Georgia Southern 3, UNC Greensboro 0
Greensboro,N.C.--The Georgia Southern volleyball team defeated UNC Greensboro Saturday three games to none in the Eagles first conference match of the season.
Georgia Southern (8-5, 1-0) trailed early in the first game by as many as four points before winning the final 12 of 16 points to win game one 30-22. The second game saw the Eagles and UNC Greensboro (2-11, 1-2) trade leads throughout the game with the Eagles eventually taking the game, 30-28. In game three, Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, defeating the Spartans, 30-14.
The Eagles victory came behind a powerful offense that finished the match with a .275 hitting percentage. Senior Iulia Porumbescu led the match with 24 kills and hit .439. Senior Cristie Mitchell finished the match perfect, having five kills on five attempts to hit 1.000. Sophomore Bailey Coleman ended the match hitting .412 (eight kills) and freshman Christy Dowd hit .333 (four kills).
Georgia Southern ended the match with seven service aces, with two coming from senior Natalia Galantini and freshman Mae Chabra. Galantini led the Eagles with 21 assists, while Chabra and Coleman led the team in digs, each recording eight. Junior Jennifer Charles led the team in blocks, totalling two block solos and three block assists.
"We served the ball better today than we have all season," head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We spent a while in practice on our serving and it really paid off well. It was a nice victory today and hopefully we will carry that momentum into Elon tomorrow."
Georgia Southern will travel to Elon, N.C. Sunday Sept. 25 to take on Elon at 1:00 p.m. UNC Greensboro will play Appalachian State, Oct. 1 in Boone, N.C.
Davidson 3, Western Carolina 2
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina came within two points of scoring its second Southern Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, falling in five games to the Davidson Wildcats, 3-2 (30-21, 26-30, 37-30, 31-29, 15-5) in volleyball action in Reid Gym. Despite the loss, WCU sophomore Danielle Spitzer set a career high with 18 kills to lead the Catamounts, who dropped just their second match out of the last 12 played in Reid.
On a day when the Catamounts honored their volleyball parents, Western fell behind quickly, dropping game one, 30-21, struggling to get the offense going early. However, behind back-to-back solid games hitting the ball, the Cats stood on the threshold of earning the SoCon victory at the end of game four.
After trailing early, 12-6, the Catamounts pulled to within four before Davidson surged ahead by 10 at 20-10. Clawing its way back in, Western fought back, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to tie the game up at 22 apiece. The Catamounts took their first lead at 24-23, and were serving match point at 29-28. However, a pair of attack errors and a Wildcat kill forced the deciding game five.
The Catamounts never could get things going in the deciding fifth, falling behind 9-0 in a rally that saw two service aces by Davidson's Liz Williamson and four attack errors by Western. Davidson capitalized on the quick start to take the game and match, 15-5.
In addition to setting career numbers in kills, Spitzer added three solo blocks on the afternoon for Western. Three Catamounts finished with double-double performances. Senior Ellie Talbot and junior Heather Koontz each recorded the double-tilt with kills and digs, while junior setter Meghan Boyle did it with digs and assists. Talbot killed 10 and dug 21, while Koontz tallied 16 kills and 10 digs and Boyle dished out 45 assists and had 16 digs. Junior Kate Willard led the team with 20 total digs from her libero position.
Using Spitzer's trio of solo rejections and three total blocks from sophomore Meredith Harmon, Western out-blocked Davidson, 8-to-4 in the loss.
Davidson (4-10, 1-0) was led by 21 kills by Williamson, who also served up six aces in the match. Lindsay Paroczai and Katie Pierucci also tallied double-figure kills with 15 and 11, respectively. Lindsey Woeste led the way defensively for the Wildcats, digging 28, with Pierucci, Jenna Dykstra, and Erin Balak each reaching double-digits in digs.
Western Carolina returns to action at home this Tuesday night back in the Ramsey Center at 7:00 pm as it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference play. The Mocs will serve as Davidson's next opponent as the Wildcats visit Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm.
College of Charleston 3, Wofford 0
After battling hard in the opening game, the Wofford volleyball team eventually fell, 3-0, to four-time defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston Saturday afternoon in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Cougars, who sit atop the league standings again this season, won the match by scores of 30-28, 30-21, 30-26.
The Terriers (5-5, 0-2 SoCon) had a variety of chances to overtake CofC in the first game before losing by the two-point margin. Wofford also displayed a solid effort in games two and three before Charleston pulled away. CofC hit .390 during game two on the strength of 19 kills and 41 total attacks to go with just three errors.
Tiffany Blum led all players with 14 kills and six assisted blocks for a match-high 17.0 points. Rebecca Wieters and Amanda Timmers added 10 kills each to the Cougar offense with Wieters posting a match-high .320 hitting percentage. Timmers was the lone CofC (12-1, 4-0 SoCon) player with a double-double as she collected 12 digs, second on the squad to Marie Dobrenz's 19.
Leading the Terrier offense was a .227 hitting percentage outing by freshman Liz Sheets. Teammates Brittany Thompson (11-18) and Christal Carey (10-16) each posted a double-double of kills-digs. Thompson led all players with three service aces and spearheaded Wofford with 14.0 points.
Wofford will return to action at 2 p.m. Sunday as it hosts The Citadel in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
College of Charleston 3, Wofford 0
30-28, 30-21, 30-26
Team Comparison:
Kills -- College of Charleston 48, Wofford 47
Total Attacks -- Wofford 156, College of Charleston 138
Hitting Percentage -- College of Charleston .196, Wofford .147
Assists -- Wofford 43, College of Charleston 42
Service Aces -- College of Charleston 4, Wofford 3
Digs -- College of Charleston 64, Wofford 63
Total Blocks -- College of Charleston 9.0, Wofford 0.0
Points -- College of Charleston 61.0, Wofford 50.0
Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Brittany Zahn recorded career-highs with 17 kills and 15 digs for the Mountaineers, but it wasn’t enough as Appalachian State University volleyball fell to Chattanooga, 3-1 (22-30, 28-30, 30-26, 21-30), Saturday, in Southern Conference action.
With the loss, the Mountaineers fall to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon, while the Lady Mocs improve to 6-7 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, ending a five-game losing streak.
Appalachian out-hit Chattanooga, 68 kills to 60, while the Lady Mocs’ recorded a better hitting percentage, hitting .247 on the night compared to the Mountaineers’ .205. Chattanooga did most of their damage from the service line, compiling 13 aces compared to Appalachian’s four.
Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.), a sophomore, recorded her fourth double-double of the season, she now has 130 kills and 82 digs. Senior Kali Rumberger (Spokane, Wash.) led the Appalachian defense with a team-high 22 digs, adding nine kills and two total blocks. Junior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) added 16 digs.
The Apps had three players hit in double-digits, as senior Stefanie Panzer (Mt. Gilead, N.C.) and Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) added 13 kills apiece.
Sophomore Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Calif.) took care of the setting duties, tallying a match-high 55 assists, adding five kills, 12 digs four total blocks and a service ace.
Chattanooga had 13 service aces and 25 blocks in the match led by Lindsey Galloway who posted her sixth double-double of the season. The senior recorded 16 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Sarah Bass hit .407 with 12 kills and four blocks and sophomore Leslee Ball had a .318 hitting percentage with 10 kills and tallied eight blocks.
UTCs went with a two-setter lineup to combat the bigger ASU team. Sophomore Bethany Herndon started the game at setter and tallied 34 assists and was spelled by freshman Michaela Huff who had 15.
Chattanooga took a 2-0 lead into the locker room, but it was the Mountaineers who emerged with momentum claiming the third game win to force a fourth.
In the fourth game, ASU registered the first point, but UTC rallied to take a 6-1 lead that they would not relinquish. The Mountaineers would get as close as four at 8-4, but the Lady Mocs would build the lead to as much as 10 and take the game 30-21, and the match, 3-1.
The Mountaineers return to Boone for their SoCon home opener as they host Elon, Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.