College of Charleston 3, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. ? The College of Charleston volleyball team won its 14th consecutive match with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-18, 30-23) victory over the Elon Phoenix in Southern Conference play on Tuesday night in Alumni Gym.
In game one, with the score tied 10-10, College of Charleston used a 10-2 run, behind the serve of Rebecca Wieters and Amanda Timmers, to take a 20-12 advantage. The Cougars led by as much as 12 before finishing the game 30-19.
The Cougars took an early 10-5 lead in game two before Elon closed within two at 12-10. CofC then went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 19-11. The Cougars led by as much as 10 at 28-18 before closing the game 30-18 on a service ace by Marie Dobrenz and a block by Annie Uthe.
In the third game, the Cougars jumped to a 6-0 lead and never looked back. The Cougars led the whole game, by as much as eight, before finishing the match with a 30-23 win.
College of Charleston (22-1, 13-0) was led offensively by Weiters with 11 kills while Tiffany Blum added nine kills. Dobrenz led the defense with 23 digs and Kaycie Carr posted 15 digs to go along with her 36 assists.
Emily Lucci and Britany Westphal each recorded eight kills for the Elon offense while Juliena Gigon added seven. Lucci posted eight digs to lead the defense and Shelley MacBean added seven. Kate Hart tallied 18 assists for Elon while Natalie Moore recorded 11.
Elon (6-17, 4-7) returns to action on Friday, Oct. 28 in a 7 p.m. match with Appalachian State at the "Nest." College of Charleston travels to Western Carolina on Saturda, Oct. 29 for a 6 p.m. match.
Furman 3, Chattanooga 2
GREENVILLE, South Carolina - The Furman volleyball team outlasted Chattanooga 3-2 (30-20, 32-30, 23-30, 22-30, 18-16) Tuesday night in Alley Gym after the Mocs mounted a comeback with the Lady Paladins up 2-0 in the match.
Furman took an easy first game 30-20 victory, outhitting the visiting Mocs .333 to .025 as the Furman net defense dominated Chattanooga, putting down 6.0 blocks to UTC’s 1.0. Game two resulted in another Furman victory, but this time, after leading 18-14, the Lady Paladins had to hold off a UTC momentum swing that resulted in a 21-21 tie. After Furman pulled ahead 31-30, a block by Ally Hock and Kerry Wooten sealed the Furman victory 32-30 and put the Lady Paladins up 2-0 in the match.
After hitting into 10.0 Furman blocks in the first two games, the Mocs changed their approach and downed the Lady Paladins 30-23 in game three with only two hitting errors on 15 kills. Game four went the Mocs’ way 30-22 due in part to four Furman service errors and a breakdown in the passing game that resulted in five UTC aces.
With the match knotted at 2-2 Furman earned the serve in game five and immediately took a 3-0 lead with Chibuzo Aguocha on serve. Chattanooga quickly tied the game at five all however, but the Lady Paladins stretched the advantage to 11-8 with Kim Tonkin serving. The Mocs’ Bethany Herndon served up three points to pull within two, 14-12, and Furman lost serve on a kill by Lindsey Galloway to make the match 14-13. Two more ties, at 14-14 and 16-16 ensued, with Furman finally earning the victory on a pair of consecutive kills by junior outside hitter Ally Hock.
The Lady Paladins were paced on the night by Whitney Purser, who totaled 19 kills and 16 digs with a .214 hitting percentage. Aguocha added 17 kills while Hock contributed 16 with a .464 attack percentage and freshman Emily Harby added 13. In addition to Purser, Hock, Stewardson, and Tonkin each totaled 16 digs. Sophomore Kerry Wooten paced the Lady Paladins with nine block assists, while Hock added seven, and Aguocha and Harby each scored one block solo and four assists.
the Mocs were paced by Leslee Ball’s 12 kills and five blocks, while libero Lara Newberry tallied 29 digs and Lindsey Galloway added 25. Galloway also added eight service aces in the effort.
With the win, the Lady Paladins moved to 10-13 overall and 6-7 in Southern Conference action, while the Mocs fell to 12-12 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Lady Paladins return to action Saturday, Oct. 29, in a 7 p.m. match against Georgia Southern. UTC hosts The Citadel Friday night at 7 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 3, North Carolina A&T 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Senior Lauren Richards had 15 kills to lead UNC Greensboro to a 3-0 win over city-rival North Carolina A&T in a non-league women’s volleyball match Tuesday evening at Fleming Gym. Freshman Kaitlyn Nortz put away 10 kills to aid the victory for the Spartans, who snapped 10-game losing streak in the process.
Richards, who hails from Hagerstown, MD, posted a .700 hitting percentage with the aforementioned 15 kills against only one attack error on 20 attempts. In addition, junior Hilary Overby and sophomore Lauren Keiser had nine and eight kills respectively for UNCG (3-19).
Darlene Mitchell led the Aggies (15-14) with a match-best 17 kills. Ashley Marsh added eight kills of her own on a .412 hitting percentage. Krystal Cooper paced three players in double figure dig totals with 15. Lauren Walker and Arlene Mitchell had 14 and 11 apiece.
In the opening game, UNCG broke a 4-4 tie by scoring three points in a row to take a 7-4 lead on a kill by senior Adrian Hicks. The Spartans would hold that lead until A&T tied the score, 14-14, on a kill by Shea Stark. UNCG responded with a 7-3 run to up its lead to 21-17 on a Richard’s kill, but the game tightened from their and featured 11 ties until the Spartans closed out the game, 35-33, on an attack error by the Aggies.
Game two saw UNCG connect for a .317 hitting percentage. The Spartans put away 18 kills and committed only five errors in 41 total attempts. UNCG broke open a tight 12-11 score by going on an 18-10 run to close out the game 30-21.
In game three with the core tied early 4-4, UNCG ran off three straight points and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. Darlene Mitchell’s kill cut the Spartans lead to 21-19, but an Aggie service error and a ball handling error on the ensuing play gave UNCG the cushion it needed and went on to the 30-24 win, giving the Spartans their first win since a 3-0 victory over The Citadel on September 20.
Hicks doled out 39 assists and had nine digs. Sophomore Alysia Rosvold came up with a match-high 17 digs, while Keiser added 13 digs. Nortz had four blocks to add to her team-leading total of 75.
Richards holds the school-record for hitting percentage in a three-game match. She set the mark last October 26 against Gardner-Webb when she had 12 kills, zero errors on 14 attempts for a .857 percentage.
UNCG returns to Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon when Appalachian State arrives for a 2 pm contest at Fleming Gym