Appalachian State 3, Western Carolina 0
BOONE, N.C. - The Mountaineers hit .327, as Appalachian State University volleyball downed Western Carolina 3-0, Friday night at the Holmes Center. With the Southern Conference win, the Mountaineers move into sole possession of second place in the league.
Eleven Mountaineers saw playing time in the match in which nine Apps recorded at least one kill. Appalachian out-hit Western Carolina, 48-36, holding the Catamounts to a .129 hitting percentage. The Mountaineers continued their season-long dominance at the nets, out-blocking their opponent, 14-3.
Serving was key in the match, as the Apps compiled 10 service aces, while the Catamounts were unable to record an ace.
With the win Appalachian improves to 15-7 overall and 8-2 in conference play, while Western Carolina drops to 6-18 overall and 5-7 in the SoCon. The win moves ASU into a half-game lead over Saturday’s opponent, Chattanooga, for second place.
Sophomore Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Stefanie Panzer (Mt. Gilead, N.C.) combined for over 54 percent of Appalachian’s kills, as they each recorded 13. Nine of Zahn’s kills came in the first game, and her 13 total kills came in just two games. Panzer led the match with three aces. Each added a match-high three block assists.
Senior Kali Rumberger (Spokane, Wash.) led the Mountaineer defense with 11 digs, while freshman Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in 10. Two other freshman saw playing time, as Charissa Clearman (Austin, Texas) compiled eight digs and Carla Durham (Dallas, Ga.) contributed five kills.
Meredith Harmon led the Catamounts with 11 kills, while Ellie Talbot tallied a game-high 12 digs. Meghan Boyle tallied 22 set assists on the night for Western Carolina.
Appalachian jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead in game one, before the Catamounts clawed their way back to pull within two at 21-19. Zahn recorded three-straight kills with assists by setter Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) and Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) to take a 29-21 lead and go on to take game one, 30-22.
The Mountaineers got off to another quick start in game two, taking a 15-5 lead early in the game. The Catamounts never got closer than seven after that, as ASU won game two, 30-19, and grabbed a 2-0 match-lead.
WCU scored first in game three, taking a 2-0 lead. Ashley Fliehr then served off three straight, as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 5-2 lead. The lead quickly became seven for ASU at 13-6. Appalachian slowly extended its lead, as the Mountaineers defeated the Catamounts, 30-20, in game three, and 3-0 in the match.
The Mountaineers remain home Saturday, as they host Chattanooga in a battle for second place at 7 p.m. at the Holmes Center. The match can be heard live at www.GoASU.com.
College of Charleston 3, Furman 0
Charleston, S.C.-The College of Charleston volleyball team defeated Furman 3-0 (30-23, 30-12, 30-24) Friday night at the John Kresse Arena in Southern Conference action.
The Cougars improve their overall record to 20-1, its best start in the history of the program, and its SoCon record to a perfect 11-0. The Paladins fall to 8-13 overall and 4-7 in conference play. This is the second victory of the season for CofC over Furman. The Cougars had previously beaten the Paladins 3-1 (30-23, 23-30, 30-25, 30-16) on Sept. 22nd.
CofC’s Rebecca Wieters led all players in the match with 13 kills. Tiffany Blum was a close second finishing with 12 kills of her own. Wieters hit for a .303 average while Blum notched an impressive .440 attack percentage. Annie Uthe contributed nine kills of her own from the middle blocker position.
"Our middles played a great match tonight, especially Tiffany Blum," said head coach Sherry Dunbar. "They stayed aggressive while playing very consistently and really helped us out tonight. It was also great to get Alexis (Lowes) back in action."
Marie Dobrenz led the Cougars with 16 from the libero position and Kaycie Carr recorded 36 assists from the setter’s spot.
Furman was led on offense by Chibuso Aguocha who had eight kills on the night. Courtney Stewardson led the team in digs with 10 and also in assists with 29.
Some more good news for the Cougars was the return of Alexis Lowes from injury. Lowes played mostly back row in limited action after missing the past four games.
"It was good to get a win over a team we defeated earlier this season," said Uthe. "They are a good team and they came out strong in games one and three."
The Cougars will go on to host Wofford on Saturday with the match scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.