Chattanooga 3, UNCG 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) pounded out 25 kills to the tune of a .500 hitting percentage while senior setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) dished out 41 assists and posted 17 digs to lead Chattanooga (12-8, 7-1) to a 3-0 victory over UNC Greensboro (12-11, 5-4) Saturday afternoon at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Mocs defeated the Spartans 30-23, 30-26 and 31-29 to move into first place in the Southern Conference.
Trailing 7-5 in Game 1, Chattanooga hit their stride as they scored nine consecutive points, three on kills by Ball, to take a 14-7 lead. The Lady Mocs soon extended that lead to 22-12, aided by a pair of kills from senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) and freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium), before UNC Greensboro closed to within 27-21 with a 9-5 run. That would be as close as the Spartans would get as UTC wrapped the game, and a 1-0 match lead, with a 30-27 victory.
Game 2 was a tightly contested affair that saw UNCG pull out to leads of 6-3 and 11-8 before Chattanooga rallied to take the lead, 13-11, with a 5-0 run. That would be a lead they would hold until a Spartan rally gave them the lead at 22-20. Tht lead would be short lived as UTC rallied to pull ahead 23-22 and held on for a 30-26 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
The third game featured five ties early on before the Lady Mocs pulled out to a 17-13 advantage off of an 8-4 run. The Spartans would not go quietly, closing to 23-22 before a 4-0 run put them ahead 27-24. Three straight kills by Ball keyed a Chattanooga 4-0 run to put them in the lead again at 28-27. The two teams exchanged the next four points to make the score 30-29 UTC before a service ace by Ball put the game, and the match, away 31-29.
For UNC Greensboro, junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Nortz and senior outside hitter Katherine Hart led the offensive attack with 16 and 12 kills, respectively, while sophomore setter Lisa Falwell notched a team-high 40 assists. Defensively, sophomore libero Catherine Hanners led the way with 20 digs and was joined by sophomore defensive specialist Kayleigh Knerr and sophomore outside hitter Branagan Fuller with 10 digs each. Fuller added nine kills while Hart posted eight digs.
In addition to the performances of Ball and Herndon, Chattanooga was led by junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) with a match-high 28 digs. Senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) added 12 digs while Kullak finished with nine kills and five digs. Herndon finished the day averaging 13.66 assists per game will Ball pounded out an average of 8.33 kills.
The Lady Mocs return to action tomorrow when they host Elon at 2 p.m. at Maclellan Gym.
College of Charleston 3, Furman 0
Whitney Russell’s 13 kills led the Charleston volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-20, 30-15, 30-28) victory over the second-place Furman Paladins to remain number one in the Southern Conference.
With the win, Charleston improves to 13-6 and 8-1 in the Southern Conference. Furman falls to 6-2 in the conference and 13-5 overall.
“This was a great win today. The team worked extremely hard and was really focused throughout the entire match,” said Head Coach Jason Kepner. “We communicated very well and our seniors really led us on offense and defense. To win 3-0 at home against a very good Furman team was what we needed to get back on track. I look forward tomorrow’s match against Wofford.”
Furman’s Nicole Palazzo opened game one with a kill, but Charleston quickly got on track, tying the game at five. Charleston then took the lead off of a Lindsey Kane service ace and never gave it back to the Paladins. Leading 13-7, a Cougar block forced Furman to take a timeout. Furman took its second timeout of the game after Charleston extended its lead to 21-11. Charleston took the game 30-20 after Furman’s Alison West had an attack error.
After trailing 3-1 in game two, Charleston took the lead and held it for the remainder of the game after scoring 13 consecutive points, forcing Furman to call timeouts at the 18-12 and 22-12 marks. Furman could not find an answer to the Cougar offensive attack. Charleston took game two 30-15
Game three saw the teams tie 12 times before Charleston won 30-28. The game began with a Furman kill, but Charleston answered with a kill of its own. Charleston took a 14-10 lead before Furman scored six of the next eight points to tie the game at 16, forcing a CofC timeout. Charleston made it a 28-24 game before Furman scored three consecutive points and narrowed Charleston’s lead to one. The Cougars responded with two unanswered points. A kill by Blum sealed the game and the match for Charleston.
The double-digit kills by Russell, Tiffany Blum (13), and Annie Uthe (10) sparked the CofC offense which combined for a total 54 kills in the match. Setter Lindsey Kane paced the Cougars with 42 assists, while recording four kills, six digs, and two assisted blocks.
Defensively, Charleston was led by Blum who tallied three assisted blocks. Adding to the defensive effort was Uthe and Russell with two blocks each. Megan Parkerson recorded a team high 11 digs, with Emily Sawin adding nine of her own.
For Furman, Chibuzo Aguocha led the team with 19 kills for a .324 attack percentage. Emily Harby was second on the team in kills with eight. Setter Courtney Stewardson recorded 39 assists and had one solo block in the effort.
Harby led the Paladin defense with a match high five blocks, with Kerry Wooten earning three of her own. Also in on the defensive effort were Stewardson, Aguocho, and Palazzo who combined for six blocks.
Wofford 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Freshman Stacy Byrd paced the Terrier offense to a 3-1 (28-30, 30-25, 30-28, 30-24) win over Southern Conference foe The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. Saturday night.
Byrd led Wofford (8-12, 2-6 SoCon) with a .325 hitting percentage from 17 kills and 40 total attacks. Sophomore Sarah Palmer concluded the match collecting 13 kills and 38 total attacks. Junior Liz Sheet’s 13 kills and 35 total attacks, along with sophomore Lindsey Richardson’s 12 kills and 34 total attacks were also among the Terriers top hitting performances.
Sophomore Joann Suddath finished the match with a team high 44 assists and 24 digs. Classmate Brittany Thompson, just shy of the team best, collected 23 digs.
The Citadel’s (4-19, 0-8 SoCon) offense was led by junior Rachel Sanders as she finished the match with an impressive performance collecting16 kills, 58 total attacks and 24 digs to lead the Bulldogs. Freshman Jessica Maas finished the match with a .343 hitting percentage from 15 kills and 35 total attacks.
Junior Emily Hill paced the Bulldogs collecting 46 assists.
The Terriers continue action Sunday at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. for a 2 p.m. matchup.
Elon 3, Western Carolina 2
ELON, N.C. - The Elon Phoenix volleyball team extended its winning streak to six and its Southern Conference winning streak to five Saturday afternoon as it came from behind to defeat Western Carolina 3-2 (20-30, 26-30, 30-24, 34-32, 15-13).
The Phoenix was led by junior Jessica Barrow's 21 kills (.383) and two block assists. Senior Emily Lucci recorded her sixth double-double of the season, posting 10 kills and 12 digs. Freshmen Sarah Schermerhorn and Lauren Copenhagen also reached double digits in kills with 12 and 10, respectively.
Barrow tallied five kills in the first game, but the Phoenix were outhit .400 to .121 as they fell 20-30. Barrow added seven kills in the second frame, but Western Carolina's Jelena Jakovljevic posted nine kills as the Phoenix fell to 0-2 with a 26-30 loss.
Elon rallied in the game three, defeating the Catamounts 30-24 and holding the opposition to a .132 hitting percentage. The Phoenix held on in the fourth stanza and tied the match at 2-2, winning 34-32, in a game that reached extra points.
Senior Britany Westphal led all players in the deciding fifth game, posting four kills as Elon took the match with a 15-13 win.
Natalie Moore tallied 61 assists, while Kelley Blakewood led the squad with 19 digs. Lucci logged three blocks to lead Elon.
The Phoenix will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., Sunday to face the UTC Mocs.