East Tennessee State 3, Chattanooga 2
Johnson City, Tenn. ? Junior Leslee Ball had a team-high 19 kills to lead the Lady Mocs to take the first two games, but East Tennessee State took over the last three to defeat Chattanooga (30-21, 30-26, 19-30, 32-34, 5-15) Tuesday evening.
The Lady Mocs (6-10, 4-1 Southern) limited its attack errors to one and five to the Lady Bucs’ (14-5, 2-0 Atlantic Sun) 10 and nine in games one and two. But Sarah Buhr and Jennifer Sartor led the attack in the last three games tallying 22 and 21 kills.
After Chattanooga’s tough loss in overtime in game four, ETSU took control of game five behind the serving of Callie Kiselich, who racked up a service ace on top of her 18 kills of the night.
Junior transfer Jamie Engel had another season double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. And junior Kelsey Amundson added eight kills and 18 assists.
Junior setter Bethany Herndon, on top of her 48 assists, also had a career-high eight kills and 26 attacks.
Herndon moves up to No. 3 in career assists with 2,634. And sophomore libero Lara Newberry moved up to No. 9 all time with a career total of 1,123 digs, adding 21 against ETSU.
Junior Julianna Martinez is now tied for eighth place on the career block solo list with 48, and has moved into the sole possession of the No. 6 spot on the total blocks list. Martinez also added nine kills to the team’s attack.
The Lady Mocs will look to keep its winning streak alive this weekend as the team returns home and hosts The Citadel and College of Charleston on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s match begins at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday’s begins at 2:00 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Gardner-Webb 0
BOONE, N.C. ? All 14 Mountaineers saw playing time as the Appalachian State University volleyball team defeated Gardner-Webb, 3-0 (30-21, 30-23, 30-16), Tuesday at the Holmes Center in its final non-conference match of the season.
ASU improves its overall record to 12-7 and extends its winning streak to four matches, while GWU drops to 8-12 overall. The Mountaineers out-hit their opponent with a .302 hitting percentage compared to the Bulldogs’ .043 mark. ASU’s solid blocking had a good deal to do with that, as the team combined for 11.5 total blocks.
The Mountaineers recorded 18 kills in the first game to take a 30-21 victory. In games two and three ASU held GWU to under 10 kills and .000 hitting percentages for 30-23 and 30-16 wins, coming away with a 3-0 sweep.
Senior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) led the way at the nets with three solo blocks. Classmate Amy Lewis (Chesnee, S.C.) and junior Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) each added four block assists. Thomas finished with 10 kills and five digs on the night.
Usually the anchor on the ASU defense, freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) gave the offense a spark with five service aces, serving four in a row at one point. The libero added a match-high 13 digs. Sophomore Carla Durham (Dallas, Ga.) hit at a .692 mark, finishing with 10 kills and just one error on 13 attempts.
Junior Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) extended her double-digit kill streak with a match-high 11. The outside hitter has now hit in double-digit kills in all 19 matches this season. Junior Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) dished out 38 assists, while sophomore Charissa Clearman (Austin, Texas) added 12 digs.
Bethany Martin paced Gardner-Webb with eight kills for a .364 hitting percentage. Regina Feagin dished out 20 assists, while Audra Harrison anchored the defense with 13 digs.
The Mountaineers remain at home to host Southern Conference foes Furman and Wofford this weekend. The Mountaineers and Paladins face-off Saturday, October 7 at 3 p.m. at the Holmes Center, followed by a 2 p.m.
Terrier-Mountaineer match up on Sunday, October 8.
North Carolina A&T 3, Elon 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? North Carolina A&T’s Arlene Mitchell and Aundia Gray established themselves early around the net, which set the pace for a 3-1 (30-23, 30-28, 23-30, 30-22) Aggies win over Elon in non-conference volleyball action at Corbett Sports Center on Tuesday night.
Mitchell finished with 24 kills and seven digs, while Gray had 10 kills and three blocks. Lauren Walker posted 20 digs for the Aggies.
Elon was led by Britany Westphal’s season-high 24 kills and Juliena Gigon’s 12 kills. Gigon needs just three kills to reach 1,000 kills for her career. Brooke Pickard led the Elon defense with a season-best 23 digs.
Both Westphal and Mitchell took early control of the match. Westphal finished game one with 10 kills while Mitchell closed out the first game with 11. But it was Mitchell who took over down the stretch in game one as she slammed down five of her 11 kills during a 10-4 Aggies surge that helped them close out the game.
The Aggies held off a game two rally from the Phoenix. Down 25-21 in the second, the Phoenix moved to within one, 29-28, on an Avignon Williams attack error. But Tiffany Mellette closed out the match with a kill to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
The Phoenix (5-11) took command of game three early as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led by as many as six before the game ended on a Mellette attack error.
The Aggies (8-6) took advantage of three early service errors by Elon to take a 6-2 lead. Gray and Williams then took over at the net as the two middles combined for three kills and two blocks to put the Aggies up 17-11. The Aggies never allowed the Phoenix any closer than five the rest of the way.
Elon returns to action on Sunday in a 3 p.m. match at Georgia Southern.