College of Charleston 3, Chattanooga 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? College of Charleston’s junior Lindsey Kane recorded her first triple-double (10 kills, 50 assists, 13 digs) of her career ? and the first for any player under Sherry Dunbar as a head coach ? as she paced the Cougars on .500 hitting, leading Charleston to a 3-1 (30-21, 26-30, 30-18, 30-18) win over Chattanooga in Southern Conference action at John Kresse Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Emily Sawin had a match-high 15 kills to lead the offensive attack for Charleston (20-7, 14-1 SoCon), followed by junior Tiffany Blum with 14. Sawin, who hit a .244 clip, added seven digs, three blocks (one solo) and an assist. Blum, who hit .367, had three blocks and two digs.
The Cougars were down 4-1 in Game 1, before Charleston scored three straight points to knot the game, 4-all. Sawin’s kill, on an assist from Kane, gave Charleston a momentary lead before Chattanooga’s Michaela Huff’s kill tied the game 6-6. The Cougars took the lead off an attack error from Ashley Yeager, and Charleston never looked back.
The Lady Mocs (11-16, 10-6 SoCon) salvaged a sweep by winning Game 2, 30-26, and holding Charleston to a match-low .090 hitting percentage. Chattanooga hit .222 for the game.
The Cougars bounced back, winning Game 3 30-18, hitting a .529 clip for the game. Charleston took Game 4 30-18, holding the Lady Mocs to .026 hitting.
Annie Uthe and Sarah Voss each had 10 kills for Cougars. Uthe had six blocks (one solo) and six digs. Voss also added six digs.
Marie Dobrenz anchored the Cougar defense as she came up with a match-high 23 digs, followed Megan Parkerson with 14. Alexis Lowes had 13.
Leslee Ball led Chattanooga with 11 kills, and Huff anchored the defense with 11 digs.
The Cougars return to action on Sunday when they host Western Carolina (8-23, 4-12 SoCon) at 2 p.m.
Furman 3, Appalachian State 0
Greenville, S.C. -- Furman hit .322 as a team and out blocked Appalachian State 11-4 as the Paladins blanked the Mountaineers 3-0 (30-16, 30-25,
30-23) on Saturday afternoon at Alley Gym. Furman has now won seven of its last eight matches, with all seven wins coming by a 3-0 margin.
Chibuzo Aguocha led the Furman offensive attack with 21 kills and a .366 hitting percentage. Whitney Purser added 12 kills and Nicole Palazzo tallied eight kills on no hitting errors (.533).
Kim Tonkin recorded a game-high 16 defensive saves, and Courtney Stewardson tallied 39 set assists and three service aces for the Paladins.
Palazzo recorded seven total blocks (one solo) and Aguocha and Kerry Wooten each added four total blocks for Furman.
Appalachian State was led by Dianna Thomas with 11 kills. Lorelle Rau added 31 set assists, and Cassie Engelgau tallied 14 digs. Amy Lewis tallied three total blocks for the Mountaineers.
Furman jumped out to an early lead in the first game. With the Paladins holding a 13-10 advantage, Furman won 12 of the next 15 points to take a
25-13 lead. Furman and Appalachian State traded points before the Paladins put away game one on a Palazzo kill. Furman hit .353 as a team to Appalachian State’s -.094 hitting percentage. Purser led the way for Furman with four kills in the first frame, while Palazzo added three kills and four total blocks.
The teams battled back and forth in the second game, reaching a 22-21 Furman lead with neither team taking more than a three point lead. Furman rattled off five straight points on Tonkin’s serve to take a 27-21 lead, and held on for a 3-25 game two victory. Aguocha led the Paladins with nine kills, and Stewardson contributed 17 set assists.
Appalachian State took the early lead in game three, jumping out to a quick 12-9 advantage. Furman took nine of the next ten points including two Aguocha kills and two Palazzo kills to take an 18-13 lead. Furman extended its lead to 29-19, before the Mountaineers won four straight points. An Aguocha kill ended the Appalachian State rally and clinched the match for the Paladins. Aguocha had nine more kills in the third game, and Purser added four kills for Furman.
With the win, Furman improves to 16-10 on the season, 12-3 in the Southern Conference. Appalachian State falls to 19-9 overall, 12-3 in conference play. Furman returns to action on Sunday afternoon as the Paladins play host to Davidson on Senior Day in Furman’s regular season home finale.
Western Carolina 3, The Citadel 2
Charleston, S.C. ? Despite several career highs set Saturday afternoon, The Citadel volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Western Carolina in McAlister Field House in the team’s home finale. The Citadel honored the team’s three seniors ? Crystal Bessler, Kim Cooper and Samantha Parisi ? in the program’s Senior Day Ceremony before the match. Game scores were 30-27, 23-30, 26-30, 30-22 and 15-10.
Freshman Taylor Stanke recorded a career high and team season high 23 kills in the match, leading all hitters. Leading the Bulldogs defensively was sophomore libero Ashley Winter who recorded 28 digs. Three Bulldogs recorded double-doubles on the day as Emily Hill’s 50 assists came with her career high 24 digs. Rachel Sanders recorded 19 kills and a career high 27 digs while Samantha Parisi recorded 15 kills and 16 digs.
Western Carolina (8-23, 4-12 Southern) had five players with double-digit kills, led by Meredith Harman who matched Stanke’s 23 kill mark. Liz Rondone recorded 37 digs to lead the Catamount defense. Rondone led an exceptional defense that featured six Catamount players recording 10-plus digs. As a team, WCU recorded 124 digs in the match while The Citadel (10-21, 2-14 SoCon) recorded 109.
“It’s unfortunate that we had several players set career high marks in this match and yet be unable to pull out the win,” said head coach Carolyn Geiger. “This is probably the toughest loss all season considering we match up well with Western Carolina. We relied heavily on Samantha Parisi, Rachel Sanders and Taylor Stanke in the match, but just couldn’t step up and get it done in the end.”
Western Carolina edged the Bulldogs in the first game, 30-27. Stanke and Parisi led the Bulldog offense with five kills apiece while Winter and Sanders recorded seven digs each. Rondone registered 11 digs for the Catamounts. The deciding factor came to the front row as the Bulldogs were outblocked, 4-0, in the game.
The Citadel came back in the second game with a 30-23 win as Sanders shone with seven kills and six digs in the game. Stanke added another five kills for The Citadel. Lauren Brown and Lanna Roach led the WCU offense with four kills apiece. The Citadel offense came to life, hitting .303 in the second game after a dismal .078 opening set percentage.
Game three was another close one as The Citadel won, 30-26. The Bulldogs finally put together an effective blocking game as the Bulldogs outblocked Western Carolina, 3-1. Parisi and Kim Cooper each had two block assists while Stanke dominated on offense, recording 10 kills. Rondone had eight digs for WCU while Meghan Boyle added seven.
Western Carolina came out with great intensity in the fourth game, taking a 24-12 lead. The Catamounts were unable to quickly close out the game as the pesky Bulldogs fought back to within six at the 28-22 mark, but a Lauren Brown kill followed by a Sanders attack error sealed the 30-22 game win for WCU.
Western Carolina led for most of the fifth game as the sealed the match victory with the 15-10 game win. The Citadel offense sputtered in the game, hitting .097 while Western Carolina hit .216.
The Bulldogs hit the road to close out the regular season next weekend as they take on UNC Greensboro on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. The Citadel then faces Elon in the two teams’ regular season finale on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. For complete coverage of Bulldog Volleyball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
Davidson 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Davidson Wildcats fought their way through four close games to earn a 3-1 (31-29, 29-31, 30-26, 30-23) victory over the Wofford Terriers Saturday night in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
The Wildcats (18-12, 10-5 SoCon) posted 10 blocks against Wofford, seven of which came from middle blocker Kittery Neale. Neale finished with 12 kills and a .273 hitting percentage.
Davidson’s Alison Dwyer connected on 11 of her 18 attacks for a match-high .556 clip, while Liz Williamson led the Wildcats with 19 kills of her own.
Davidson setter Jenna Dykstra served up 48 assists, three kills, 15 digs and a service ace.
The Terriers were led by freshman Shanna Hughes who finished with 11 kills, a .478 hitting percentage, a service ace and a team- and career-best four blocks.
Wofford (6-20, 1-16 SoCon) posted 15 service aces against the Wildcats. Freshman Sarah Palmer added a career-best five aces while Carolyn Rivers served up three for the third time this season. Palmer finished with six kills, 15 digs and assisted on a block for 11.5 total points.
Senior Shana Glenn finished with 20 digs, giving her a career-best 310 on the season. She is only one dig away from tying Andrea Duke (2001; 03-04) for the fourth-most digs in a career since Wofford moved to Division-I. Glenn, the team’s only senior, was honored before the match as part of the team’s Senior Day ceremony. Her parents David and Sharon were in attendance.
Wofford will travel to Winston-Salem State on Nov. 8 and Chattanooga on Nov. 12 for their last two matches of the year.
UNC Greensboro 3, Georgia Southern 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Kaitlyn Nortz and Lauren Keiser each post 16 kills as UNC Greensboro sweeps Georgia Southern, 3-0, in Southern Conference volleyball action on Saturday evening. UNCG won by scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-22.
The Spartans now improve to 19-11 overall and 7-8 in conference play.
Senior Theresa Hart finished with 15 kills and a game-high 16 digs for UNCG. Freshman Lisa Fawell recorded 55 assists, one short of the school record set by Liz Gremillion in 1994. Kayleigh Knerr and Catherine Hanners contributed 15 and 14 digs respectively for the Spartan defense.
Georgia Southern (11-12, 5-10) was led by Gorana Bacic with 14 kills.
Jennifer Charles contributed 12 kills, while Mae Chabra finished with 42 assists and 11 digs for the Eagles. Staci Anderson led Georgia Southern with 15 digs.
UNCG grabbed the early 4-1 lead in game one from three straight kills by Nortz. The Spartans went up 14-9 after another kill by Nortz but the Eagles fought back and brought the score close at 19-18. UNCG, however would hold on to the small lead and take game one 30-27.
In game two, the Spartans jumped out to another early lead, up 4-0 over the Eagles. Georgia Southern battled back and tied the match at 9-9 after a Spartan attack error. But another kill from Nortz and one from Hart put the Spartans back on top and UNCG never looked back, defeating Georgia Southern
30-26 in game two. The Spartans went into intermission up two games to none.
The Spartans led by as much as six at the 16-9 mark in game three. Georgia Southern came within four at 19-15 after a service ace by Natalie Rodriguez. UNCG, however, continued on to take the game 30-22. Keiser posted eight kills in the Spartans game three win.
UNCG finishes up the regular season next weekend when it hosts The Citadel and College of Charleston. The Spartans play The Citadel on Friday night at
7 pm and College of Charleston on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm. Both matches will be held in Fleming Gymnasium.