Volleyball Southern Conference

Southern Conference Volleyball Capsules for Sept. 6-7

Sept. 6, 2005

Belmont 3, Chattanooga 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Chattanooga women’s volleyball team fell 3-0 to Belmont Tuesday night at the Curb Event Center in Nashville.

In game one, the Lady Mocs started off with a narrow lead of two-three points, but the Bruins came back to tie the game at 11-11. The two teams would trade the lead a couple of times and tie it up nine more times before the Bruins took the lead for good at 27-26 and go on to win the first game 30-26.

Game two started as a back and forth affair again and UTC built a four-point lead early, but couldn’t hang on. Belmont, 5-3, took the lead at 10-9 and never gave it up to win by 10. Game three was much like the first with nine ties. Belmont built a six-point lead midway through game three, but the Lady Mocs fought back to tie it up at 23-23 with four straight points.

Three Lady Mocs notched double-digit digs on the night led by freshman Lara Newberry’s 16. Senior Lindsey Galloway and sophomore Kelsey Amundson each had 15 in the effort and sophomore setter Bethany Herndon had 21 set assists.

Chattanooga tallied 32 kills and 58 digs in three games but couldn’t stand up against the Bruins. Erin Janson had 11 kills and 10 digs to lead Belmont to its fifth win of the season. Sara Jacobson chipped in 11 kills and Lindsay Cleveland had 10.

Chattanooga senior Kelly Ramsay made her return to court Tuesday night participating in two games. The sole UTC Southern Conference Preseason All-Conference pick had one kill on five attempts in limited playing time.

UTC evened out its record at 2-2 while the Bruins improve to 5-3. The Lady Mocs will return to Chattanooga to open the home portion of its schedule with the Hilton Garden Inn Challenge set for Friday and Saturday in Maclellan Gym. UTC will host Jackson State at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening then open Saturday’s match against the Tigers in a second game at 11:30 a.m. Jackson State and Austin Peay will play in the second game of he day. The Lady Govs will face Chattanooga in the closer.

Gardner-Webb 3, Western Carolina 2

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina received career nights from its three leaders in the match, but it wasn't enough as the Catamount volleyball team dropped its 2005 home opener, 3-2 (30-20, 29-31, 35-33, 22-30, 11-15) to Gardner-Webb Tuesday night in the Ramsey Center.

Sophomore Meredith Harmon, senior Ellie Talbot, and junior Meghan Boyle either set or tied career highs in kills in the match. Harmon paced the trio of Catamounts in double-figures, tallying a career-high 20 kills while only committing four errors for a match-high .390 hitting percentage. Talbot tied her career-best, killing a season best 15 while adding a team-high 22 digs in the double-double performance.

Boyle doubled her previous career-high in kills, finishing the night with a triple-double. She finished with 35 assists, 17 digs, and 10 kills in the losing effort. Also defensively for the Catamounts, freshman Tracey Justus tallied a career-best 20 digs for the Cats.

"Tonight was a heartbreaker," said first-year head coach Stephanie Dragan. "We started the match with perhaps the most energy and swinging the best we have thus far this season. But we just couldn't capitalize on that momentum. I think that both squads were hungry to get that first win tonight."

She added, "I hate that the career nights for three of our players could not have come with a win attached. Meghan's triple-double is rare to see in volleyball, but is fantastic that she was able to achieve it. Again, I just wish we could have capitalized on those performances to get that first victory."

Gardner-Webb (1-8) was paced by sophomore Audra Harrison with 25 kills and 25 digs, while classmate Ashley Pridgeon added a triple-double of her own tallying 16 kills, 25 assists, and 14 digs. Freshman Katie Matykowski rounded out the Bulldogs' double-digit performers, finishing with 13 kills and 12 digs.

In game one, Western hit a season-best .351 en route to the 30-20 win. The Cats raced to a 13-5 advantage early, and built the lead to as many as eight at 18-10, prompting a Bulldog timeout. After the stoppage, GWU pulled back to within five behind the serve of Bethany Martin. The Bulldogs would get to within three, 20-17, before Western closed out the game.

Game two seesawed back-and-forth until the Cats were able to take a 19-15 lead off a Gardner-Webb hitting error. But the `Dogs again battled back, taking the advantage on a block by Jackie Mathison. With the game tied at 27, Gardner-Webb tallied back-to-back kills to serve game point, but WCU rallied to tie it at 29 before two consecutive scores by the Bulldogs evened the match at one-apiece.

Four attack errors and a pair of service aces helped Gardner-Webb race to the early, 9-3, lead in the third game. The Bulldogs would lead by as many as eight, 20-12, before Western mounted a comeback to tie then pull ahead, 24-22. The two squads battled tooth-and-nail over the final points, with the Catamounts eking out a 35-33 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Bulldogs forced the fifth and deciding game by taking control early and leading throughout in game four, winning 30-22. Gardner-Webb hit a match-high .265 in game four, while Western was limited to .060, committing eight errors. In the final game, each team managed to take two-point advantages until late when Gardner-Webb capitalized on a service ace and two Harrison kills to take game five, and the match, 15-11.

Western Carolina returns to action this weekend as it travels to Birmingham, Ala., for the Samford Invitational. The Catamounts will face Birmingham Southern on Friday, Sept. 9, as well as the host Bulldogs and the Fairfield Stags on Saturday, Sept. 10.

High Point 3, UNC Greensboro 0

HIGH POINT, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women?s volleyball team lost 3-0 to local rival High Point Tuesday night at Mills Athletic Center. The Spartans fall to 0-4 on the season, while the Panthers improve to 2-3 on the year.

 

Freshman Kaitlyn Nortz led UNCG with 14 kills on an impressive .462 hitting percentage, while junior Hilary Overby added eight kills. Senior Adrian Hicks doled out 32 assists and came up with six digs for the Spartans.

 

Ashley Mellott and Jamie Kauffman each put away 11 kills to lead High Point. Jenelle Stouffer had a game-high 12 digs.

 

High Point broke open a 22-22 tie by scoring eight of the final 11 points to take game one 30-25. The Panthers once again used a strong run late in game two for a 30-12 victory. High Point scored 16 of the final 18 points in the second stanza to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

 

UNCG jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game three and still held a 13-10 advantage after a Nortz kill, but High Point was able to come back and square the game, 25-25, and go on to the 30-26 victory.

 

UNCG will take part in the Charleston Southern Tournament this weekend in Charleston, SC. The Spartans will take on the host Buccaneers on Friday at 12:30 pm, before they battle South Alabama at 5:30 pm. On Saturday, UNCG takes on Stetson at 9 am.

 

Sept. 7, 2005

 

East Tennessee State 3, Wofford 2

 

In the first meeting between Wofford and East Tennessee State as former Southern Conference opponents, host ETSU knocked off the Terriers, 3-2, in volleyball action Wednesday night at Brooks Gym in Johnson City, Tenn. The Lady Bucs rallied for a 26-30, 30-26, 28-30, 30-11, 16-14 triumph over Wofford. ETSU left the league and joined the Atlantic Sun Conference beginning July 1, 2005.

A quartet of ETSU players reached double figures in kills, led by 16 from Sara Scandiffio. Scandiffio also recorded a match-high four solo blocks and 22.0 points.

Teammates Callie Kiselich and Sarah Buhr posted 12 kills apiece, while Kiselich's .286 hitting percentage was the top mark in the contest. Rounding out the Lady Buc balanced offense was an 11-kill effort from Jennifer Sartor. Along with 10 digs, she joined Buhr (16 digs) as ETSU (3-1) players with double-doubles.

Jennifer Emerson reached a double-double of another kind with a match-high 46 assists and team-leading 17 digs.

Pacing the Terrier (3-2) effort was senior Angela Berry with 14 kills and a .281 hitting percentage. Freshman Brittany Thompson, who earned all-tournament honors at last weekend's Jasper Invitational, continued her strong play by matching Berry with 14 kills but leading the squad with 43 total attacks and 16.0 points. She notched 16 digs for a double-double outing.

Senior Rhea DeJesus matched her setter counterpart with a double-double of her own by registering 41 assists and 13 digs, while juniors Shana Glenn and Christal Carey dug 19 and 17 Lady Buc attempts, respectively. Glenn also recorded a match-high three service aces.

Wofford will continue its season with its home opener Tuesday, Sept. 13, versus Southern Conference foe Western Carolina. The contest is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in the Benjamin Johnson Arena and will kick off a seven-match homestand for the Terriers featuring the inaugural Enterprise Rent-A-Car Volleyball Classic (Sept. 16 and 17) and four league contests.

East Tennessee State 3, Wofford 2
26-30, 30-26, 28-30, 30-11, 16-14

Team Comparison:
Kills -- ETSU 62, Wofford 55
Total Attacks -- ETSU 189, Wofford 181
Hitting Percentage -- ETSU .148, Wofford .077
Assists -- ETSU 55, Wofford 51
Service Aces -- ETSU 5, Wofford 4
Digs -- Wofford 78, ETSU 73
Total Blocks -- ETSU 17.0, Wofford 7.0
Points -- ETSU 84.0, Wofford 66.0