Furman 3, UNC Greensboro 2
Greenville, S.C. -- Chibuzo Aguocha recorded 21 kills and four Paladins reached double-figure kills as Furman defeated UNC Greensboro 3-2 (30-25, 27-30, 30-22, 26-30, 15-8) on Friday night at Alley Gym.
Aguocha, a junior from Houston, Texas, tallied 21 kills and 17 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She has reached double-digit kills in every match this season, and has topped the 20-kill mark on five occasions.
Courtney Stewardson and Whitney Purser each recorded double-doubles for the Paladins. Stewardson recorded 61 assists and added 17 digs, while Purser notched a season-high 18 kills and 11 digs.
Kim Tonkin tallied a game-high 25 digs, and Nicole Palazzo added eight total blocks for Furman.
UNC Greensboro was led by Theresa Park with 19 kills and 22 digs. Lisa Fawell contributed 50 assists, and Kaitlyn Nortz added five blocks.
Furman improves to 5-5 overall this season, 1-0 in the Southern Conference. UNCG falls to 9-5 on the season, 0-1 in conference play. The Paladins return to action on Saturday as Furman travels to face Clemson at
2 p.m.
Winthrop 3, Davidson 2
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Winthrop rallied from two games down to defeat the Wildcat volleyball team by 3-2 (31-29, 30-21, 24-30, 26-30, 12-15) in a hard-fought contest on Friday afternoon in the first match of the Black and Gold Challenge.
Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson recorded 21 kills to lead the Wildcats (7-6), while junior outside Katie Pierucci posted 20 and sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale had 16. Williamson also recorded 13 digs on the defensive end, as junior libero Courtney Cron (19) and junior defensive specialist Lindsey Woeste (11) hit the floor as well. Senior setter Jenna Dykstra recorded 48 assists.
Winthrop, who improves to 10-1 with the win, placed four players in double-digits, led by outside hitter Tori Grafeman?s 19.
In game one, Winthrop jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead after going on a 6-0 run, but the Wildcats won the next four points to pull to 8-10. With Pierucci serving, the Wildcats won five straight points to get within one at 17-16. While Winthrop controlled game one, and Davidson never had a lead, the Eagles blew six game points to give Davidson a chance, and with things knotted at 29, consecutive kills from Neale and Williamson lifted the Wildcats to a 31-29 win in the first game.
Davidson carried the momentum into game two, blowing open a 13-4 lead early in the game and never surrendering their lead. The closest the Eagles could get was within three points, at 13-10 and again at 25-23, but the Wildcats were in control of the game, and with the 30-21 win, the match as well.
Unwilling to go surrender just yet, Winthrop took an early 3-1 lead before the Wildcats put together a 5-0 run to pull ahead 8-4 behind the serving of Woeste. But Winthrop got things knotted at 14 after winning seven straight points and continued to build on the lead to take a 30-24 win in game three.
Game four was a similar story, as things were close near the beginning before Winthrop began to build a lead for the 30-26 victory to force a decisive game five. With the Eagles a perfect 3-3 in five-game matches this season, Winthrop came out on top once again. Winning the first four points, Winthrop jumped out to an early 4-0 lead that proved the deciding factor, as the Eagles edged the ?Cats 15-12 for the match victory.
Both teams return to action tomorrow in the Gold and Black Challenge.
Davidson will face host Wake Forest at 12:30 p.m. and George Washington at 4:30 p.m. Next up for Winthrop, George Washington at 10 a.m.
Elon 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Visiting Elon prevailed with a 3-1 (30-17, 27-30, 30-27, 30-21) Southern Conference victory over Wofford Friday afternoon during a match which witnessed neither team hitting exceptionally well in the first contest of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Volleyball Classic in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The tournament, which is being hosted by the Terriers, continues with two more matches Friday before a three-tilt slate Saturday and also features Campbell and UT-Martin.
The Phoenix used timely hitting from a trio of players, including Emily Lucci and Mandy Wilson who each finished with a team-high 10 kills. Lucci's .296 hitting percentage paced all players. Elon (4-5, 1-0 SoCon) also substituted in Jessica Barrow in the second game and the sophomore finished with a productive .280 hitting percentage on the strength of nine kills versus just two errors on 25 total attacks.
Lucci led Elon with 14 digs on the defensive end, while Wilson and Juliena Gigon tallied two solo blocks apiece as the Phoenix finished with nine team blocks.
Pacing the Wofford (4-3, 0-1 SoCon) effort was freshman Sarah Twitty with 15 kills on 46 total attacks. Sophomore Liz Sheets finished with 12 kills and 29 total attacks, while rookie Shanna Hughes posted nine kills. Senior Shana Glenn notched 21 digs to lead all players.
The Terriers closed with an 8-1 run and rallied from down 26-22 to claim game two. Twitty registered consecutive service aces for points 25 and 26 to continue the Wofford surge.
Elon continues its tournament action with a Friday evening contest against Campbell, while the Terriers will conclude the first day play by facing UT-Martin.
Radford 3, The Citadel 0
West Point, N.Y. ? Senior Samantha Parisi recorded her fourth double-double of the season, recording 16 kills and 18 digs as she led all players in both categories, but the Bulldogs were unable escape their own errors as they dropped a 3-0 decision to Radford in the opening match of the Army of One Classic Friday afternoon. Game scores were 30-27, 30-25 and 30-25.
Rachel Sanders added 10 kills to the Bulldog effort, but The Citadel recorded seven service errors in the match and had more blocking errors (3) than total blocks (2). The Citadel hit .269 in the match while Radford hit .287. Radford had four players post double-digit kills as Lexi Miller led the way with 12 kills while Lindsey Wheeler, Melinda Clelland and Lindsey Poole all put down
11 kills.
Despite outhitting Radford in the first game, .293 to .234, The Citadel dropped the set in a close 30-27 game. The Bulldogs struggled in serving and blocking with no aces and three service errors while being unable to record a block. The Citadel was whistled for three blocking errors in the game. Parisi had a stellar defensive game, recording eight digs.
The Bulldog offense couldn’t get moving in the second game, falling 30-25.
Radford lead by as much as 16-10 but The Citadel was able to mount a rally, taking advantage of a series of Highlander attack errors. The Bulldogs pulled within three at the 27-23 mark, but an Ashley Winter service error, followed by a Highlander service ace by Lindsey Wheeler, put the Highlanders out of reach as Radford took the two-game lead in the match.
It was the same story in game three as Radford built a strong lead before The Citadel was able to muster a rally. After falling down by as much as 26-18, The Citadel rallied back and pulled within four at the 29-25 mark off of three consecutive Parisi kills. However, Radford was able to put the match away with a Clelland kill.
The Citadel will take on host Army at approximately 7 p.m. Friday night. For complete coverage of Bulldog volleyball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
Tennessee Tech 3, Appalachian State 2
Western Kentucky 3, Appalachian State 1
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? Junior Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded her 18th-straight double-digit kill performance, but it wasn’t enough as the Appalachian State University volleyball team fell to tournament-host Western Kentucky, 3-1 (17-30, 30-25, 24-30, 25-30), Friday night at the Lady Topper Invitational at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Earlier in the day the Mountaineers (6-6) fell to Tennessee Tech, 3-2 (30-26, 30-24, 28-30, 27-30, 12-15), while the evening match was the first of the day for the Lady Toppers (9-5). Western Kentucky won the first game of the match, 30-17, before Appalachian fought back to tie the match at 1-1 with a 30-25 win in game two. However, ASU’s fight fell short as WKU took games three and four by scores of 30-24 and 30-25.
Zahn compiled 17 kills and six digs in the loss. She’s now recorded double-digits in all 12 matches this season, and in 18-consecutive matches, dating back to last season. Junior setter Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) continued her solid play with 47 assists. She now has 566 assists on the season and 2,047 in her career, moving her into sixth in the ASU career record books.
Senior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) put together her second double-double of the week and fifth of the season with 10 kills and 16 digs.
Megan Argabright led the Western Kentucky hitting attack with 24 kills and no errors on 45 attempts for a .533 attack percentage. Jenna Gideon and Auila Orr added 14 and 12 kills, respectively.
The WKU defense compiled 76 digs, paced by 20 from Kelly Hofmeyer. Setter Julia Noe compiled 59 of the Lady Toppers’ 70 assists.
After a 1-0 beginning to game one for the Mountaineers, the Lady Toppers used several runs, including an 8-0 run to defeat the visitors, 30-17.
Appalachian jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game two, holding onto the lead until Western Kentucky took a 7-6 advantage. From that point, WKU outscored ASU, 5-1 for a 12-8 advantage. The Mountaineers countered with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the match at 12 apiece. With Appalachian leading 29-23, WKU forced three match points and an ASU timeout, before the visitors finished off the game at 30-25 to tie the match at one win apiece.
After trailing 1-0 to open game three, Appalachian jumped out to an 11-7 lead. From that point, WKU used a 9-1 run to force an ASU timeout and take a 15-12 advantage. The Mountaineers came within one point, but couldn’t regain the lead as the Lady Toppers took game three, 30-24, and a 2-1 match lead.
Western Kentucky took its first lead of game four at 8-7 and never trailed again, going on to defeat Appalachian, 30-25, in game four for a 3-1 match victory.
In ASU’s 3-2 loss to Tennessee Tech earlier in the day, Zahn tallied a career-high 27 kills, tying her for sixth in the ASU record books for single match kills. She hit at a .449 mark and added eight digs. Senior Amy Lewis (Chesnee, S.C.) also had a career-day with 15 kills. She added 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. The middle blocker hit at a .538 clip.
Rau tied her career high with 63 assists in the match. Freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) anchored the defense as she tied her career high with 33 digs. The 33 digstie her for 11th in the ASU record books for single-match digs. She has now reached the 30-dig plateau three times this season.
Sophomore Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte, N.C.) also put up a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, while junior Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) added 16 kills.
Four Golden Eagles hit in double-digit kills, led by Amanda Lindgren with 19. Caitlin Bullock, Laura Tyburski and Jessica Asplund added 17, 16 and 12 kills, respectively. Setter Kappy Lang had a solid outing, dishing out 67 assists. Katie Kenline anchored the defense with 31 digs.
Led by solid serving from Lang, Tennessee Tech jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in game one, extending it to 4-1. After four ties, Appalachian grabbed its first lead of the game at 11-10, prompted by a 4-0 run. The Golden Eagles took the lead back, leading by as late as at 20-19. Tied at 21, ASU scored three-straight for a 24-21 lead. With the Mountaineers leading by just one at 27-26, Fliehr, Thomas and Lewis each recorded kills behind the serving of Zahn, as ASU took game one, 30-26 and a 1-0 match lead.
TTU once again took the lead off the bat in game two, this time leading 3-0, behind the serving of Lang. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to six at 11-5. Trailing 14-10, ASU used a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 15-14. Tennessee Tech regained the lead once again at 18-17, but it was short-lived as Appalachian went on to a 30-24 victory to take a 2-0 match advantage.
Tied at 5-5 in game three, TTU used a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 advantage. ASU countered with a 6-0 run of its own to pull within one at 12-11. The two teams stayed even most of the match. Leading 29-27, the Golden Eagles used two match points to take a 30-28 win in game three, making the match score 2-1 in favor of the Mountaineers.
Appalachian took an early 7-3 lead to begin game three, before Tennessee Tech took its first lead at 11-10. An 8-3 run gave TTU a 19-13 advantage from that point. The Mountaineers put together a run of their own with four-consecutive points to pull within two at 19-17. ASU would trail the rest of the game as TTU pulled out a 30-27 game four win to tie the match at two games apiece.
The Mountaineers came out strong in game five, opening with a 4-1 lead. Five consecutive points gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 5-4. Appalachian grabbed its final lead of the match at 7-6, before Tennessee Tech went on to a 15-12 win in game five and a 3-2 match victory.
Appalachian concludes play at the Lady Topper Invitational, Saturday against Ball State at 12:30 p.m. Live stats can be found at www.wkusports.com.
Eastern Michigan 3, College of Charleston 1
Emily Sawin hit a team-high .185, while posting a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs in the College of Charleston's 3-1 loss to Eastern Michigan in the College of Charleston Invitational.
The Cougars (4-4) dropped the first two games (30-26, 30-27), before taking game three 30-21 to avoid the sweep. EMU improved to 4-4 as the Eagles won game four, 30-20.
"(In game three), we passed the ball well, giving us a lot more options," said head coach Sherry Dunbar, "but we need to be better with ball control, passing and defense."
Lindsey Kane also netted a double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs. Marie Dobrenz led the defensive effort with 24 digs.
Kate Sulewski hit a team-high .500 for the Eagles and notched a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs. Ashley Cudney had a team-high 26 digs for EMU.
College of Charleston will face Columbia at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will wrap up the C of C Invitational with Iowa at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Note: Iowa (9-1) swept Columbia (2-1) in match one of the C of C Invitational.
Army 3, The Citadel 0
West Point, N.Y. ? Sophomore setter Emily Hill led the defensive effort for The Citadel, recording 12 digs and setting up 23 assists, but Army was too strong Army notched a 3-0 sweep of The Citadel Friday night at the Army of One Classic in West Point. Game scores were 30-21, 30-20 and 30-16.
The Citadel (5-5, 0-0 Southern) hit .068 in the game while Army hit .306 in the match. The Black Knights (8-2, 1-0 Patriot League) put down 54 kills in the match on The Citadel, while the Bulldogs only managed to record 28. The Bulldogs were also edged in blocks, 6-3.
The Bulldogs struggled early, dropping the first game 30-22. The Citadel only hit .023 in the game to Army’s .273. Rachel Sanders led The Citadel with six kills while Emily Hill recorded six digs. The Black Knights recorded 18 kills in the game to The Citadel’s nine.
The Citadel hit .000 in game two despite leading early on. The Citadel did form a defensive presence at the net, recording three blocks. The Cadets recorded only one service ace in the game and also served up four errors while the Black Knights recorded one ace and four service error as well.
The Army rolled to a 20-10 lead in the third set and never looked back as The Citadel struggled to spark their offense. The West Point Cadets hit a dominating .410 in the third game while the Bulldogs hit a match high .206.
The Citadel continues play at the Army of One Classic on Saturday as the Bulldogs take on Liberty at noon and Navy at 4 p.m. For complete coverage of Bulldog volleyball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
Western Carolina 3, High Point 2
Kent State 3, Western Carolina 0
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Freshman libero Liz Rondone set a school record with 41 digs in an exciting five game Western Carolina win over the High Point Panthers to highlight the first day of the Catamount Clash V volleyball tournament. Western split its two matches, which represented its first home-court appearances of the season, defeating the aforementioned Panthers and falling in the night cap to Kent State, 3-0.
Overall, two teams remain unbeaten in tournament play as both Kent State and Valparaiso each were victorious in their two opening day matches. The remaining two entries in the fifth-installment of the tournament hosted in the Ramsey Center will each enter Saturday searching for their first wins on the weekend as both High Point and Kennesaw State went 0-2 in Friday’s action. WCU stands in the middle at 1-1, and will be the only squad to play a total of four matches.
Western (3-10), which will play more matches than any other team in the tournament with four, also played the longest match of the tournament on opening day as the Catamounts rallied from down 2-1 to defeat High Point in five. A total of seven players, including four for WCU, reached double-digits in kills.
“This could have been our most solid match thus far this season,” said Western Carolina head coach Stephanie Dragan. “We showed the same poise as we did in the five-game win over Charlotte and earned a great win ? and a great win in five games which will only help build our confidence. After playing a match that was both physically and emotionally draining against High Point, I really felt we were drained against Kent State. We had an amazing crowd that we fed off of early on, but Kent State is a solid team and you have to be at your best ? they took advantage of our miscues.
In addition to Rondone establishing the new benchmark for digs, two Catamounts surpassed career highs in the win. Freshman setter Katie Hennessey dished out a career-best 57 assists and tallied a career number of digs with 17. Junior middle blocker Meredith Harmon hammered home a career-high 22 kills in the winning effort and was also a part of a strong Catamount block as Western posted 13 total team blocks. The Villa Hills, Ky., native finished with six, while freshman Brittny Johnson led the team with seven, including three solo stops.
“Liz (Rondone) was simply phenomenal for us today,” said Dragan after a long day of volleyball action at the Catamount Clash. “She continues to get touches on hits that opponents think are down. She has such a great instinct to the ball and was a main reason we stayed close in the High Point match and she helped keep us in the fight with Kent State. I also felt like Meredith and Katie did a good job of connecting today and that translated into Meredith’s big day offensively.”
Senior Meghan Boyle just missed joining the 30-dig club, tallying 27 in the win with four block assists, as well. Her classmates, Heather Koontz and Krista Neumann, poured in 15 and 12 kills, respectively, with Koontz adding 13 digs for the double-double
Aside from game four in which Western hit over .300 while High Point was a negative 87 and the three-point deciding game five, the first three games of the match went right down to the wire, each decided by two points. The Catamounts won the first game, 30-28, but dropped back-to-back games by identical, 31-to-29, scores.
In the night cap, Western struggled offensively to find a rhythm despite continued solid defensive play by Rondone who finished with 25 digs. Harmon again led the Catamounts offensively just missing double-digits with nine kills while Hennessey added eight kills to accompany her 25 assists. Koontz also finished with eight kills in the loss.
Western Carolina opens action on the final day of the Catamount Clash V in the first of two matches on the day. The Catamounts host Valparaiso at 9:00 am and Kennesaw State at 2:00 pm. Sandwiched in between the two Ramsey Center appearances by the Purple and Gold will be the Kent State ? High Point meeting at 11:30 am. Admission to the event is free.
Live GameTracker ? presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine and West Care ? will be provided for each match of the Catamount Clash V and will be available through www.CatamountSports.com. Also, Valparaiso will be offering live audio of each one of their matches in Cullowhee this weekend. The Source 95's Erick Brooks and Miles Janssen will have the call with audio available at www.valpo.edu/athletics. (WCU vs. Valpo, 9 AM Saturday).
UT-Martin 3, Wofford 0
The Wofford volleyball team lost their second match of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Classic Friday night against the UT-Martin Skyhawks 3-0 (27-30, 22-30, 17-30).
The Terriers (4-4, 0-1 SoCon) opened the contest with a solid performance in the first game, hitting .333 as a team. But after narrowly earning the fist victory of the match, UT-Martin was able to slow down the Terrier offense.
“Their squad has some height that we don’t, and they used it to their advantage,” said head coach Corey Helle, who will try to earn his 50th career win in tomorrow’s matchup against Campbell. “There were several times that we had consecutive attacks blocked and that’ll just wear you down eventually.”
The Skyhawks had eight team blocks in the three-game contest.
Freshman Shanna Hughes led the Terriers with a .357 hitting percentage, totaling seven kills on 14 attempts. Hughes also added a solo block, one of Wofford’s two in the match.
Freshman Courtney Gregory has continued to show improvement over the last few matches and tallied eight kills on 19 attacks against the Skyhawks. She has 40 kills in her last four matches, opposed to 18 in her first four.
“Courtney has really come into her own in the last few matches,” Helle said. “Getting out there on the floor has made her more confident. She’s not afraid to attack the ball.”
Sarah Twitty also added a team-high nine kills along with three digs. She had 24 kills in the first day of the tournament, also a team-high.
Sarah Palmer led the squad defensively with 10 digs and assisted teammate Liz Sheets on a block.
The Skyhawks had four players with a hitting percentage over .300: Kathryn Sprague (.400), Dimphy Sasse (.579), Taylor Noland (.565) and Tammy Konitzer (.333). Noland had 13 kills on 23 attacks while Sasse had 12 on 19 attacks.
“(UT-Martin) has players that can attack from anywhere on the floor,” Helle said. “They’re all great athletes and while we managed to play pretty well defensively, it’s hard to keep that kind of attack at bay for long.
“We just have to put this loss behind us and come out tomorrow and hopefully get a win.”
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Classic continues tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in Benjamin Johnson Arena with UT-Martin against Campbell. The Terriers will play in the second match at noon and the tournament will conclude with Elon vs. UT-Martin at 2 p.m.