Appalachian State 3, Elon 0
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C. ? Third-seeded Appalachian State downed sixth-seeded Elon 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 31-29) to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at Holmes Convocation Center on Friday night.
Leading the way for ASU was junior Dianna Thomas with a match-high 17 kills and all-conference honoree junior Brittany Zahn followed with 14. Junior setter Lorelle Rau tabbed 52 assists for the Mountaineers.
Elon’s Britany Westphal finished with 10 kills while Ashley Ruckert recorded seven for the Phoenix.
The Mountaineers held the Phoenix to a .198 hitting percentage while ASU hit for a .317 clip. Cassie Engelgau notched 16 digs while Carla Durham tabbed six total blocks to lead ASU’s defensive effort.
Elon wraps-up its season with an overall record of 13-18 while Appalachian State improves to 23-9 on the season.
The Mountaineers will face seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro in the second semifinal match on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
UNCG 3, Furman 0
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C. ? Seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro topped second-seeded Furman 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-28) in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State on Friday evening.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in game one as Furman struggled to find its offensive attack. The Lady Paladins battled to cut the lead to four but Furman could not contain the Spartans offense as they hit for a .400 clip. All-conference team member Theresa Hart put UNCG up one set after she pushed through the powerful block of the Lady Paladins and notched her sixth kill of the game.
UNCG’s offense continued to roll in game two with Hart leading the way tallying a game-high eight kills. The Spartans fought off a late run by the Lady Paladins to take the 30-22 win and to go up 2-0 in the match.
Furman came out of the locker rooms after the break to pull ahead 11-5 early in game three. The Lady Paladins built a strong wall at the net and their offense started to find its groove as they built a seven point lead. The Spartans were down 23-28 when they went on an offensive roll to take game three and the match 3-0.
UNCG was led by senior outside hitter Theresa Hart with 15 kills followed by freshman Branagan Fuller with 14. Freshman setter Lisa Fawell dished out 45 assists.
Furman was paced by Player of the Year Nicole Palazzo and Whitney Purser with 10 kills each. All-conference team member Courtney Stewardson recorded 34 assists for the Lady Paladins.
UNCG is the first seven-seed to advance to the semifinals since Chattanooga upset East Tennessee State in 2001. The Spartans improve to 22-12 on the season and will face either Appalachian State or Elon on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Chattanooga 3, Davidson 0
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C.- Fifth-seeded Chattanooga advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship after defeating fourth-seeded Davidson 3-0 (30-28, 30-20, 30-27) in a quarterfinal match at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State on Friday morning.
Chattanooga took the early lead in game one with tough serving by sophomore Jessica Menzer as she rallied off five straight points for the Lady Mocs to go up 6-1. The triple blocking by Davidson brought the Cats ahead 16-14. The first game included five ties and four lead changes before Chattanooga fought back from a 24-26 deficit to take game one 30-28.
Chattanooga established its presence at the net in game two behind middle blocker Julianna Martinez who tallied three total blocks as the team recorded four. The Lady Mocs took game two 30-20 after sophomore Kari Wiedinger pushed through the triple block of Davidson for a kill and put Chattanooga up 2-0 in the match.
In game three Davidson made a late run to tie the game at 25. The two teams battled back and forth until junior Leslee Ball ran a slide out of the middle to put the ball down the line and give the Lady Mocs the 3-0 win.
Libero Lara Newberry led Chattanooga’s defensive effort with 22 digs and the Lady Mocs as a team recorded 72. Ball recorded 13 kills to lead Chattanooga followed by Wiedinger with nine.
All-conference honoree Liz Williamson paced the Wildcats with a match-high 17 kills and Katie Pierucci tabbed 16. All-conference setter Jenna Dykstra dished out 36 assists.
Davidson ends its season with a record of 18-16.
The Lady Mocs improve to 13-19 on the season and will meet the winner of the Georgia Southern and College of Charleston match in the fist semifinal match on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, Georgia Southern 0
PHOTOS
BOONE, N.C.- Regular season champion College of Charleston defeated eighth-seeded Georgia Southern 3-0 (30-16, 30-19, 30-24) to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at Holmes Convocations Center on the campus of Appalachian State on Friday afternoon.
College of Charleston went on a ten-point run to get to game point behind the serving of Freshman of the Year Emily Sawin in the first game. The Cougars took the set 30-16 on a kill down the line by senior Sarah Voss. The outside hitter notched a game-high five kills.
Game two was tied early at 4-4 but the Eagles could not get past the Cougars big block at the net as they held GSU to a .028 hitting percentage. Charleston went up 2 sets to none on a cross-court kill from Deanna Patrick to end the game.
Both teams rallied back and forth in game three with GSU leading most of the way. With the score knotted at 23 the Cougars began to slowly pull away with the strong serving of senior Alexis Lowes. Charleston took game three 30-24 after holding off a late run effort by the Eagles.
Sarah Voss paced the Cougars with a match-high 12 kills and three-time all-conference honoree Tiffany Blum followed with 10 and she also recorded a match-high 10 total blocks. All-conference team member Lindsey Kane ran the Cougars offense and tabbed 41 assists.
Georgia Southern was led by Gorana Bacic and Jennifer Charles finishing with eight kills each.
GSU finishes its season with a 14-14 record.
College of Charleston will face fifth-seeded Chattanooga in the first semifinal match at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.