Davidson 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Davidson placed four hitters in double figures, led by junior middle blocker Kittery Neale's 19 kills, as the 'Cats earned a 3-1 (30-19, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28) win over the Wofford Terriers on Tuesday night in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Freshman outside hitter Sarabeth Peele (18), senior outside hitter Katie Pierucci (15) and freshman middle blocker Jorden Benedict (10) joined Neale in double figures. Benedict hit a match-high .643, posting her 10 kills on just 14 attempts. Freshman setter Hayley Lawson added a match-high 58 assists to the effort, while four players posted double-digits in digs on the defensive end. Pierruci had 14 for her 11th double-double, while Lawson (10), Chamblee (15) and Woeste (13) also contributed.
Stacy Byrd was the lone Terrier in double-digits with 11 kills, while Sarah Palmer paced the defense with a match-high 16 kills.
Davidson moves to 7-16 overall and 2-8 in the SoCon, while Wofford falls to 8-14 and 2-8 in the league.
The Wildcats trailed by a count of 3-0 to open the match, but once a putaway from Lawson put them on top, 8-7, it was all Davidson. Leading 17-13, Neale put together a five-point serve < including back-to-back kills from Peele, to extend Davidson's lead to an overwhelming 21-14 and then punched home the game-winner for a 30-19 win.
The 'Cats again got off to a shaky start in the second game, but this time, were unable to recover. The game was close throughout, but Davidson was always a couple points down and unable to put together a run. A Terrier hitting error put the 'Cats within one, 20-19, but three straight points would give Wofford enough space. Davidson got it back within two, 24-22, but the Terriers closed the game with a 6-2 run to even the match with a 30-24 win.
Both teams came out firing after the break, and the score in the third game was evened as late as 14-14 as the teams traded possessions. With Joanna Suddath serving, the Terriers won the next five points to pull ahead, 18-14, but the 'Cats weren't through just yet. Another Terrier hitting error knotted the score at 23-23, but Davidson remained unable to capitalize < until it mattered. Consecutive kills from Pierucci and Neale knotted the score at 28-28, and sophomore Tierney Hodge gave the 'Cats a game-point chance. Pierucci aced the winner, giving the 'Cats a 2-1 lead with the 30-28 come-from-behind win.
Game four was even more competitive than the third, as almost every point saw a change of possession. There were 13 ties in the game, the last of which was at 25-25, when three Wildcat errors gave Wofford a 28-26 edge. An attack error from the Terriers gave the 'Cats one back, and Peele knotted the score at 28-28. Another kill from Peele coupled with a Terrier error delivered another 30-28 win for the match.
Davidson returns to action this weekend, hosting a pair of SoCon matchups at Belk Arena. The 'Cats take on Western Carolina at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Chattanooga at 2 p.m., Sunday.
The Citadel 3, South Carolina State 0
Charleston, S.C. ? Rachel Sanders put down 14 kills while Jessica Maas led all hitters with a .444 hitting mark as The Citadel Bulldogs rolled to a 3-0 win over South Carolina State Tuesday night. Game scores were 30-23, 30-13 and 30-11.
The Bulldogs hit .262 in the match, their best hitting performance since Oct. 2 vs. Savannah State. Six Cadets hit over .200 in the match as The Citadel dominated most of the match. South Carolina State hit .000 in the match as four SC State Bulldogs recorded a negative hitting percentage.
“We started off slow in the first game and allowed SC State to come back into the game at 26-20,” said head coach Carolyn Geiger. “But we maintained the lead and closed out the game. We played well in the second and third games and were able to play everyone. The girls set team goals for the match and were able to achieve those goals. I am proud of the energy and effort we put into this win.”
The Citadel jumped out to a quick 20-11 lead before SC State rallied late in the game to keep a Citadel victory at bay. A pesky SC State block prevented an easy Citadel win as SC State recorded an impressive 7.5 blocks in the first game.
The Cadets dominated the second and third games, beginning with a .367 hitting percentage in the second game. Caitlin Vyborny led the Cadets with five kills in the game while SC State only recorded five total kills in the game as a team. Jessica Maas and Rachel Sanders each added four kills apiece.
The Citadel again dominated in the third game with Sanders leading the military Bulldogs seven kills while SC State posted seven kills as a team. Sanders’ .700 percentage led all hitters except for the 1.000 percentage posted by teammate Jasmine McLamb. Emily Hill posted two service aces in the game while Maas and Sanders both added one apiece.
The Citadel next returns to action on Friday, Oct. 19 as they travel to Greensboro, N.C. for a 7 p.m. match at UNC Greensboro. The Bulldogs will then play at Elon on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. in Elon, N.C.
College of Charleston 3, Coastal Carolina 0
Led by Cole Dawley and Deanna Patrick with 11 kills each, the College of Charleston volleyball team downed Coastal Carolina 3-0 (30-20, 30-26, 30-12) in the second meeting between the two teams this season. Coastal Carolina won the first match 3-1.
“This was a great way to finish our four-match home stand,” Head Coach Jason Kepner said. “We have won 12 straight games and played some great volleyball. Now we have to take it on the road and get focused for two more conference matches this weekend. Tonight was a great blocking night, averaging almost six blocks a game is something that you don’t do very often. I was very happy with our aggressive blocking tonight.”
With the win, CofC improved to 15-6 overall with 11 shutouts. Coastal Carolina falls to 11-12 with the loss.
Charleston answered Coastal Carolina’s two opening points with a 4-0 run to take a 3-2 lead. CCU tied the game at three before Charleston took the lead and kept it for the remainder of the game. With Emily Sawin serving and owning a 13-9 lead, CofC scored eight consecutive points to take a 21-9 lead. Coastal went on a 7-0 run to narrow Charleston?s lead to 22-17. CofC scored the next two points and forced Coastal to take a timeout. The Cougars scored six of the final seven points to clinch game one 30-20.
After CCU tied game two at three, Charleston went on a 6-0 run to open a 9-3 lead. The Chanticleers chipped away at the Cougar lead on 11 possessions to narrow the Cougar lead to three at 19-16. The Chanticleers scored five consecutive points to tie the game at 22. With Charleston holding a 25-23 advantage, Coastal took their first timeout. Four plays later they took their final timeout at the 28-24 mark. A Dawley kill sealed game two for the Cougars, 30-26.
CofC took game three 30-12 in dominating fashion, scoring 23 of the first 28 points. With a 23-5 lead, Coastal Carolina used their second timeout. The team regrouped and scored on consecutive possessions, making the score 23-7. The team traded points on the next two possessions before Charleston scored five unanswered points. Sawin notched a kill to win the game and the match.
Along with the 11-kill efforts by Dawley and Patrick, Tiffany Blum added another double-digit kill performance with 10. Blum also tied her season best with 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assisted). Paced by Lindsey Kane who recorded 35 assists, Sawin added eight kills while Annie Uthe, Kane, and Whitney Russell combined for 14 kills.
Megan Parkerson tallied 11 digs, while Dawley added 10 digs, for a double-double performance. Nine Cougars recorded a dig for a 50-dig team performance. Sawin, Uthe, Kane, Dawley, Patrick, and Russell each notched at least one block for a team total of 17.5.
Jill Nyhoff led the Chanticleers with 10 kills, while Chelsy Kimes added 9 kills on the night. Six additional players were in on the offensive effort by combining for 17 kills. Meagan Tracey paced the team with 27 assists, while Megan Bickford and Kimes recorded one service ace a piece.
Defensively, Bickford led Coastal Carolina with five blocks (one solo, four assisted). The team tallied seven total blocks. Brett Starbuck paced the defense with 10 digs while eight Chanticleers recorded at least one dig each.
CofC takes its winning ways on the road this week when it travel to North Carolina to face Elon Friday, Oct. 19 for a 7 p.m. match and UNC Greensboro Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m.
Chattanooga 2, Lipscomb 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? With her name already speckled all over the Lady Mocs record books, junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added her most prestigious achievement on Tuesday night as she registered 35 digs to break the school record of 2,058 set by Kylie Hunter from 1990-93. With nine digs in Game 1, including the last three on the same play, the Chattanooga native moved into the top spot all-time for the Lady Mocs.
In the match, Junior outside hitter Sarah Snider notched 37 kills and freshman setter Stefine Pease posted a match-high 66 assists to lead Lipscomb (13-9, 5-2 A-Sun) to a 3-2 victory over Chattanooga (13-9, 8-1) in a non-conference match Tuesday evening at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Bisons defeated UTC 30-28, 23-30, 30-22, 26-30 and 15-11 for their seventh straight victory.
In Game 1, the two teams battled out to a 12-12 tie before Lipscomb took the lead, 19-13 on a 7-1 run and then extended their lead to 26-18. Chattanooga then mounted an 8-1 run to pull to within 27-26 before back-to-back points by the Lady Bisons brought the frame to game point, 29-26. UTC rallied for the next two points before falling 30-28.
It was another tightly contested battle in Game 2 as the teams deadlocked five times before settling at 18-18. At that point, the Lady Mocs put together a 6-0 run to go ahead 24-18 before closing out the match on an overall run of 12-5 to tie the match at 1-1.
Chattanooga took an early 8-4 lead in Game 3 before seeing the Lady Bisons pull to within 12-10. From there Lipscomb took control of the game, putting together an 11-2 run to take a 21-14 lead and eventually went on to close out the game 30-22.
The fourth game was once again a hotly contested affair as neither team held more than a three-point lead until the Lady Mocs extended their lead to 19-15. Lipscomb then proceeded to post a 7-3 run to tie the game at 22-22. An 8-4 run, keyed by back-to-back kills by senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) gave Chattanooga the game, 30-26, and forced a decisive fifth game.
In that fifth and final game, the Lady Bisons quickly broke a 3-3 tie and took a 9-6 lead. A 3-1 run pushed the lead to a daunting 12-7 advantage before senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) pounded back-to-back-to-back kills to draw Chattanooga to within 12-10. Lipscomb would have none of it as they score three of the final four points to take the game, and the match, with a 15-11 victory.
For the Lady Bison’s, Snider added 16 digs to go along with her match-high 37 kills while senior libero Ann Mullins led the defense with a match-high 39 digs. She was joined on the defense by junior outside hitter Jessica Turner with 26 digs and freshman libero Brittany Simmons with 16 digs and three aces. Pease added nine digs to go along with her match-high 66 assists.
Chattanooga was led by freshman setter Bailee Chastain’s (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) career-high 63 assists, 12 digs, six blocks and five kills. Ball finished with 21 kills,12 digs, a .341 hitting percentage and a career-high eight blocks while senior middle blocker Sarah Bass (Baton Rouge, La.) added 16 kills with a .368 hitting percentage. Defensively, junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the way with 35 digs to break UTC’s all-time digs record. She now has 2,087 for her career.
Engel also contributed significantly on defense, notching 29 digs while senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) finished with 25. Freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) chipped in with 19 digs on the night.
As a team, the Lady Mocs finished with a season-high tying 136 digs.
The Lady Mocs return to action this weekend when they travel to Appalachian State on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match at the Holmes Center before heading on to Davidson for a 2 p.m. match on Sunday.