UNC Greensboro 3, Elon 1

GREENSBORO, NC ? Kaitlyn Nortz tallied a career-high 23 kills to lead UNC Greensboro to a 3-1 (38-36, 28-30, 30-28, 30-28) win over Elon in Southern Conference volleyball action on Tuesday night at Fleming Gymnasium.

Nortz tallied a .321 hitting percentage recording just six errors on 53 total attempts. Senior Theresa Hart posted 18 kills and 15 digs for the Spartans, while freshman Branagan Fuller tallied 11 kills.

Freshman Catherine Hanners led the Spartan defense with 23 digs and Kayleigh Knerr added 15 digs. Freshman Lisa Fawell added to her SoCon-leading 60 assists for the Spartans.

Britany Westphal led the Elon (9-12, 6-4 SoCon) offense with 21 kills and hit .311 with seven errors on 45 attempts. Jessica Barrow posted 18 kills while Emily Lucci tallied 12 kills, 12 digs and nine total blocks.  Emily Downing’s 15 digs led the Elon defense, while Brooke Pickard posted 13 and Juliena Gigon added 10 digs along with seven total blocks.  Natalie Moore posted 50 assists for the Phoenix. Elon notched 17 total blocks compared to UNCG’s seven.

UNCG (16-8, 6-5 SoCon) took an early lead in game one, leading by as much as five at 8-3.  Down 14-10, Elon used a 4-0 run to knot the game 14-14 on a Spartan hitting error.  After a 15-15 tie, Elon took the lead behind back-to-back kills from Barrow.  The Phoenix extended the lead to six at 24-16 before the Spartans scored the next five points to get within one at 24-23.

With Elon serving for game point, a kill from UNCG’s Lauren Keiser knotted the game 29-29.  After ties at the next six points, the last coming at 36-36, the Spartans tallied the final two points on a Hart kill and an Elon ball handling error to take the game 38-36. The Phoenix hit .314 in the game and tallied five total blocks while the Spartans posted a .246 hitting percentage.

After an 11-11 tie in the second game, Elon took a 12-11 lead on a kill from Westphal.  The Phoenix would extend the lead to as much as four, leading 24-20, before the Spartans used a 4-1 run to get within one at 25-24.  Elon pushed the lead back to three at 28-25 before UNCG scored three of the next four points to again close within one at 29-28.  But the Phoenix finished the game 30-28 on a Spartan service error to knot the match 1-1.

Elon took an 11-10 lead and extended the lead to 14-11, before the Spartans knotted the game 15-15 on a service ace by Nortz. UNCG later took the lead and led by three at 24-21 before Elon used a 3-0 run to tie the game 24-24.

The Spartans took the lead out of the tie on a kill from Nortz and maintained the advantage to finish the game 30-28 on a kill from Emily Lindborg.

Elon jumped to an early 6-0 lead in game four and pushed the edge to seven at 12-5.  Down 14-9, the Spartans used a 6-1 run to tie the game 15-15.  UNCG took the lead after a 17-17 tie and extended its advantage to five at 28-23 before Elon scored the next four points to get within one at 28-27.  The Phoenix stayed within one at 29-28, but the Spartans closed the game on a Hart kill to win 30-28 and take the match.

UNCG returns to action on Friday night in a 7 p.m. home match with Chattanooga. Elon is next in action on Saturday, Oct. 21 in a 6 pm match with Western Carolina.

Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 0

Chattanooga, Tenn. ? Junior Leslee Ball had a team-high 12 kills and posted a.476 hitting percentage as the Lady Mocs defeated Western Carolina (30-20, 30-18, 30-21) Tuesday night.

Chattanooga’s record improves to 9-13, 7-3 SoCon, while Western Carolina falls to 6-21, 2-9 SoCon.

The team hit .242, and limited attack errors to only 15 on the match. Junior Jamie Engel added 11 kills and 11 digs to the team’s 45 kills and 55 digs.

The score went back and forth in game one, but Ball tallied four of her kills including the one that ended the game to help the team hit .282.

In game two, the Catamounts jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. But the Lady Mocs battled back, and sophomore Michaela Huff served the final five points of the game with junior Sarah Bass finishing off the game with a kill.

But the Lady Mocs took control in game three behind the serving of junior Kelsey Amundson and hitting by Ball and Engel.

Chattanooga tallied 11 blocks, including two block solos each from Ball and junior Julianna Martinez.

Junior Meredith Harmon led the Catamounts in kills with 11. Senior Meghan Boyle added 15 defensive digs to the team’s 55.

The Lady Mocs head to North Carolina to take on UNC Greensboro and Elon. Match times are set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. The team is staying on the road on Monday before its match against Davidson on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.