College of Charleston 3, The Citadel 0
Charleston, S.C. ? College of Charleston opened its Southern Conference schedule with a 3-0 win over crosstown rival, The Citadel, at the John Kresse Arena on Tuesday.
Junior middle blocker Annie Uthe hit a career-high .706 on 14 kills, followed by junior outside hitter Deanna Patrick, who also had a career-high .647 hitting on 12 kills.
Senior defensive specialist Megan Parkerson paced Charleston with 12 digs, followed by senior libero Marie Dobrenz with 10.
The Citadel’s senior middle blocker Kim Cooper hit a team-high .200 on two kills. Freshman libero Tiffany Edwards posted a team-high 11 digs.
College of Charleston will travel to Davidson on Sept. 22, Appalachian State on Sept. 23 and non-conference opponent Winthrop on Sept. 26, before returning home on Sept. 29 to face Wofford.
The Bulldogs close out their eight-match road swing this weekend as they continue in Southern Conference action. The Citadel will take on Appalachian State on Friday, Sept. 22 in Boone, N.C., at 7 p.m
UNC Greensboro 3, Wofford 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Theresa Hart led three UNC Greensboro women’s volleyball players in double digit kills with a match-high 20 in a 3-0 victory over Wofford in the Southern Conference home opener for the Spartans on Tuesday night at Fleming Gym.
The victory for UNCG (10-5, 1-2 SoCon) was its first over Wofford since the
2003 season and gave the Spartans 10 wins in a season for the first time since 1999.
Hart, the senior transfer from the University of San Francisco, had 20 kills on 40 attempts for a .250 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz notched her ninth straight double digit total with 15 kills, while freshman Branagan Fuller was efficient with 10 kills on a .400 hitting percentage.
Freshman setter Lisa Fawell dished out 49 assists, while classmate Kayleigh Knerr came up with 13 digs for the second straight match.
Sarah Twitty and Courtney Gregory led Wofford (4-6, 0-2 SoCon) with eight kills apiece, while Twitty also had a team-high 13 digs. Joanna Suddath doled out 29 assists for the Terriers.
UNCG avoided its third straight loss to open the conference season by showing some resiliency in the opening game. After falling behind by as much as nine points, 24-15, the Spartans ran off a 12-3 run to tie the game for the first time at 27-27.
Knerr’s deftly placed serves helped UNCG take its first lead at 28-27. In fact, the Moon Township, PA native served seven straight points for the Spartans which included one service ace and a pair of kills by Nortz.
The match was tied for the final time at 29-29, before Hart put away her eighth kill of game one and a Terrier attack error gave UNCG an improbable come back win, 31-29.
The Spartans rolled their momentum into game two by cruising to a comfortable 30-19 victory. Hart added eight more kills in the second game.
Leading by a narrow margin 9-7, UNCG took off on a 15-7 run that put them up 24-14 and at that point were well on its way to victory.
After the intermission, Wofford fell behind 8-1 in the opening minutes and was unable to recover the rest of the way as UNCG closed out the match with a 30-21 win. Nortz and Fuller each contributed five kills in the final game for the Spartans.
UNCG heads back on the road to take on SoCon rival Chattanooga on Saturday at 2 pm and then Western Carolina on Sunday at 4 pm.
East Tennessee State 3, Furman 2
Greenville, S.C. -- Jennifer Sartor and Callie Kiselich each recorded 20 kills as East Tennessee State held on to defeat Furman 3-2 on Tuesday night at Alley Gym.
ETSU (10-5) placed four players in double-digit kills as Crystal Palmer and Sarah Buhr tallied 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
Furman (5-7) was led by Chibuzo Aguocha with 25 kills and 12 digs. This marks the sixth match that Aguocha has topped 20 kills, and her sixth double-double. Aguocha now has recorded four straight matches with double-digits in kills and digs.
Whitney Purser also recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 16 defensive saves for the Paladins, and Kerry Wooten and Nicole Palazzo added 18 and 13 kills, respectively.
Courtney Stewardson recorded a career-high 69 set assists for Furman, and Kim Tonkin tallied a game-high 17 defensive saves.
Furman also recorded a season-high 14 service aces, including six by Aguocha.
With the loss, Furman drops to 5-7 on the season. The Paladins are back in action on Saturday as Furman plays host to Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. in Alley Gym.