UNC Greensboro 3, Liberty 2
LYNCHBURG, VA ? Lauren Keiser recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead UNC Greensboro to a 3-2 non-conference victory over Liberty Tuesday night at Vines Center. UNCG overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Flames for the first time since 1996 when both clubs competed in the Big South Conference.
With the victory, UNCG improves to 5-23, while Liberty falls to 8-21.
Keiser, the sophomore from Lambertville, MI, had a double-double with 19 kills and 16 digs, while junior Hilary Overby nearly duplicated the effort with 18 kills and 16 digs. Senior Adrian Hicks recorded a team-high 59 assists, her second highest helper total this season, while sophomore Alysia Rosvold collected a match and career-high 31 digs.
Leading the way for the Lady Flames was Jessica Nelson with a match-high 21 kills and had nine digs. Lara Barotolomeo recorded a match-high 61 assists and posted 12 digs. Mary Alice Pike tallied a season-high 18 kills, while Allison Hallock led the way defensively with 25 digs.
Liberty squeaked out a pair of wins, 30-27 and 30-28, to take a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match. After the intermission, the tides turned with the Spartans taking game’s three and four by narrow scores of 31-29 and 30-28 to setup the fifth and final game.
UNCG dominated play in the final game and won the match with a 15-8 score in the deciding game.
UNCG returns home for the final time this season to host Chattanooga on Saturday night at 7 pm and Western Carolina on Sunday at 2 pm. Both games will be played at Fleming Gym. Meanwhile, Liberty hosts Big South rival Radford on Friday night in the regular season finale for the Flames.
Elon 3, North Carolina A&T 1
ELON, N.C. ? Juliena Gigon posted a career-high tying 20 kills along with 15 digs to lead the Elon volleyball team to a 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-22) victory over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday evening in Alumni Gym.
Gigon recorded her 20 kills on 30 attempts with only one error for a .633 hitting percentage. Brooke Pickard recorded a career-high 23 digs for the Elon defense while Emily Downing and Kate Hart each added nine. Britany Westphal contributed 16 kills while Ashley Ruckert posted 13 for the Phoenix. Natalie Moore recorded 41 assists and two service aces for Elon.
Arlene Mitchell led the Lady Aggies with 14 kills and 17 digs. Darlene Mitchell added 15 kills and Ashley Marsh posted nine. Lauren Walker recorded 15 digs while Ashleigh Odom and Krystal Cooper notched 11 each. Brenden Chatman tallied 32 assists for A&T while adding six kills and eight digs.
In the first game, the Lady Aggies took a 16-13 lead before Elon used a 7-0 run to go ahead 20-16 on a block from Westphal and Stefanie Meyers. Elon extended its lead to as much as five and led for the remainder of the game, closing the game at 30-27 on a block by Gigon and Moore.
After a 10-10 tie in game two, the Lady Aggies went on a 4-0 run behind the serve of Arlene Mitchell to go ahead 14-10. NC A&T (18-17) led by as much as five before Elon closed within one at 23-22. But the Lady Aggies scored three straight points to go up by four at 26-22 and finished the game 30-25.
In the third game, the Lady Aggies went ahead 19-11 before Elon used a 8-0 run behind the serve of Moore to knot the game 19-19. After a tie score at 22-22, Elon scored three points on kills from Gigon and Meyers to go ahead 25-22. Elon closed the game 30-28 on a kill from Westphal.
In game four, Elon (8-21) jumped to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back. The Phoenix led by as much as 10 for the majority of the game and finished the contest on a kill from Gigon.
Elon returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 12 in a 7 p.m. Southern Conference match with Western Carolina. North Carolina A&T is next in in action on Friday, Nov. 11 in 6 p.m. home match with Savannah State.
East Tennessee State 3, Western Carolina 0
Cullowhee, N.C. - Behind a decisive blocking advantage, 13-to-5, the Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team could never get on track offensively, falling in straight sets to East Tennessee State, 3-0 (30-19, 30-25, 30-20), in non-conference action in the Ramsey Center.
Western (7-22) failed to put a player in double-digits in kills, with two Catamounts finishing with nine. Junior Heather Koontz and sophomore Meredith Harmon each killed nine in the loss. Koontz added nine digs, while Harmon led WCU with three total blocks. Junior Krista Neumann was one kill behind her two teammates with eight on the night.
Defensively, senior Ellie Talbot and junior libero, Kate Willard, each recorded 14 digs, while junior setter Meghan Boyle was the lone Catamount with a double-double, dishing out 31 assists to accompany 11 digs.
Leading 17-12 in game one after four points from their block, East Tennessee State used a 7-2 run to break things open, grabbing a 10-point, 19-9 advantage. Western chipped away at the Bucs lead, but the mid-match run proved too much in the end, falling 30-19.
The second set was a nip-and-tuck affair into double-digit points. Tied at 22, ETSU managed eight of the final 11 points scored to take the 2-0 lead in the match with the 30-25 triumph.
In game three, the Cats early 1-0 advantage was quickly erased by the Buccaneers on a 5-0 run for a 5-to-1 lead. Western would rally to pull back to within one at 6-5, but East Tennessee State scored 10 of the next 15 to pull ahead, 16-10 and never really looked back as the Catamounts could never mount much of an offensive charge, falling 30-20 in the three-game sweep.
The Buccaneers (18-13) were led by junior Jennifer Sartor with a match-high 15 kills on a .467 attack percentage, only committing one error on 30 total attacks. Junior Crystal Palmer killed 10 in the win, with her classmate Sarah Buhr, leading the team with 14 digs.
Western Carolina returns to action on Thursday, Nov. 10 to host UNC Asheville in the final home match of the 2005 season. The Catamounts will honor their lone senior, Ellie Talbot, during pre-game festivities in the Ramsey Center.
Georgia Southern 3, Georgia State 1
ATLANTA --- The Georgia Southern volleyball team rallied after losing game one to win three straight in decisive fashion over Georgia State Tuesday night.
The Eagles won by the scores of 27-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-19.
Senior Iulia Porumbescu had an impressive 25 kills and 17 digs for the visitors, as they improved to 20-9 on the season. State came out strong in game one, hitting .298 en route to the 30-27 win.
But the final three games would be a different story. State hit -.022 in game two, no match to Southern's .375. Southern hit .300 for the match, closing out game four with a .357 hitting percentage.
With a new offensive alignment Southern had more digs than State (77-65), more kills (71-56), and blocks (14-8). Sophomore Bailey Coleman, along with Porumbescu, and freshmen Christy Dowd and Mae Chabra, all recorded double-doubles. Coleman had 18 kills and a team-high 18 digs while Chabra posted a match-high 57 assists.
In the middle, junior Jennifer Schenk had seven blocks, one ahead of teammate junior Jennifer Charles, who had six.
Five of Southern's seven players had 10 or more digs. State junior Christen Garcia led all players with 21 digs.
The Eagles will complete their regular season schedule this weekend in Charleston, traveling to the College of Charleston on Friday and The Citadel on Saturday. Upon completion, they will focus on hosting the Southern Conference Tournament Nov. 17-20 at Hanner Fieldhouse.