Volleyball Southern Conference

Volleyball capsules for the week of October 14-17

CofC Cougars Tame Bulldogs
(October 15)

Stephanie Ballard nailed 13 kills and had 17 digs to pace the Cougars to a 3-0 victory against The Citadel Bulldogs in volleyball action tonight at McAlister Fieldhouse.

The College of Charleston improves to 15-5 overall and 8-2 in the SoCon. Its winning streak now stands at eight in a row. The Bulldogs drop to 5-14 overall and 0-10 in the conference.

The Bulldogs made it close in the first game before the Cougars prevailed 30-26. Charleston held The Citadel to a .000 hitting percentage in the second game to take it 30-18 and the third game was all Charleston with the Cougars taking the game and match 30-12.

Aside from Ballard, Alisa Long had 11 kills while Sara Davis had 14 digs to pace the team.

For The Citadel, Nicole Mantu led the team with 14 kills and 21 digs.

The Cougars host Georgia Southern Thursday at 7:00 PM.

WCU Volleyball Team Fights Back for 3-1 Victory Over ETSU
(October 16)

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's volleyball team fought back after a 0-1 deficit to take the final three games for the 3-1 win over East Tennessee State. WCU improves to 16-7 (8-3 SoCon) with the win, while ETSU drops to 5-14 (3-8 SoCon).

The Bucs dominated in the first match and never gave up the lead to the Catamounts. Western challenged near game's end, bringing the score to 29-28 after a block assist by Tricia Eble and Shari Harder, but ETSU posted 20 kills, 18 digs and four total blocks en route to a 30-28 victory over the Cats.

WCU came alive in the second game. Michelle Gorton served four straight points, including one ace, before a kill by ETSU's Nicole Ryan marked the score at 10-8 in favor of the Cats. Sara Komosinski recorded a kill for the next point and stepped back to serve the next three points to set the game at 14-8 before another kill by Ryan. Western went on to win game two, 30-21, after a service error by Ryan.

The two teams battled back and forth in the third game and even tied it at 14-14 after a kill by Katie Ralph. The Catamounts edged ETSU after three Buccaneer attack errors in a row to make the score 17-14. The Bucs brought the game to within one on two occasions before WCU pulled away for good and took the game, 30-22.

Western Carolina took control early in the fourth and never looked back as the Lady Cats were up by as many as 10 points after a kill by Stefanie Peters set the score at 15-5. The Bucs couldn't get in sync long enough to catch up, committing 10 attack errors and only adding 10 kills to give game four (30-21) and the match to Western.

Komosinski posted a great game for the Cats, recording a season-high .514 hitting percentage, leading Western with 18 kills, no errors and 16 digs. She also added a team-high four blocks. Harder posted a new four-game season-high 54 assists, adding 11 digs and three blocks.

Ryan led ETSU with 18 kills and 64 attacks. Renee Vesey posted 48 assists in the match, while Ralph led the team with 17 digs. Kristi Robinson had six blocks for the Bucs.

The Catamounts continue their homestand as they host mountain rival Appalachian State at 7 pm on Saturday (Oct. 19).

Volleyball Shutout Savannah State, 3-0
(October 16)

Savannah, Ga. The Georgia Southern volleyball team marked its second shutout of the week with a 3-0 victory over Savannah State Wednesday night in Wiley Gym.

GSU allowed its fewest points all season in game one defeating the Tigers 30-9 and forcing Savannah State to a .000 hitting percentage. Savannah State improved in game two falling 30-16, however did not improve past a .000 hitting percentage.

The Tigers fought back in game three to bring the game within one (6-5). Georgia Southern jumped ahead of Savannah State 18-9 with a kill from junior Megan Lippi. Kills by freshman Cristie Mitchell and Lippi gave GSU game point (29-14). A service ace by junior Erin Martin sealed the win for the Eagles 30-14.

Junior Lauren McClain led the way for the Eagles with 12 kills while juniors Christina Lentz and Martina Veiglova each added eight. Lentz also led the way with a .700 hitting percentage. Lippi led the team defensively with 10 digs, and Martin dished out 25 assists in the match in her setting debut.

Georgia Southern improves to a 16-6 overall record and will travel to College of Charleston Thrusday, October 17 at 7:00 pm. The match was moved to Charleston when the September 17 match was moved to Hanner Fieldhouse.

Terriers Shut Out UNC Greensboro
(October 16)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford volleyball team defeated Southern Conference rival UNC Greensboro Wednesday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers won all three games with scores of 30-28, 30-24, 30-24.

With the win, Wofford improves to 13-10 on the season, and 4-6 in league play. The Spartans fall to 4-19 overall, and 2-9 in the SoCon.

The Terriers held a 17-12 advantage in the first game before UNCG rallied to lead, 22-19. Wofford bounced back behind the strong arm of senior Janna Webb to win the first game, 30-28. The teams fought evenly early in the second game, but a mid-game run put the Terriers ahead for good as they cruised to the 30-24 win. The final game saw Wofford lead as much as eight points at 29-21, but the Spartans mounted a comeback. The lead proved to be too much, though, as the Terriers won game three, 30-24.

Wofford freshman Katie Sobczyk led all players on the night with 16 kills, and added 10 digs. Webb also had a double-double, as she registered 12 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Katie Laser finished with 12 kills on a match-high .524 hitting percentage. Senior setter Molly Bushong finished with 39 assists and a career-high seven aces. Junior libero Lindsay Lyman led all players defensively with 20 digs.

UNC Greensboro was led by senior Dawn Bright, who had 13 kills and two blocks. Junior LaJean Morrow finished the match with 11 kills and three blocks. Freshman setter Adrian Hicks came up with 33 assists for the Spartans.

"I was proud of the way we played tonight," said Terrier head coach Corey Helle. "When we were down in game one, we could have given up. It's a testament to the hard work our team has put in during practices for the last week that we came back to win the game and the match. [Sobczyk], [Laser], and [Webb] came up big for us on the attacks, and [Bushong] had her best serving night of the year. She gave us a lot of free points."

Wofford will continue its two-match homestand with a 7 p.m. contest against SoCon opponent Davidson on Tues., Oct. 22. UNC Greensboro will hit the road that same night for a 7 p.m. match at Furman.

Cougars Blank Georgia Southern, 3-0
(October 17)

Charleston, S.C. -- This time the Cougars made sure they did not waste a 2-0 lead.

Charleston, which saw Georgia Southern win the final three games in a tough 3-2 loss in Statesboro exactly one month ago, blanked the Eagles, 3-0, in Southern Conference volleyball action before 476 at John Kresse Arena on Thursday.

Charleston won the match 30-16, 30-23 and 30-21. With the win, the Cougars improved to 16-5 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Eagles, which had their 11-match winning streak snapped, fell to 16-7 and 10-1.

"We've been looking forward to this match for a long time," said Cougar coach Jewel McRoberts, whose team has a 46-8 combined record the last two seasons. "The girls came out and played well. They stuck to the game plan and did a tremendous job of executing it."

College of Charleston got 13 kills from Stephanie Ballard, 12 digs from Sara Davis and 33 assists from Mary Sabatino en route to running its winning streak to nine matches. The Eagles were led by Martina Veiglova's 10 kills and 10 digs from Kristen Kasprak.

"I thought we came out strong and played very hard tonight," said Sabatino, who became the first player in Southern Conference history to record 5,000 career assists. "We played with a lot of intensity and came together as a team. We reminded ourselves of what happened last time and we weren't going to let that happen again."

Both teams play conference matches next. The Cougars host Furman on Friday, Sept. 25th at 7:00, while Georgia Southern plays host to The Citadel next Tuesday at 7:00.