Volleyball Southern Conference

SoCon Volleyball Results, Oct. 11

Western Carolina 3, The Citadel 1

Charleston, SC?The Citadel volleyball lost their second consecutive home Southern Conference match 3-1 against Western Carolina Saturday in McAlister Field House.

The Bulldogs showed good potential by extending the match to four games after a 30-23 second game win over the Catamounts. Western Carolina took back control of the match by outscoring The Citadel 30-23 and 30-22 in the third and fourth games.

"Western Carolina is a good team. We definitely played better today, but just couldn?t come up with the win," coach Wendy Anderson said.

Sophomore middle hitter Marina Daniel led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, one service ace, three solo blocks and three assist blocks. Senior middle blocker Lindsey Hodge contributed 16 kills and eight digs.

The Catamounts were led by freshman outside hitter Kellyn Thaut, senior middle blocker Sara Komosinski and senior middle blocker Michelle Gorton, who contributed 12, 13 and 13 kills, respectively. Gorton also added two service aces, six digs and three solo blocks.

The Citadel will take on Savannah State Wednesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. in McAlister Field House.


Chattanooga 3, UNC Greensboro 0

Greensboro, NC - The UNC Greensboro volleyball team fell to Chattanooga, 3-0, Saturday afternoon in Fleming Gym. With the loss, the Spartans move to 6-13 on the season, 2-5 in SoCon play, while the Lady Mocs improve to 10-9 overall, 5-2 in the conference.

Chattanooga opened an early 6-2 lead in game one, but UNCG battled back to close the gap to 10-7 on a Hilary Overby kill. The Lady Mocs then pushed their lead to five, 15-10, after an ace by Emily McGinnis. A kill by Kelly Ramsay game UTC game point at 29-20, however, the resilient Spartans were able to stave off the Mocs on three consecutive points before the Lady Mocs were able to close the match, 30-23.

After dropping game two, 30-25, UNCG opened game three with a slim 3-2 advantage following a kill from LaJean Morrow. Chattanooga was then able to regain the advantage at 5-4 and push the lead to 13-7 on an ace from Liz Inskeep. Trailing by nine, 20-11, UNCG rallied behind the play of the freshman tandem of Overby and Abbi Meyer to close the gap to 21-18. During the five-point run that allowed the Spartans to gain momentum, Meyer recorded three kills and one assisted block. UTC would manage to hang on to the lead en route to the 30-23 game three victory.

Morrow led the Spartans with 12 kills, while Meyer chipped in with 10 kills and three blocks. Overby and Rebekah Faulise spearheaded the UNCG defensive effort with 13 and 12 digs, respectively.

Jody Steinberger led the way for UTC with 13 kills and 13 digs. Kari Krouse posted 11 kills, while Emily McGinnis tallied 37 assists.

UNCG will return to action on October 17, as the Spartans face The Citadel at 7 pm in Fleming Gym.


College of Charleston 3, Appalachian State 0

CHARLESTON, SC- Sara Davis recorded 14 kills and 11 digs as the College of Charleston (14-4, 7-0) downed Appalachian State (6-12, 4-2) three games to none in Southern Conference volleyball action. The Cougars grew their SoCon record conference winning streak to 25 matches and the team won its 25th consecutive conference home game. Charleston won with game scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26.

Rebecca Wieters assisted in the Cougar cause with 13 kills and 14 digs. Marie Dobrenz also added 10 kills and nine digs to help Charleston remain undefeated in conference play this season.

Katherine Dean led the way for the Mountaineers with 13 kills with Samantha Giudici and Stefanie Panzer added 11 kills. Starla Gustafson provided the defensive support for Appalachian State with 17 digs in the three game match.

Wieters completed the three game sweep of the Mountaineers with a match clinching kill in the third game with a set from Kaycie Carr. The Cougars continue to be tough in the Johnson Center this season and they improved to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in SoCon play at home. The Cougars are 34-4 in the last three years in Kresse Arena. It was the ninth sweep win of the season for Charleston.

Next for the Cougars is Charleston Southern on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM in the Johnson Center. The Mountaineers host Western Carolina on Tuesday in Boone, NC.


Elon 3, East Tennessee State 0

ELON, NC- - The Phoenix rebounded from a Friday night loss to defeat the East Tennessee State Buccaneers in a three-game match 30-27, 30-20, 30-26.
The first game was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. No team led by more than three points during the game. The Phoenix pulled away from a 27-27 tie to win the game 30-27. Elon came out strong in the second game and took the lead early. The Phoenix, which had a .432 hitting percentage in the game, led the Buccaneers by as many as 11 points before winning the game 30-20.

In the third game, the Buccaneers started with the serve and took the lead to begin the game. They kept the lead through most of the game until the Phoenix tied the score at 21-21. Elon then took control and finished with a 30-26 final score.

Hayes led the offensive attack for the Phoenix with 19 kills and a hitting percentage of .536. The defense was led by Juliena Gigon with nine digs. She also tallied 13 kills during the contest. Mary Kate Spear and Kate Hart each added eight digs for the Phoenix. Hart finished the match with 43 assists.

East Tennessee State was led on the offensive side by Kate Steidle with seven kills. Karen Freeburg led the defense with nine digs. Natalie Pittenger and Kristi Robinson each pitched in eight digs for the Bucs.

Elon returns to action on Tuesday, October 14 at High Point for a 7:00 pm match. Next up for the Buccaneers will be a home match with Furman on Wednesday, October 15 at 7:00pm.