Elon 3, Wofford 1
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C.- Sixth-seeded Elon uses its defense to defeat 11th-seeded Wofford 3-1 (30-23, 30-32, 30-19, 30-15) to advance to the second round of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. Friday evening.
The two teams rallied back and forth in the first game but Elon came away with a 30-22 win after sophomore outside hitter Jessica Barrow put down a cross-court kill. Barrow led the Phoenix in game one with five kills while sophomore Liz Sheets paced Wofford with five kills.
The Terriers took an early 15-10 lead in game two and fought off a late run by Elon to take the second game 32-30. Elon’s Britany Westphal had a game-high six kills while Liz Sheets led Wofford with four.
After the break Elon came out of the locker room and built a 23-13 lead over the Terriers in game three. The Phoenix got the 30-19 win behind the play of junior middle blocker Emily Lucci who tabbed double digits in kills with 11.
The Phoenix block held strong at the net recording six total blocks to take game four 30-15 and the match. Senior middle blocker Juliena Gigon and outside hitter Emily Downing built the wall for the Phoenix tallying a combined 18 total blocks.
The Phoenix were led by Emily Pucci with a match-high 15 kills and five total blocks followed by junior outside hitter Britany Westphal with 14. Junior setter Natalie Moore led the offensive attack dishing out 51 assists. Elon finished the match with 17 total blocks and 78 digs.
The Terriers were paced by Liz Sheets who finished with 11 kills followed by Shanna Hughes and Lindsey Richardson with nine each.
Elon moves on to play third-seeded Appalachian State at 7:00 p.m. Friday in the second round.
Georgia Southern 3, Western Carolina 0
PHOTOS
Boone, N.C.- Eighth-seeded Georgia Southern defeated ninth-seeded Western Carolina 3-0 (30-20, 30-13, 30-13) to kick-off the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship in first round action at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. on Thursday morning.
GSU took the first game 30-20 behind the play of junior outside hitter Bailey Coleman. She led both teams in game one with seven kills while the Eagles as a team notched 21.
In the second game Georgia Southern came out to an early 11-4 lead and used its defense to take the second game 30-13. The Eagles recorded four blocks, 14 digs and held the Catamounts to a .070 hitting percentage.
The two teams battled to a 7-7 draw to start the third game but GSU went on an 11-point run, behind the serving of senior Jennifer Charles, to pull away with the lead. The Eagles sealed the 30-13 win with a cross-court kill from Coleman.
Christy Dowd led the Eagles with 16 kills followed by Coleman with 15 who also added 16 digs to lead GSU. Sophomore setter Mae Chabra dished out 46 assists for the Eagles.
The Catamounts were led by junior middle blocker Meredith Harmon with eight kills and freshman setter Katie Hennessey recorded 20 assists.
Georgia Southern will face top-seeded College of Charleston in second round action at 12:30 p.m. on Friday at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State in Boone, N.C.
UNCG 3, The Citadel 0
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C.- Seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro defeated tenth-seeded Citadel 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-18) to advance to the second round of Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State on Thursday afternoon.
The Spartans were led by freshman outside hitter Branagan Fuller with 16 kills, she was followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz and freshman Emily Lindborg with 10 each. Freshman Lisa Fawell tallied 51 assists with the Spartans hitting for a .343 clip.
Freshman Taylor Stanke and sophomore Rachel Sanders led The Citadel offense with seven kills apiece. Sanders led the defensive effort for the Bulldogs with seven digs. Stanke was a force at the net with one block solo and three block assists while Emily Hill, a 5-6 setter, recorded three block assists for The Citadel. The Bulldogs were forced to play with only seven players
Thursday as redshirt senior Samantha Parisi was not allowed to make the trip after a violation of an unspecified team rule.
The Citadel finishes its season with an overall record of 10-24.
UNCG improves to 21-12 on the season and will face second-seeded Furman in the second round on Friday at 4:30 p.m.