Karacaova
Sabire Karacaova had two amazing matches on the 17th and 18 of September. Her university, UC San Diego, firstly played against San Francisco and won in 5 (25-14, 25-19, 12-25, 20-25, 15-8). In this match, freshman Sabire had 11 kills and 6 digs. The next day, the Tritons battled against San Jose State and were defeated in 4 (25-23, 16-25, 13-25, 19-25). This time, Sabire scored 8.5 points for her team and had 8 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, and 1 block.
Next obligations:
Sevgi Koyuncu
Tough loss for Lincoln Memorial University(1-6) and Sevgi Koyuncu after a match that lasted more than 2 hours! On the 14th, the LMU Railsplitters travelled to Tennessee for their match against Carson-Newman. The match ended in favor of the home team (3-2) but definitely kept the fans on their toes since the teams were playing for 2,5 hours! The young ds had another solid performance with 17 digs and 2 assists.
Next obligations:
Simay Memisoglu
Indiana University of PA (7-6) and Simay Memisoglu are moving forward with 2 more wins and 2 more losses after this week.On the 17th, the Hawks had a double gameday at West Virginia playing against West Virginia State and St. Augustine’s. In the 3-0 win against St Augustine’s, Memisoglu had 3 kills, 1 block and 2 digs. The next day, in Greensburg Pennsylvania, IUP came across Concord, which they swept, and Seton Hill, which they lost in 4. The Turkish outside hitter did not participate in any of those matches.
Next obligations:
Berra Tugce Tok
3 more losses were added to Minot State University’s record(0-7) after the matches they had on the 14th, 17th and 18th. On the 14th, they lost in 3 against University of Minnesota at Crookston and Tok recorded 1 ace and 3 digs. On the 17th, they came across #4 Concordia University at St Paul (3-0 loss) and the young Turkish did not participate in that match. Lastly, on the 18th they played against Minnesota State University at Mankato and despite the loss, the freshman middle blocker had a very good performance recording 5 kills (with 0.500 hitting percentage), 2 assists, 1 block and 6 digs.
Next obligations:
Duru Ozkan
Iowa Western(10-1) added 3 more wins to the record but unfortunately had their 1st loss of the season and lost their 8 winning streak last week. The IW Reivers travelled all the way to Kansas for the Hutchinson Tournament and played against Pratt CC, Butler CC, Laramie CC and Independence CC. On the 17th, they swept PCC and Ozkan recorded 5 assists and 10 digs while in their 1st loss of the season against Butler CC, the Reivers put up a very good fight but lost in 5. The starting libero had 24 digs and 5 assists in that match. On the second day of the tournament, they knew they had to get their winning streak back so they swept LCC and ICC both in 3. Ozkan recorded 3 assists, 1 ace and 17 digs in the first match and 2 assists, 1 ace and 17 digs in the second.
Next Obligations:
Asli Erdi
Ending the 3rd week of September, Eastern Wyoming College (5-6) and Asli Erdi added two wins and two losses in their record. On the 17th, they had a 3-1 win against Barton CC and a 3-1 loss against McCook CC. The next day, in the sweep against Colorado Northwestern CC, Erdi recorded 4 kills, with a 0.571 hitting percentage, 2 digs and 1 solo block. In the second match of the day and the last for the weekend, the Lancers lost to Northeastern Junior College in 3. The young middle blocker had 1 kill, 1 dig and 2 blocks.
Next obligations:
Karya Suvarioglu
With an amazing record of 13-4, after one win and one loss, New Mexico Military Institute ends September’s week 3. On the 15th, the Broncos swept New Mexico Junior College. Karya Suvarioglu had 1 kill, 15 assists and 1 dig. On the 18th, they lost to their fellow Turkish duo, Yasar and Yilmaz, after 5 long sets. Suvarioglu recorded 2 kills, 14 assists, 1 dig and 3 blocks in that match that lasted more than 2 hours.
Next obligations:
25/9 vs Clarendon College
Hande Yetis
UTEP volleyball (9-2) split Friday's doubleheader with a 3-1 victory over host Texas A&M – Corpus Christi and a 0-3 loss against Texas State (21-25, 22-25, 22-25) at the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Tournament. Hande Yetis achieved team high 24 assists and she also added 3 aces and 1 dig in the Texas A&M match while she recorded 10 assists, 2 aces and 1 dig in the Texas State game. UTEP, which started the tournament with 1 defeat and one win, beated Tarleton State in 4 (25-16, 25-18, 28-30, 27-25) and ended the tournament with a victory. Sophomore setter Hande Yetis recorded 17 assists and also achieved 4 aces, 3 kills and 3 digs.
Next Obligations:
23/9 vs UTRGV
Doga Topcicek
Bradley started last weekend with a sweep against North Dakota (25-16, 25-14, 25-14). Doga Topcicek finished with 9 kills, 10 digs and 3 aces. Bradley beating Northern Colorado in 5 (14-25, 25-18, 14-25, 25-17, 15-11) on Friday night at Renaissance to close out the first day of the 2021 CEFCU Classic. Doga Topcicek helped the team with 5 kills, 1 assist, 9 digs, and 3 blocks. Also, the victory gave Bradley its first non-conference win streak of three or more matches since closing the 2018 non-conference slate with four straight wins. Starting the weekend with two wins, Bradley unfortunately lost in 5 sets (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13) against Saint Louis in the last match of the week. Doga Topcicek recorded 3 kills, 6 digs, and 1 block.
Next Obligations:
24/9 vs UNI
25/9 vs Drake
Cagla Bengi & Tsvetelina Ilieva
Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell to Florida International, 3-0 (18-25, 20-25, 23-25), on Friday, snapping its seven-match win streak. Sophomore Cagla Bengi tallied a team-high 14 assists to go with 4 digs and also 2 aces. In the second match of the day, Seton Hall fell to Middle Tennessee in a 5 set thriller game (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 13-25, 11-15). Sophomore setter Cagla Bengi recorded 20 assists, 5 digs, and 1 ace while Tsvetelina Ilieva recorded 8 kills, 3 digs and 1 block. On the final day of the tournament, Seton Hall lost 3-0 (23-25, 18-25, 23-25) to North Florida. With this loss Seton Hall drops to 7-6 on the season. Cagla Bengi recorded 9 assists and 7 digs while Tsvetelina Ilieva recorded 5 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace and 1 block.
Next Obligations: