College of Charleston 3, North Carolina 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? College of Charleston defeated host North Carolina, 3-1, in the Cougars’ second match of the GlaxoSmithKline Carolina Volleyball Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Saturday.
CofC (4-2) dropped the first game, 30-27, but recovered to win the next three, 30-25, 30-25 and 30-21. The Tar Heels (1-7) lost their seventh straight match of the season.
Tiffany Blum had a team-high .407 hitting percentage on 15 kills. Lindsay Kane had a double-double with 53 assists and 12 digs. She added six kills, hitting a .294 clip.
Deanna Patrick had a match-high 23 kills with a .347 hitting percentage. Marie Dobrenz had a match-high 31 digs.
Charleston faces Illinois tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Illinois 3, College of Charleston 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? College of Charleston’s Emily Sawin hit a team-high .435 with 12 kills and six digs as the Cougars fell to Illinois, 3-1 (30-28, 27-30, 30-20, 30-27), in the final match of the GlaxoKlineSmith Carolina Volleyball Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday night.
College of Charleston dropped to 4-3 on the season, while the Illini improved to 8-1.
Marie Dobrenz, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 21 digs for CofC, and Lindsay Kane netted 35 assists. Deanna Patrick had a team-high 13 kills.
College of Charleston returns home next weekend to host the CofC Invitational Sept. 15-18. The Cougars will face Eastern Michigan on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m., before meeting Columbia at 10 a.m. and Iowa at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Winthrop 3, Furman 0
Johnson City, Tenn. -- Winthrop had four players reach double-digits in kills as the Eagles rolled to a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-15) win over Furman at the ETSU Invitational on Saturday morning.
Tori Grafeman, Emily Stockman, and Shannon Sitzmann each recorded 11 kills, and Taryn Surbaugh added 10 kills for Winthrop (8-1).
Chibuzo Aguocha had 12 kills for Furman (4-4), and reached double-figures in kills for the eighth straight match.
The Paladins struggled during the match, hitting just .166, while commiting 23 hitting errors.
Furman returns to action at 3:30 p.m. as the Paladins face Evansville at the ETSU Invitational.
Evansville 3, Furman 0
Johnson CIty, Tenn. -- Caitlin Schaffstall recorded 13 kills and 16 digs as Evansville defeated Furman 3-0 (31-29, 30-15, 30-27) on Saturday at the ETSU Invitational. With the loss, Furman dropped its third straight match of the weekend.
Sarah Treadway and Megan Spurlock added 11 kills apiece for the Purple Aces (5-5). Julie Walroth and Sarah McClellan each recorded double-digit kills for Evansville.
Furman was led by Chibuzo Aguocha with 21 kills and 10 digs, marking her third double-double of the season. Ally Hock (10 kills, 11 digs) and Courtney Stewardson (14 digs, 38 assists) also recorded double-doubles for the Paladins (4-5). Stewardson’s was her second of the season, while Hock’s was the first of 2006.
Furman is back in action on Friday in its home and Southern Conference opener against UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. at Alley Gymnasium.
Mississippi 3, Davidson 0
FORT WORTH, TEXAS ?- Senior setter Jenna Dykstra recorded 26 assists and 10 digs, but the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team fell 3-0 (30-21, 30-16, 30-23) to the Ole’ Miss Rebels in the second day of the TCU Invitational on Saturday morning.
Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson was the only Wildcat to reach double-figures in the kills column, totaling 12 on the match to pace the Davidson (5-5) attack. Kristen Carroll led Ole’ Miss (7-2) with 13, and Katie Kramer added 12.
In the first game of the match, the score was a close 6-5 before the Rebels used a couple of runs to pull ahead 12-7. Four kills from junior outside hitter Katie Pierucci helped get Davidson back in the game, but the Rebels went on a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Wildcats survived three game points, but finally surrendered a 30-21 victory to Ole’ Miss.
The Rebels won eight of the first ten points to put the ?Cats in an 8-2 hole to start game two. Williamson tallied five kills in the game and hit a team-leading .286 to pace the Wildcats, but a late 8-0 Ole’ Miss run proved too much as Davidson dropped the second game by a score of 30-16.
With the Wildcats in a two-game hole, the final game proved to be the closest as the teams battled back and forth. Davidson trailed most of the way, but got as close as 23-19 before the Rebels won five straight points to put the match away with a 30-23 victory.
Davidson will wrap up its tournament appearance with an 8 p.m. EST match with Centenary.
Davidson 3, Centenary 0
FT. WORTH, Texas -? Behind the second consecutive double-double from senior setter Jenna Dykstra, the Davidson Wildcats volleyball team blanked Centenary 3-0 (30-22, 30-25, 30-25) in its final match at the TCU Invitational on Saturday night.
With the win, Davidson evened its record to 5-5, while Centenary falls to 2-8 on the season.
Dykstra, who tallied 38 assists and 10 digs to go along with seven kills, represented Davidson on the all-tournament team for the second straight weekend.
The Wildcats again placed two players in double-digits for kills as senior outside hitter Liz Williamson and junior outside hitter Katie Pierucci each had 14 kills to pace Davidson, who out hit Centenary .292 to .155 in the match. On the stat sheet, the ?Cats edged the Ladies in every column, including kills (54-31), blocks (11-6), assists (49-27) and digs (51-35).
The Wildcats came out firing in game one, and a 6-0 run jumpstarted by a couple service aces from junior libero Courtney Cron gave them an early 8-3 lead. Back-to-back kills from Pierucci in the midst of a 5-0 Davidson run extended that lead to 13-5 before the Wildcats rolled to an easy 30-22 victory in the first game. Davidson dominated ?outhitting the Ladies .310 to .147, but Centenary survived three game points. Williamson led the ?Cats with seven kills in the game, while Pierucci had five. Sophomore Alison Dwyer combined for four blocks in the game, as Davidson outblocked Centenary 9-0.
In the second game, the Wildcats won eight of the first ten points to take a commanding 8-2 lead and never backed down. A couple long runs extended their lead to 15-6, but the Ladies strung together six consecutive points late in the game to hang around at 27-22. Centenary put together another 4-0 run to tighten the score to 28-25, but the Wildcats kept their composure and marched to a 30-25 win to take control of the match.
With the Ladies fighting to stay alive, game three was back and forth with the score knotted three times early. But with things tied at seven all, Davidson won three consecutive points to put some distance between themselves and the Ladies, and though they never surrendered their lead, Centenary would get as close as 24-22 late in the game. Still fighting, Centenary fought off a match point before Pierucci picked up her 14th kill to give Davidson a 30-25 victory in the game and a 3-0 win.
Davidson returns home to host cross-town rival Charlotte at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at Belk Arena.
Birmingham Southern 3, Chattanooga 2
Eastern Kentucky 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Chattanooga volleyball team lost a tough five-game match to Birmingham Southern and was swept by Eastern Kentucky as play concluded at the Holiday Inn Expresss Challenge played at UTC’s Maclellan Gym.
After claiming the opening game by a 30-22 score, Birmingham Southern rallied to take both the second and third by scores of 30-27 and 30-22. With their backs to the wall, the Lady Mocs held off the Panthers 30-27 to force a deciding fifth game.
Chattanooga started game five with a bang, scoring the first three points, but the Panthers scored six of the next seven to take a 6-4 lead. Back-to-back kills by Kelsey Amundson capped a 7-1 run by the Lady Mocs to take a 11-7 lead. A Sarah Bass kill brought the Lady Mocs to match point moments later at 14-13, but three consecutive hitting errors gave Birmingham Southern the match with a 16-14 win.
Kelsey Amundson’s 17 kills led UTC. She added 23 digs for a second straight double-double. Leslee Ball’s 16 kills and 12 digs were good for her third consecutive double-double. Ball hit .306 for the match. Laura Newberry added a match-high 36 digs.
Setter Bethany Herndon’s 50 assists moved her past former UTC head coach Dina Parris for fifth place on the UTC all-time assists list.
Sarah Harris led Birmingham Southern with 24 kills, while Michelle Maciejewski added 21.
In the closing match of the tournament, the Lady Mocs were swept by defensing Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Kentucky, 30-24, 30-14, 30-15.
Chattanooga committed 27 hitting errors in the match, hitting only .023. Kelsey Amundson was the only UTC player with double-figure kills with 10. Her 12 digs gave her a double-double for the third consecutive match. Bethany Herndon assisted on 24 of the Lady Mocs’ 30 kills and added 12 digs of her own. Lara Newberry’s 21 digs were a match high.
Jessica Sabath and Amy Arlinghaus led EKU with 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
Eastern Kentucky improves to 5-4 while UTC falls to 1-6.
Chattanooga will return to action Wednesday as the Lady Mocs open Southern Conference play, hosting Appalachian State at Maclellan Gym. Match time is 7:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 3, N.C. Central 0
UNC Greensboro 3, Gardner-Webb 2
BOILING SPRINGS, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women’s volleyball team bounced back from a rare early-season loss yesterday with two victories on Saturday afternoon at the Runnin Bulldog Invitational hosted by Gardner-Webb at Paul Porter Arena.
UNCG improved to 9-3 on the year and now has the most wins in a season since the 2000 club also won nine matches that year.
The Spartans swept North Carolina Central (7-5) by scores of 30-28, 30-26,
30-17 in the first match of the day.
UNCG then outlasted the host Bulldogs 3-2 by winning the fifth game by a narrow 17-15 score. The two teams traded wins in the first four games. UNCG won the opener, 30-24, and the third game by an identical 30-24 score. In between, Gardner-Webb (2-7) took both game two and game four by a score of 30-25.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz led UNCG (7-3) in kills for the second straight match with 13 against NC Central. The Westerville, OH native made only one attack error all match long on 21 attempts for a team-topping .571 hitting percentage.
Freshman Branagan Fuller added 12 kills for the Spartans, while senior Hilary Overby and sophomore Liz Benzschawel had nine and eight kills respectively.
Freshman Catherine Hanners had a team-leading 21 digs, while classmate Lisa Fawell doled out 42 assists.
Shari Matthews put away a match-best 15 kills to lead North Carolina Central.
In the second match of the day, senior Theresa Hart led the Spartans against GWU with 22 kills, while Nortz contributed 15 kills and junior Lauren Keiser added 14 kills in the win. Fawell handed out 60 assists.
Bethany Martin led the Bulldogs with 15 kills. Ashley Pridgeon and Audra Harrison came up with 13 and 12 kills respectively.
Hart and Nortz were named to the All-Tournament team which means Hart was selected to the all-tournament team at all three tournaments the Spartans participated in this year, including MVP honors at the season-opening Battle at the Beach in Wilmington, NC.
Although GWU, Robert Morris and UNCG all finished the tournament with 2-1 records, Robert Morris was credited with the tournament championship.
UNCG opens up Southern Conference play on Tuesday at Elon. The 7 pm match will be played at Alumni Gym in Elon, NC.
Appalachian State 3, George Washington 0
Virginia Tech 3, Appalachian State 2
September 9, 2006 - BLACKSBURG, Va. ? Six Mountaineers compiled double-digit digs, but it wasn’t enough as the Appalachian State University volleyball team fell to Virginia Tech in five games, 3-2 (30-28, 28-30, 35-33, 21-30, 10-15), Saturday in the championship match of the Hokie Invite.
With the loss the Mountaineers fall to 5-4, while the Hokies improve to 6-3 with the win, capturing the tournament title with a 3-0 Hokie Invite record.
Freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) continued her solid defensive efforts with 31 digs in the match. Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.), Rachel Gates (Hanover, Pa.), Charissa Clearman (Austin, Texas), Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) and Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) added 17, 16, 11, 10 and 10 digs, respectively.
Zahn put together a double-double as the junior added a team-high 17 kills. Finch also put together a double-double with 12 kills, while sophomore Carla Durham (Dallas, Ga.) compiled 15 kills and six blocks.
Rau had a double-double of her own with 51 assists, on her way to earning all-tournament honors for the second time this season. Engelgau joined her teammate on the all-tournament team, earning the honors for the first time in her career.
Taylor Parrish led the Hokies with 20 kills and 16 digs. Libero Amanda Cloyd paced the defense with 28 digs, while Sarah Munoz and Rachel Dulla added 19 and 16 digs, respectively.
In the first match of the day, four Mountaineers recorded double-digit kills, as the Appalachian State University volleyball team improved to 2-0 at the Hokie Invite with a 3-0 (32-30, 30-17, 30-27) victory over George Washington, Saturday morning at Cassell Coliseum.
Zahn led the offensive attack with 15 kills. She’s now recorded double-digit kills in all eight matches this season. The outside hitter hit at a .467 mark, with just one error in 30 attempts. Junior Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.), Finch and Durham added 11, 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Engelgau anchored the defense once again with 15 digs at libero. Rau compiled 49 assists in the win.
The Mountaineers open up Southern Conference play as they head to Chattanooga, Wednesday, Sept. 13 to take on the Lady Mocs at 7 p.m.