Elon 3, UNC Greensboro 1
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The Elon University volleyball team defeated the Spartans of UNC Greensboro 3-1 (30-25, 30-25, 27-30, 30-27) on Friday night in Fleming Gym to pick up a win in its first Southern Conference game of the season.
In game one, UNCG (2-10, 1-1 SoCon) grabbed the early 12-8 lead forcing Elon (3-8, 1-0 SoCon) to call a timeout. Following a break in the action, Elon went on a 15-4 run to take a commanding 23-16 lead. The Spartans would respond with a mini 5-0 run of their own to pull within four points at 24-20, but Elon finished strong, taking the match 30-24.
UNCG jumped out to a 10-5 lead in game two before Elon tied the game at 12 behind the serve of Emily Downing. With the score later tied at 15-15, Elon mounted a 12-3 spurt on Emily Lucci's serve and errors by the Spartans to take a 27-18 lead. UNCG rallied to within three points at 28-25 but a kill by Britany Westphal sealed the 30-25 win for the Phoenix.
A seesaw affair for the majority of game three, the Spartans scored the last three points of the game to garner the 30-27 victory. Earlier in the game, UNCG opened a four point lead at 14-10 as the Spartans took advantage of an Elon attack error. The Phoenix grabbed its first lead at 19-18 on an Lucci kill and would extended the lead to as much as three at 26-23, but UNCG ended the contest scoring seven of the last eight points to earn the victory.
In game four, tied 8-8, Elon went on a 12-3 run to take a 20-11 lead. The Spartans fought back to within two at 28-26, but Elon pushed through and ended the game on a kill from Lucci.
Hilary Overby led UNCG with 12 kills, while Ashley Smith paced the Spartans with 12 digs.
Westphal put away a match-high 20 kills to lead Elon. Lucci and Downing each had 12 kills apiece, while Kate Hart dished out a match-best 48 assists. Brooke Pickard came up with 17 digs while Juliena Gigon and Lucci recorded 10 digs each.
UNCG returns to the court on Saturday when the Spartans host league foe Georgia Southern at 2 pm. Elon will meet up with Georgia Southern on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Elon.
Furman 3, The Citadel 1
GREENVILLE, South Carolina - Furman's Lady Paladin volleyball team improved to 5-7 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference with a 30-15, 30-19, 30-21 victory over The Citadel Saturday in Alley Gym.
The Lady Paladins hit a school record .516 (59K, 10E, 95 TA) for the match, topping the previous standard of .509, set in 1986 against UNC Asheville. Junior Ally Hock paced Furman in hitting percentage with 10 kills and one error on 14 attempts for a .643 mark, while sophomore Kerry Wooten hit .611 on 13 kills. Chibuzo Aguocha (Houston, Texas) topped the squad with 18 kills, and added three service aces and seven digs in the victory.
The Bulldogs of The Citadel were paced by Stefanie Farris's 10 kills and five digs, while Emily Hill tallied 21 assists.
With the loss the Bulldogs fall to 2-12 overall and 0-4 in the Southern Conference. The Citadel will face Wofford on Sunday while Furman returns to competition Wednesday with a 6 p.m. match at Wofford.