Sept. 13, 2005
Appalachian State 3, Charlotte 1
BOONE, N.C. ? Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded a career-high 15 kills and Kali Rumberger (Spokane, Wash.) chipped in a season-high 13 as the Appalachian State University volleyball team defeated Charlotte, 3-1 (30-28, 28-30, 30-17, 30-19), Tuesday night at the Holmes Center.
Zahn and Rumberger were joined by senior Stefanie Panzer (Mt. Gilead, N.C.) and sophomore Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) in the double-digit kill category, tallying 12 and 10, respectively.
With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 6-3 on the season, while the 49ers drop to 2-8 overall. The win is Appalachian’s 17th win over in-state rival, Charlotte, holding a 17-13 all-time advantage.
Appalachian hit .333 (62 kills, 18 errors, 132 attempts) on the night, holding Charlotte to just .185 (57 kills, 30 errors, 146 attempts).
Zahn, a sophomore, finished with a .314 hitting percentage (15 kills, four errors, 35 attempts), adding 10 digs, an ace and two assists. Senior Rumberger, playing her first game at outside hitter this season after moving over from libero, compiled a match-high .545 hitting percentage (13 kills, one error, 22 attempts), adding nine digs, two block assists and three assists.
Panzer compiled a match-high seven block assists in the game, with sophomore Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) adding five. Rau chipped in 49 assists for the Mountaineers, adding six kills and eight digs.
Junior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) led the Mountaineer defense with a match-high 13 digs, while freshman Charissa Clearman (Austin, Texas) recorded a team-high two service aces.
Charlotte’s Abbey Szlanfucht tallied a match-high 22 kills, adding 11 digs. The 49ers’ setter, Eden Ramos recorded a match-high 52 assists. Alama Arroyo also hit in double-digits, for Charlotte, recording 12 kills and 10 digs.
With the first game tied at five, Appalachian went on a 3-0 run behind the serving of Rebecca Sorensen (Raleigh, N.C.) to take a 8-5 lead, forcing Charlotte to call a timeout. The Mountaineers extended their lead to as much as six, at 18-13, before the 49ers started to comeback, pulling within two at 24-22. With the game at game-point, Charlotte pulled a 4-0 run to pull within one, 29-28. Zahn slammed down a set by Rau to take game one, 30-28.
Charlotte scored first in game two. The game remained within two points throughout its entirety. With the Apps down, 29-27 and the 49ers serving for game point, Thomas recorded her fifth kill of the game to pull within one, 29-28. Szlanfucht tallied her ninth kill of the game as Charlotte took game two, 30-28, evening the match at one game apiece.
Appalachian jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead to start game three. The Mountaineers never looked back as they held the 49erse to a -.205 hitting percentage, forcing 15 errors, to take a 30-17 victory and a 2-1 match lead.
With game four tied at seven, Thomas recorded a kill, giving the Mountaineers the possession, as Zahn served off five-straight points to take a 14-9 lead. Appalachian continued to build on its lead, going on to take game three, 30-17, and the match, 3-1.
The Mountaineers head back out on the road as the head to Charlottesville, Va., for the Jefferson Cup Tournament hosted by the University of Virginia. Appalachian faces Virginia Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Albany at 11 a.m. and Liberty at 5 p.m., on Saturday.
Jacksonville State 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Lady Mocs snapped a three-game win streak with a 3-0 loss at Jacksonville State Tuesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Sophomore outside hitter Julianna Martinez paced the Lady Mocs with 10 kills on 14 attempts for a .643 hitting percentage. Freshman libero Lara Newberry tallied 14 digs in the match and sophomore setter Bethany Herndon had 13 assists.
The Gamecocks improved to 3-4 on the year with the 30-27, 30-22, 30-23 win. Game one was tight but JSU kept the lead throughout to win by three. In games two and three, late rallies pushed Jacksonville past the Lady Mocs for the home opening win.
Four Jacksonville State players recorded double-digit kills. Abbey Breit and Shari Weyer had a game-high 15 each. Katie Moyers had 11, Rebekah Nichols chipped in 10 and Emith Withers had 41 assists.
The Lady Mocs drop to 5-3 overall and will head to Bowling Green, Ky., this weekend to participate in the Western Kentucky Invitational. They will face the host Hilltoppers Friday night and take on Kent State and Mercer Saturday before returning home to host former Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State.
Western Carolina 3, Wofford 1
Despite winning the first game, the Wofford volleyball team suffered a 3-1 defeat to Western Carolina in Southern Conference action Tuesday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Catamounts won the match by scores of 18-30, 30-25, 31-29 and 30-24 in the league opener for both schools.
Heather Koontz keyed the Western Carolina (2-8, 1-0 SoCon) comeback with a team-high 18 kills, 47 total attacks, a .319 hitting percentage and 19.5 points. Ellie Talbot added 15 kills, 42 total attacks, a .238 hitting percentage and 17.0 points.
The Catamounts also received a double-digit kill outing from Danielle Spitzer with 11.
The turning point in the contest came during the third game when Western blocked seven Terrier attempts. For the match, WCU edged Wofford in total blocks, 10.0 to 7.0.
Highlighting the Terrier (3-3, 0-1 SoCon) performances were a pair of school records. Junior Christal Carey set a new team mark for digs in a four-game match with 33, bettering Lyndsay Lyman's standard of 29 which also was set against the Catamounts Sept. 17, 2002.
Senior Rhea DeJesus tied her own Wofford record with 60 assists for a four-game match. Her previous mark came in SoCon action versus Chattanooga Oct. 23, 2004.
Leading the Terrier offense was freshman Brittany Thompson with 21 kills, 55 total attacks and 21.5 points. Her .255 hitting percentage was second on the squad to fellow rookie Liz Sheets' .294 on 12 kills and 34 total attacks.
Carey registered 16 kills, 51 total attacks and 18.0 points, while Wofford senior Angela Berry also reached the double-digit plateau in kills with 11.
The Terriers will return to action Friday as they host the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Volleyball Classic in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Wofford will welcome East Carolina and Charleston Southern in a round-robin format featuring a total of four matches, including three Friday and then one Saturday.
The Catamounts next play Saturday in a pair of matches in Asheville, N.C., versus Samford and at UNC Asheville.
Western Carolina 3, Wofford 1
18-30, 30-25, 31-29, 30-24
Team Comparison:
Kills -- Wofford 69, Western Carolina 63
Total Attacks -- Wofford 208, Western Carolina 187
Hitting Percentage -- Western Carolina .219, Wofford .188
Assists -- Wofford 67, Western Carolina 56
Service Aces -- Wofford 9, Western Carolina 3
Digs -- Western Carolina 94, Wofford 90
Total Blocks -- Western Carolina 10.0, Wofford 7.0
Points -- Wofford 85.0, Western Carolina 76.0
Liberty 3, Davidson 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Trailing 2-1 in the match, Liberty won the final two games to come from behind and defeat Davidson 3-2 (24-30, 30-18, 30-28, 22-30,
13-15) in volleyball action Tuesday evening at Belk Arena.
Behind 10-4 in the decisive game, Davidson (1-7) went on an 8-3 streak to cut the deficit to 13-12. Liberty (4-5) extended its lead (14-12) on a Nelson kill, but allowed the Wildcats cut back into the advantage with a service error. Nelson finally put the game and match away for the Flames with her 17 kill on the evening.
Kendall Nichols led the Liberty attack with a match-high 21 kills on 60 attempts, while Lara Bartolomeo finished with a double-double collecting 48 assists and 14 digs.
Tied 20-20 in the opening frame, Liberty (4-5) went on a 10-4 streak to take game one 30-24. Autum Poorman, Nelson and Nichols led the Flames in the first set with five kills each.
Davidson connected on 15-of-32 swings for a .406 attack percentage to cruise to a 30-18 game two victory and tie the match a game each. Katie Pierucci recorded a game-high six kills on nine swings for Davidson in the second set.
Similar to the first stanza, Davidson and Liberty battled to a late game deadlock (27-27). A Wildcat block by Pierucci and Nicole Keroack followed by a Jenna Dykstra kill gave the 'Cats a 29-27 advantage. The Flames responded with a Nichols kill to cut the deficit to one, but lost the next point on an attack error to give Davidson the period, 30-28, and a 2-1 match lead.
Liberty used an 8-0 run to break an 11-11 tie and grab its largest lead of the match, 19-11. The Flames maintained the margin by winning the fourth frame 30-22 and forcing a fifth and deciding game. Davidson was held to a
-.075 (9-40) hitting percentage in the fourth.
Pierucci led the Wildcats with 20 kills on 61 swings, while Liz Williamson
(13) and Kittery Neale (10) also added double-digit kill performances.
Davidson?s Lindsey Woeste and Williamson each recorded career-nights defensively with 25 and 18 digs respectively.
The Wildcats finished with a .111 attack percentage connecting on 59-of-198 attempts. Liberty tallied a .116 hitting percentage on the evening.
Davidson returns to action Friday, Sept. 16 when it competes in the SpringHill Suites Classic hosted by Charlotte. The Wildcats will face North Texas at 10 a.m. and Winthrop at 3 p.m.
Campbell 3, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women?s volleyball team lost its home opener, 3-0, to Campbell at Fleming Gym on Tuesday night. The Camels won the match by scores of 30-26, 34-32 and 30-21.
Junior Hilary Overby led UNCG (1-7) with 11 kills while, senior Lauren Richards and freshman Kaitlyn Nortz added nine and eight kills apiece. Senior Adrian Hicks dished out 33 assists, while sophomore Alysia Rosvold had a team-high 17 digs.
Campbell (5-6) was able to jump out to early leads in all three games. In the opener, the Camels led 3-0 and extended their lead to 10-3, forcing UNCG to call its first timeout of the match. Campbell opened up its largest lead, 20-11, before the Spartans rallied with 12 of the next 17 points to get to within two, 25-23, but they were unable to get any closer and fell 30-26.
In game two, Campbell scored the first six points, but UNCG rallied to knot the game at 12-12. The Spartans took their first lead of the match, 22-21, on a Camel attack error and held a slight two point lead until the game became tied once again at 26-26. From that point, the game was tied five more times, the last being at 32-32. UNCG twice enjoyed a one point lead with a chance to put the game in the win column, but a Spartan attack error and a kill by Campbell?s Brittany Rusin put the game away for the visitors.
Game three saw Campbell take an early 8-2 lead, before going up by 10 points, 24-14. The Camels proved to be too much for UNCG in the third game, winning 31-20.
Alissa Brackeen posted a ?double-double? to lead Campbell with 15 kills and 14 digs. Greensboro native and Southeast Guilford product Tabitha Turner had 12 kills, while Sarah Dillon doled out a match-leading 35 assists.
UNCG will take on UAB this Friday at the Eastern Kentucky Tournament in Richmond, KY. Game time is scheduled for 5 pm.
Furman 3, East Tennessee State 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Furman's Lady Paladin volleyball team improved to 3-4 on the year with a 3-1 (26-30, 30-24, 30-25, 30-21) victory over East Tennessee State Tuesday night in Johnson City, Tenn.
The Lady Paladins outblocked the Bucs 11.0 to 8.0 and hit .233 in the win. Whitney Purser paced the Furman attack with 16 kills, while Kerry Wooten added 14 kills, four total blocks, and three service aces to the effort. Ally Hock added five kills and 10 digs, while Celestee Wilson anchored Furman's net defense with four block solos and three block assists on the evening. Kim Tonkin racked up 21 digs for her second 20-plus dig match of the season.
After losing game one 30-26, Furman bounced back to take a six point victory in game two and a five point win in game three. In game four, with the match on the line, the Lady Paladins hit a blistering .432, tallying 18 kills and only two errors on 37 total attempts to down the Bucs by nine, 30-21, and take the match victory.
ETSU was led on the night by Callie Kiselich, who recorded 14 kills.
Furman returns to action on Friday with an 8 p.m. match against Auburn.