Appalachian State 3, Idaho State 1
Jacksonville, Fla. - Appalachian State head volleyball coach Chad Callihan recorded his 100th career win Saturday morning as the Mountaineers defeated Idaho State, 3-1, at the UNF Labor Day Classic.
Appalachian dropped the first game, 25-30, before rallying back to win the next three, 30-23, 30-20 and 30-22. The milestone win improves ASU's record to 3-2 while Idaho State falls to 3-4. Appalachian outhit the Bengals by a glaring .263 to .068 margin. The Mountaineers also had 20 blocks to ISU's 11.
Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) matched a career high with 21 kills and a .351 hitting percentage. She also added three aces. Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) tacked on 12 kills while setter Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) engineered the offense with 49 assists.
Amy Lewis (Chesnee, S.C.) and freshman Becca Norris (Franklin, N.C.) anchored the ASU frontline with five block assists each. Fellow freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) had a match-high 16 digs in the win.
Appalachian will continue competition in the UNF Labor Day Classic later in the evening with a 4 p.m. match versus Murray State.
Davidson 3, Liberty 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson led the Wildcats to a 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-23) victory over the Liberty Flames in the first game of the final day of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic at Belk Arena Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale tallied 13 kills in 21 swings, and junior outside hitter Katie Pierucci added 10 for the 'Cats, who improved to 4-3 on the season with the win.
Kendall Nichols was the only Flame to touch double-digits, posting 12 kills to pace the Liberty attack. With the loss, Liberty falls to 0-3.
The Wildcats got in a big hole early in game one, as the Flames went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 2-7, but the 'Cats fought back to knot the score at 10 before finally pulling away late. Davidson won the final three points on a kill from Pierucci and a couple Liberty miscues.
Davidson got down early again in game two, the closest battle of the match. In the back-and-forth affair, the score was tied 16 times until the Wildcats pulled away with the score tied at 24. Senior setter Jenna Dykstra, who totaled 38 assists in the match, paired two of her seven kills with a couple putaways from Pierucci to give the 'Cats a 30-28 victory in the second game.
Game three was tight again at the beginning, but the Davidson attack proved too much for the Flames. Neale posted six kills in the final game to give Davidson its first win of the tournament, while Williamson chipped in five.
Davidson will conclude the tournament with an 8 p.m. match against Portland.
UAB 3, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. ? Led by Ivana Bozic, the UAB Blazers downed Elon in three games on Saturday afternoon in the Phoenix Classic at Alumni Gym. UAB took the games 30-27, 30-23 and 30-20.
In the first game, UAB jumped to an early 8-2 lead before Elon went on a 10-4 run to knot the game 12-12 on a kill from Juliena Gigon. After a 14-14 tied, the Blazers scored the next five points behind the serve of Nevena Stefanov to go ahead 19-14. Down by seven at 22-15, the Phoenix scored the next seven points on the serve of Gigon and the offense of Emily Lucci to tie the game 22-22. The teams battled back and forth, but after a 27-27 tie, UAB earned the next three points to end the game 30-27 on a kill from Ivana Bozic.
In game two, the teams had a seesaw battle, but after a 17-17 tie the Blazers scored the next four points to take a 21-17 advantage. But, behind the serve of Emily Regan, the Phoenix again knotted the game, 21-21. After a 22-22 tie, the Blazers outscored the Phoenix 8-1 to finish the game 30-23 on a kill from Shaniquwa Cooper.
UAB jumped to an early 10-4 lead in the third game and never looked back. The Blazers used a .419 hitting percentage to finish the game 30-20 on a service ace from Fernanda Domingos.
Bozic led the Blazers’ offense with 15 kills and added five total blocks. Haylee Adkins paced the defense with 11 digs. Stefanov tallied 30 assists for UAB while also recording three service aces. Casey Dent posted seven total blocks and four aces.
Britany Westphal and Jessica Barrow led the Elon offense with eight kills apiece. Emily Downing and Mandy Wilson each tallied 10 digs for the Phoenix while Regan posted 21 assists.
In the first match of the day, TCU downed Navy 3-1. Navy took the first game 30-25 before the Horned Frogs earned the next three games 30-21, 30-18 and 30-20.
LeMeita Smith led the Horned Frogs with 16 kills and Anna Vaughn added 14. Calli Corley posted a career-high 27 digs while Emily Allen posted 16 and Lauren Otto added 12. Nirelle Hampton tallied 28 assists and Loren Barry added 17. Vaughn and Kourtney Edward each recorded five total blocks for TCU as the team posted 12 total blocks.
Jessie Sims led Navy with 10 kills and 14 digs. Nikki England and Aimee’ Burns each added 10 digs for the Midshipmen. Marissa Watson posted 18 assists and Mariellen Carnes added 12.
The Phoenix Classic continues this afternoon with TCU and UAB facing off at 4:30 and Navy and Elon taking the court at 7 p.m.
Tennessee State 3, Western Carolina 1
Clemson, S.C. ? The Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team could not repeat what it pulled off Friday evening when it rallied from down two games to none, falling in four games, 3-1 (30-24, 30-23, 29-31, 30-16) to the Tennessee State Tigers in the first of two matches Saturday at the Clemson Big Orange Bash.
The Catamounts conclude tournament play at 3:00 pm against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Jervey Gymnasium on the Clemson University campus.
Western (1-6) put two in double-figures led by senior Heather Koontz with 11 kills and junior Meredith with 10 on a .333 attack percentage (1 error on 27 total attacks). Senior Krista Neumann just missed double-digits finishing with nine. Freshman Katie Hennessey passed out 34 assists in the loss.
Defensively, the Catamount were again paced by freshman Liz Rondone with a match-high 24 digs. The Bloomington, Ill., native was joined in double figures by senior Meghan Boyle who dug 11, with Hennessey and freshman Amanda Todd each adding seven digs.
“We are still lacking consistency from start to finish. We are tough when we’re on, but right now, we are not able to put it all together,” said head coach Stephanie Dragan. “Each day we are getting better and I hope that we can build upon each match, each experience.”
Just like Friday evening against the Charlotte 49ers, WCU found itself in an early 2-0 hole after dropping games one and two, 30-24 and 30-23, respectively. However, the Catamounts rallied to win game three to continue the match. Western rattled off four-consecutive points on two occasions, pulling out to 18-14 and 22-16 leads midway through the game. But the Tigers came back, scoring five-straight to pull to within one, 22-21, and eventually pulling ahead, 24-23. Tied at 28, Western used kills from both Hennessey and Harmon and a TSU attack error to take the game, 31-29.
In game four, the Tigers broke things open by scoring seven-straight points to take a 19-9 lead it would never relinquish, finishing off the match with the 30-16 win.
Tennessee State (1-3), the defending Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) champion, put three in double-figures led by the double-double performance of Erika Godbolt with 20 kills and 21 digs.
South Carolina 3, Western Carolina 0
Clemson, S.C. ? The Western Carolina volleyball team concluded play in the Clemson Big Orange Bash with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-15, 30-18) loss to South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon at Jervey Gymnasium. The win for the Gamecocks was their sixth-straight, which included four wins in the tournament to go unbeaten to claim the tournament championship.
WCU freshman libero, Liz Rondone, was name to the Big Orange Bash all-tournament team following the match. Rondone recorded 79 digs over the four matches of the two-day tournament, an average of 5.27 digs per game. The Bloomington, Ill., recorded double-digit digs in each match to lead the Catamounts.
“I am proud of the way the team fought today against a very good South Carolina team. We were able to get some touches on their hitters and we never quit,” said head coach Stephanie Dragan. “I was happy that Lizzy was named to the all-tournament team ? she definitely earned it with the way she played for us this weekend.”
Against USC, Western (1-7) was led by senior Heather Koontz with nine kills while junior Meredith Harmon added six. Freshman Katie Hennessey dished out 22 assists and Rondone was the lone Catamount to reach double-figures with 14 digs.
The Gamecocks (7-1) used nine-straight points to break open a close game one, turning a 12-10 advantage into 21-10 edge en route to the 30-20 win. Western fought off three game points before a dug ball rebounded off the Jervey Gym ceiling ? which is in play ? and it fell between Rondone and Hennessey.
In game two, South Carolina raced to a 4-0 lead and never looked back with Western closing to within six on two occasions, but never could pull any closer. At one point during the second game, the Catamounts had five freshmen on the floor with senior Krista Neumann representing the only upper classman. USC closed out the match by scoring points in bunches in game three, including eight-straight at one point, to win 30-18.
The Gamecocks were led by senior Shonda Cole, who was named the Big Orange Bash tournament MVP. She finished with a match-high 16 kills on a .577 attack percentage. Senior Lynae Vanden Hull was the only other player to reach double-figures, tallying 11 kills with just one error on 17 total attacks for a match-high .588 attack percentage.
Western returns to action in one week, visiting Morehead State in Morehead, Ky., for the Comfort Inn Invitational. The Catamounts will face Morehead at 7:00 pm on Friday, Sept. 8 and battle the United States Air Force Academy and Central Arkansas on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Furman 3, Samford 0
Orlando, FL -- Chibuzo Aguocha tallied 20 kills, and Kerry Wooten and Nicole Palazzo each added 11 kills as Furman defeated Samford 3-0 (30-28, 30-16, 30-19) in the final match of the UCF Classic on Saturday afternoon. Aguocha and Courtney Stewardson were each named to the UCF Classic All-Tournament Team.
Aguocha topped the 20 kill mark for the third time in six matches this season. She committed only four hitting errors for a hitting percentage of
.421 (20-4-38). Wooten and Palazzo each added 11 kills for Furman (4-2).
Wooten had only two errors in 13 total attempts (.692), and Palazzo made just three errors in 22 total attempts (.364).
Sara Sears had 10 kills for Samford (0-5). Jackie Jaszcz had 31 assists, and Jen Powers added 10 digs.
Kim Tonkin tallied 14 digs for Furman, and Pamela Gehrke added 10 defensive saves for the Paladins.
With the win, Furman improves to 4-2 on the season. The Paladins return to action on Friday as Furman travels Johnson City, Tenn. to face East Tennessee State in the ETSU Invitational.
Jacksonville 3, Georgia Southern 1
Georgia Southern 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? The Georgia Southern volleyball team lost its first match of the season 3-1 (28-30, 30-15, 17-30, 27-30) to Jacksonville University, but the Eagles rebounded in the second match of the day, defeating Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 (30-19, 27-30, 30-24, 30-20) on day two of the Jacksonville Crispers Invitational at Jacksonville University.
“Overall we had a very good tournament against some great competition,” said head coach Nicole McCray. “For us to come out of this tournament 2-1 says a lot about our team and it’s definitely a great start going into conference play.”
Georgia Southern won game one 30-19 thanks to six kills from sophomore Christy Dowd and four block assists by senior Jennifer Charles, but the second round went to Southeastern Louisiana. The Lady Lions won 30-27, holding GSU to nine kills. The Eagles took the third frame 30-24, as Dowd added six more digs and senior Staci Anderson recorded six digs. GSU won the fourth game to take the match 3-1.
Dowd recorded 22 kills in the match, followed by Bailey Coleman, who had 12. The Eagles had nine blocks, including solos from Charles and Jennifer Schenk.
“I wish I could give everyone an All-Tournament award, because we had some great performances, but again this weekend was a team effort offensively and defensively,” added McCray. “Some of our players had great offensive games and some had great defensive games. Once we put all that together we will be very difficult to defend. For us to win this match on the road having lost earlier definitely builds character and shows that we can do anything once we put our minds to it.”
The Eagles lost their first match of the season 1-3 (28-30, 30-15, 17-30, 27-30) to Jacksonville University in the first of two matches on Saturday at the Jacksonville Crispers Invitational.
“Jacksonville came in and played a great match,” said McCray. “They were ready to play and blocked us well. It’s tough losing, but this gives us something to work on.”
Jacksonville took the first game of the match, 30-28, but the Eagles rebounded in round two, pulling out a 30-15 win to even the score 1-1. Dowd had 13 kills in the first two frames, and the Eagles held the Dolphins to a .081 hitting percentage in the second game, allowing only 10 digs. Jacksonville came back, taking the last two frames 30-17 and 30-27.
Dowd finished the match with 23 kills and 11 digs. Charles, Schenk, and Mae Chabra each had one block, but it was the Jacksonville defense that won the match. The Dolphins had 17.5 blocks in the four-game set.
The Eagles improve to 5-1 on the season. GSU will travel to Macon, Ga., Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. to take on Mercer.
North Carolina Central 3, The Citadel 0
The Citadel 3, SC State 2
The Citadel 3, Hampton 2
The Citadel, Winston-Salem State 0
Hampton, Va. ? The Citadel volleyball stumbled early but won their last three at the Hampton Invitational,
including back-to-back five-game matches over South Carolina State and host Hampton. The Bulldogs dropped
their first match of the tournament before winning the final three as they closed out the tournament with a 3-0
victory over Winston-Salem State.
The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss against North Carolina Central. Game scores were 25-30,
32-34 and 21-30. The Cadets were unable to get a strong offense going throughout the match while NCCU
capitalized on several opportunities.
In the second match of the tournament, played immediately following the match against North Carolina Central,
The Citadel pulled out a 3-2 victory over South Carolina State, rallying from a 2-0 deficit. The Bulldogs fell in the
first two games with back-to-back scores of 22-30 but rallied for a 30-24 win in game three. The Citadel edged
SCSU with a 30-27 win in game four and closed out the win with a 15-12 game five victory.
“To be able to bounce back from a two game deficit in the second match of a doubleheader is encouraging,” said
head coach Carolyn Geiger. “We changed our offense around a little bit and that threw their defense off some.
And it is always nice to get your first victory of the season.”
Following the match against South Carolina State, the Bulldogs took on host Hampton in another five-game
thriller. The Citadel took the first two games, 30-27 and 30-21, but dropped games three and four, 26-30 and 23-
30. The Citadel jumped out to a quick start in game five but Hampton rallied as The Citadel took the game beyond
the normal 15 points. The Bulldogs rallied in the end to clinch the victory with a 17-15.
In the fourth and final match of the tournament, The Citadel rolled over Winston-Salem State, 3-0.
The Citadel returns to action on Friday, Sept. 8 as the Cadets return to Charleston, S.C., to host Bethune-
Cookman at 3 p.m. in McAlister Field House and Savannah State at 6 p.m.
NC State 3, Chattanooga 0
Winthrop 3, Chattanooga 0
RALEIGH, N.C. ? The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team fell to 0-3 on the season after being swept by North Carolina State and Winthrop in second day action at the Wolfpack Classic.
NC State (1-4) claimed its first win of the season with a 30-21, 31-29, 30-12 victory over the Lady Mocs in the day’s first match. Kari Wiedinger led the UTC offense with eight kills, while Juliana Martinez had five kills and four blocks. Bethany Herndon tallied 17 assists. Lara Newberry and Kelsey Amundson had 18 and 17 digs, respectively. The Lady Mocs had 26 hitting errors for the match and only totaled 25 kills.
UTC served for game point in the second game, but NC State rallied for four consecutive points to force overtime and take a 31-29 win.
Chrissy Zirpolo led the Wolfpack with 13 kills and 10 digs.
In the second match of the day, Winthrop improved to 5-1 on the year after a 30-22, 30-14, 30-18 win over the Lady Mocs gave them the Wolfpack Classic crown.
Leslie Ball led the UTC offense with nine kills and hit .286 for the match. Lara Newberry led the defense with 17 digs.
Chattanooga’s next match will also be on the road, as the Lady Mocs will face Samford in Birmingham on Wednesday.
The Holiday Inn Express Challenge will open the home season for the Lady Mocs with the four-team tournament starting on Friday night. The tournament will feature Birmingham Southern, Eastern Kentucky and Lamar. Tickets are available by calling (423) 266-MOCS or online at www.gomocs.com.
UNC Greensboro 3, UNC Asheville 2
Cleveland State 3, UNC Greensboro 0
ASHEVILLE, NC ? Senior Theresa Hart set a career-high with 27 kills to lead the UNC Greensboro women’s volleyball team to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over UNC Asheville on Saturday afternoon at the UNCA Volleyball Classic at The Justice Center. Later in the day, UNCG fell 3-0 to Cleveland State.
Hart, a first-year transfer from the University of San Francisco, was dynamic all match long against UNCA (1-6) in leading the Spartans back from a 2-0 deficit. She posted the 27 kills on a .346 hitting percentage, while also coming up with 14 digs. In addition, Hart, who already had posted 20 kills in the first three games alone against UNCA, was named to the All-Tournament team.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz provided 11 kills and four blocks, while senior Hilary Overby had 10 kills. Freshman Lisa Fawell handed out a season-high
61 assists, while freshman Catherine Hanners had a team-leading 23 digs.
Alysha Greer led UNCA with 20 kills, while Elif Unlu, the pre-season Big South Player of the Year, provided 11 kills with most of her damage being done in the first two games of the match.
In the fifth and final game, UNCG (6-2) used its momentum from winning the previous two games to grab a quick 9-3 lead. Junior Lauren Keiser later put the Spartans in the driver’s seat with a delicately placed shot that gave UNCG a 12-4 advantage. The Spartans held on for the 15-10 win.
The host Bulldogs came out firing in the first game of the day to lead 6-0.
The Spartans climbed back to within 7-6 moments later, but could never gain the lead in the opening game. Back-to-back aces by Unlu gave UNCA an 18-10 lead and that advantage remained comfortable for a 30-18 win by hitting at a .448 clip.
UNCG led for the final time 6-5 in game two as the Bulldogs took control with a 12-5 run that gave them a 17-11 advantage. The Spartans never got any closer than four points ? 25-21 and 29-25 ? before a 30-25 victory put the home team up 2-0 before the intermission.
Coming out of the break, the Spartans showed some resiliency by taking an early lead and holding onto it the rest of the way. Hart took over by putting away eight kills in game three alone, including the final point that put UNCG back into the match with a 30-25 win. Hart paced the team to a .351 hitting percentage in the game.
The fourth game was a tightly played affair with neither team leading by more than three points throughout. Tied 10-10, UNCG led briefly 14-12 but moments later it was tied back up at 16-all and 18-all. An Overby kill gave UNCG its largest lead at that point of the game, 22-19, and a Keiser ace maintained the advantage at 25-22.
However, the game featured four more ties, the final at 28-28 which set up some heroics for the Spartans. Keiser found an open right side for a kill and then Hart set her career-high with the 26th put away of the afternoon to send the match into a deciding fifth game.
UNCG is now 8-5 all-time against UNCA and won its first five-game match of the young season. Also, the Spartans already have more wins this year than last season.
In the first ever meeting with Cleveland State (5-2), the Spartans were forced to come right back on the court and take on the Vikings. Likely feeling the affects of just playing a marathon game, UNCG came out a bit slow and fell 30-13 in game one.
The Spartans played better in games two and three but fell in identical fashion, 30-26, to the Vikings.
Nortz and freshman Branagan Fuller led UNCG with 10 dig apiece.
UNCG plays its home opener against local-rival High Point on Tuesday at Fleming Gym beginning at 7 pm.
Elon 3, Navy 2
ELON, N.C. ? Jessica Barrow posted her first career double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 3-2 win over the Midshipmen of Navy at the Phoenix Classic on Saturday night. Elon earned tight wins in the first two games by scores of 32-30 and 31-29 before Navy downed Elon 30-22 and 30-25 in the third and fourth games. But Elon came out energized and took the fifth game 15-11 to earn its first victory of the season.
Elon took an early 4-0 lead in the decisive fifth game and held onto that lead for the duration of the game. Navy got within one at 9-8 on a kill from Beth McArthur but Elon earned the next three points to go ahead 12-8 and finished the game 15-11 on a kill from Barrow. Elon posted a .438 hitting percentage in the game, recording eight kills and only one error on 16 attempts.
In game one, Navy led by four at 26-22 before Elon used a 5-1 run to knot the game 27-27 on a kill from Barrow. The teams traded points before Elon earned points 31 and 32 on Navy attack errors to finish the game 32-30.
Game two saw the same back-and-forth action as the first game. After a 26-26 tie Elon earned two points to go ahead 28-26 but the Midshipmen knotted the game 29-29 on a kill from McArthur. Elon won the next two points on back-to-back kills from Natalie Moore and Britany Westphal to take the game 31-29.
After a 10-10 tie in game three, Navy tallied four points to go up 14-10 and take the lead for good. The Midshipmen posted a .310 hitting percentage in the game to take a 30-22 win.
In the fourth game, Navy jumped to an early 12-6 lead and would extend that led to eight at 16-8 on a kill from Megan Boyd. Elon would chip away at the lead and come within one at 24-23 on a Navy attack error. But the Midshipmen outscored the Phoenix six to two to earn a 30-25 win on a kill from Jessie Sims.
Meyers added a career-high 14 kills and a career-high seven total blocks for Elon. Juliena Gigon posted 12 kills and 12 digs along with three total blocks. Brooke Pickard led the Elon defense with 21 digs while Emily Lucci added 11. Moore posted 45 assists and Emily Regan added 14.
Nikki England led the Midshipmen’s offense with 18 kills while also recording 10 digs. Sims posted 21 digs and 13 kills while McArthur added 13 kills, eight digs and six total blocks.
In the third match of Saturday’s Phoenix Classic, TCU downed UAB 3-1 by scores of 20-30, 30-24, 30-16 and 30-18. Anna Vaughn led the Horned Frogs with 18 kills and seven total blocks and Lauren Otto added 11 kills. Calli Corley posted 13 digs for the defense and Emily Allen added 12. Nirelle Hampton posted 29 assists along with six kills and six digs.
Ivana Bozic paced the Blazer’s offense with 19 kills while Aleksandra Vujovic added 11. Fernanda Domingos posted 11 digs and Haylee Adkins and Brianna Galvin added 10 digs each. Nevena Stefanov posted 42 assists for UAB.
College of Charleston 3, Binghamton 0
College of Charleston handed Binghamton its second-straight tournament loss at the Four Points Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars won, 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-24), improving to 3-0 on the season, while Binghamton fell to 1-5.
CofC middle blocker Tiffany Blum led a pair of players to hit in double-figures with a match-high 17 kills and a .304 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Emily Swain added 11 kills to go along nine digs and setter Lindsey Kane registered a double-double with 40 assists and 12 digs.
College of Charleston will play next weekend in the GlaxoSmithKline UNC Volleyball Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Cougars play Wichita State on Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. and will play North Carolina at noon and Illinois at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 9.
NOTE: CofC plays Cal State-Fullerton to conclude the Four Points Titan Classic at 10 p.m. (EDT). Full coverage will follow.
Murray State 3, Appalachian State 2
September 2, 2006 - JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) recorded career and match-highs with 33 digs but the Appalachian State University volleyball team fell to Murray State, 3-2 (30-25, 27-30, 30-25, 22-30, 15-12), Saturday in ASU’s final match of the UNF Labor Day Classic.
With the loss the Mountaineers place third at the University of North Florida’s tournament, finishing the weekend with a 1-2 mark. Appalachian is now 3-3 overall, while MSU improves to 2-1, both overall and in the tournament.
Engelgau played all five games in the match, tallying 33 digs, just one shy of moving into ASU’s top-10 for single-match digs. Sophomores Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte, N.C.) and Charissa Clearman (Austin, Texas) and junior Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) each added double-digit dig performances with 14, 11 and 10, respectively.
Fliehr put up a double-double in the loss, adding 14 kills to her 14 digs, finishing with a .344 hitting percentage in just four games. Rau, the setter, dished out a season-high 60 assists.
Juniors Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) and Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) continued to lead the offensive attack, finishing with 14 and 15 kills, respectively.
The Racers were paced by Holly Jansen’s 19 kills. Alison Mugler and Katie Kemezys each chipped 13 kills. Cassie Chesney dished out 56 assists.
Earlier in the day, head coach Chad Callihan earned his 100th career victory as the Mountaineers defeated Idaho State, 3-1.
Appalachian dropped the first game, 25-30, before rallying back to win the next three, 30-23, 30-20 and 30-22. The milestone win improves ASU's record to 3-2 while Idaho State falls to 3-4. Appalachian outhit the Bengals by a glaring .263 to .068 margin. The Mountaineers also had 20 blocks to ISU's 11.
Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) matched a career high with 21 kills and a .351 hitting percentage. She also added three aces. Senior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) tacked on 12 kills while setter Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) engineered the offense with 49 assists.
Senior Amy Lewis (Chesnee, S.C.) and freshman Becca Norris (Franklin, N.C.) anchored the ASU frontline with five block assists each. Fellow freshman Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) had a match-high 16 digs in the win.
The Mountaineers return to action as they head to the Hokie Invite hosted by Virginia Tech, Sept. 8-9. First up for the Apps is Liberty at 5 p.m. Friday. Aside from Liberty and host-VT, ASU will also face George Washington.
Davidson 3, Liberty 0
Davidson 3, Portland 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The Wildcats volleyball team posted two wins on the final day of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic, defeating the University of Portland 3-2 (30-25, 30-27, 32-34, 19-30, 15-10) in the nightcap after blanking Liberty 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-23) earlier on Saturday afternoon.
Leading the 'Cats to a 2-3 record in the Classic, senior setter Jenna Dykstra represented Davidson on the All-Tournament team. Dykstra tallied 56 assists in the thrilling 3-2 win over Portland, as well as seven kills, 16 digs and three blocks.
With the win, Davidson improves to 5-3 on the season.
Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson tallied a match-high 21 kills against Portland, after posting 19 in game one.
Sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale tallied 13 kills in 21 swings against Liberty and 12 putaways in the night's match with Portland. Junior outside hitter Katie Pierucci completed the offensive attack for Davidson, posting 20 kills against Portland and 10 against Liberty.
Next up for the Wildcats, Davidson will travel to the TCU Invitational for three games this weekend.The 'Cats will face host Texas Christian on Friday at 7 p.m., and Mississippi at 10:30 a.m. and Centenary at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Game One: Davidson (3) vs. Liberty (0)
The Wildcats got in a big hole early in game one, as the Flames went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 2-7, but the 'Cats fought back to knot the score at 10 before finally pulling away late. Davidson won the final three points on a kill from Pierucci and a couple Liberty miscues.
Davidson got down early again in game two, the closest battle of the match.
In the back-and-forth affair, the score was tied 16 times until the Wildcats pulled away with the score tied at 24. Dystra, who totaled 38 assists in the match, paired two of her seven kills with a couple putaways from Pierucci to give the 'Cats a 30-28 victory in the second game.
Game three was tight again at the beginning, but the Davidson attack proved too much for the Flames. Neale posted six kills in the final game to give Davidson its first win of the tournament, while Willamson chipped in five.
Game Two: Davidson (3) vs. Portland (2)
Davidson matched Portland's attacks in the first two games to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Williamson got five kills to lead Davidson to a 30-25 victory in game one, and she added seven in the second to lift the 'Cats to a 30-27 win.
With a two-game lead, Davidson fought hard to put the match away, but ten kills from Nicole Thometz, who joined Dykstra on the all-tournament team, kept the Pilots in the match. Davidson held a 28-26 advantage, but the Pilots knotted the score three times to keep the match alive. Davidson had a match-point chance at 32-31, but a couple Wildcat miscues gave Portland a
34-32 victory in game three.
The Pilots took game four by a commanding 30-19 total, outhitting the 'Cats .327 to .178 to force a decisive game five. Despite losing a two-game lead, the 'Cats came out fighting in game five. Things were close at the beginning, but Davidson pulled away behind three straight serves from Dystra to take a 6-4 lead that they would never relinquish. Williamson posted three kills in the game to lift the 'Cats to a 15-10 victory and take the match.
Cal State-Fullerton 3, College of Charleston 1
FULLERTON, Calif. ? College of Charleston fell to host Cal State-Fullerton 3-1 (30-25, 29-31, 30-20, 30-19) in the championship game of the Four Points Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday.
The Cougars are 3-1 on the season, while the Titans improve to 5-0.
Junior middle blocker Tiffany Blum, junior setter Lindsay Kane and freshman outside hitter Emily Sawin and were named to the Four Points Titan Classic All-Tournament Team, after CofC had sweeps over Weber State and Binghamton and finishing as runners-up in the tournament. They were joined by Cal State-Fullerton’s Brittany Moore, who was also named MVP, Breanna Trudeau and Julie Geissert, and Weber State’s Kolbie Murphey.
Blum had a match-high 18 kills as she paced CofC with .227 hitting, followed by Sawin with 12 kills. Senior Marie Dobrenz had a match-high 38 digs.
College of Charleston will play next weekend in the GlaxoSmithKline UNC Volleyball Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Cougars play Wichita State on Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. and will play North Carolina at noon and Illinois at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 9.