Elon 3, The Citadel 0
ELON, N.C. - The Phoenix defense tallied 13 team blocks and held the Bulldogs to a .091 team hitting percentage as Elon overpowered The Citadel 3-0 (30-13, 30-23, 30-22) Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix improves to 14-12 (8-4 SoCon), while the Bulldogs drop to 5-22 (0-11 SoCon).
Jessica Barrow posted 14 kills to lead the Phoenix offense, while Emily Lucci recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, marking the 10th of the season for the senior. Lucci added six block assists and a solo block, while Sarah Schermerhorn and Mandy Wilson logged six and five blocks, respectively.
The Phoenix offense was powerful through the first frame, tallying 19 kills and hitting .600 behind six kills (.625) from Lucci and five (.833) from Britany Westphal. Defensively, Elon had four team blocks, three from Schermerhorn, and held the Bulldogs to a .028 hitting percentage.
The Citadel put up a fight in game two, taking the lead 19-17, but Elon rallied late to take the win and a 2-0 advantage. Barrow logged seven kills (.400) and Elon added four team blocks in the frame.
Westphal tallied five kills, while Wilson posted five block assists as the Phoenix cruised to victory in the final stanza. Elon added five blocks to its match total, three of which came from Lucci.
Natalie Moore added 31 assist to her growing season total, with Emily Regan adding 11.
The Phoenix will take to the road next weekend, traveling to Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. to face Furman and Wofford in SoCon action.
Davidson 3, Western Carolina 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Senior outside hitter Katie Pierucci got 24 kills on 55 swings to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to its second straight win, a 3-1 decision (28-30, 30-21, 30-25, 30-20) over the Western Carolina Catamounts in SoCon volleyball action on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats improve to 8-16 overall and 3-8 in the league, while Western falls to 7-20 and 2-10 in the SoCon.
Along with hitting a team-high .309 on the day, Pierucci added 13 digs to lead the defensive effort, in yet another double-double performance, and chipped in five aces and six blocks in a complete effort.
Freshman outside hitter Sarabeth Peele continued her strong play of late with 13 kills, while junior middlle blocker Kittery Neale had 12 kills to go along with a match-high eight blocks. Freshman setter Hayley Lawson also had a match-high 51 assists.
For Western, Jelena Jakoovljevic had 13 kills and six blocks, while setter Katie Hennessey had a triple-double with 11 kills, 38 assists and 12 digs.
Davidson held a couple leads in the first game, leading by margins of four at 17-13 and 26-22, but couldn't overcome a late WCU attack. A Wildcat hitting error knotted the game at 28-28, and after Jakoovljevic gave the Catamounts a game-point try, another sealed the 30-28 loss.
The 'Cats, though, were dominant in the second game, opening up a 20-12 lead. A pair of aces from Pierucci kept the eight-point advantage at 25-17, and back-to-back kills from Lawson and Peele put away the convincing 30-21 win to tie the match.
Despite getting down 5-3 early in game three, the Wildcats fought back to knot the score at six on a Western hitting error and led the rest of the way. A putaway from Peele extended the 'Cats lead to 24-18 late in the game, and three kills from Pierucci helped Davidson to a 30-25 win to take control of the match.
The 'Cats again got down 5-3 to open the fourth game, but won the next two points. After trading possessions for a pair of points, Davidson began to build a lead as senior Courtney Cron served four straight points to give the 'Cats a 12-9 edge. Neale extended the lead to 20-15, and Davidson outscored Western 10-5 down the stretch in the 30-20 win for the match.
Davidson hosts Chattanooga at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Belk Arena.
Wofford 3, Winston-Salem State 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Terriers claimed the victory (30-21, 30-19, 30-26, 30-15) over Winston-Salem State in their last non-conference match of the season in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford’s led by as many as 10 points in game before claiming the game victory. Freshman Anna Gustafson led the Terriers’ offense with a .375 hitting percentage from three kills, zero errors and eight total attacks. Defensively sophomore Rebekah Johnson collected five digs to lead Wofford.
In game two, the Terriers held the Lady Rams to a -.040 hitting percentage. Again Gustafson paced Wofford’s offense collecting a .667 hitting percentage from four kills, no error and six total attacks. Sophomore Joanna Suddath gathered 11 assists for the Terriers.
In a competitive game three, Winston-Salem registered a .371 team hitting percentage and claimed the game victory. A kill by junior Brandi Beane put the Lady Rams in the lead at 4-3 and they never looked back. Freshman Ashley Harris led Winston-Salem’s offense with a .364 hitting percentage from five kills, one error and 11 total attacks, while junior Valentina Pushkina logged the game high 13 assists.
Wofford claimed game four and the match, while again holding the Lady Rams to a -.043 hitting percentage, while Wofford recorded a .357 hitting percentage.
Wofford (9-14, 2-8 SoCon) freshman Leah Davis paced the match as she logged a .667 hitting percentage. Other top performers included Gustafson’s .455 hitting percentage from 11 kills, one error and 22 total attacks, followed by freshman Stacy Byrd’s nine kills, 24 total attacks and nine digs.
Suddath also ended the match with an impressive performance as she recorded a .364 hitting percentage from five kills, one error and 11 total attacks. She also led all players in assists with 34.
The Lady Rams’ (4-18) offense was led by junior Jasmine Watkins as she collected a .556 hitting percentage. Harris and sophomore Annika Barnwell both finished with 12 kills and 37 total attacks. Pushkina finished the match leading Winston-Salem with 28 assists.
Freshman Erica Cole paced the match as she gathered double digit digs with 15.
The Terriers will travel to Statesboro, Ga. Sunday for a 2 p.m. matchup against Georgia Southern.
Appalachian State 3, Chattanooga 0
BOONE, N.C. - Seeking revenge from a sweep on September 22, the Appalachian State volleyball team returned the favor at home against the second place Chattanooga Lady Mocs at home on Saturday night, with a 30-21, 30-25, 30-26 win at the Holmes Center.
Following a close start to the match, Chattanooga threatened to break away and led by as many as three points before the Apps closed the gap and pushed ahead for the win. With Heather Kale serving, the team nearly closed out the game with a nine point run, extending the lead to 29-20, before Dianna Thomas finished the Mocs off with her fifth kill of the game. She would end the night with 14 kills, a .414 hitting percentage, four digs, and a block. Kale led the team with 28 digs and two ace. Cassie Engelgau also served up a pair of aces, as the team collected five on the night.
Appalachian maintained a small lead throughout most of the second set, before a four-point run opened the score to 20-12 for the home team. Brittany Zahn collected five of her team-leading 20 kills in the second game. Zahn, the Southern Conference’s kills leader also contributed seven digs and two of the squad’s nine blocks. Carla Durham led the team with four blocks.
UTC would not go quietly, however, as the Lady Mocs led most of the way in the final game. After hitting .302 over the course of the first two games, the Mountaineers were held to a .105 mark in the third game. Trailing 26-25 late, ASU rallied for the final five points of the match behind the stellar serving of sophomore Charissa Clearman. Following an ace, Zahn finished off the match with a pair of kills from senior setter Lorelle Rau. Rau as the match leader with 49 assists.
UTC’s Leslee Ball, who ranks second in the league in kills, led the visitors with 14. The Lady Mocs drop to 8-2 in the Southern Conference, while ASU improves to 8-3, and 12-12 on the season. Following a tough non-conference schedule early in the season, the Mountaineers are .500 for the first time since August. The six-game winning streak is the longest of the season. Freshman Lauren Swecker turned in a solid performance, with seven kills, four digs, and three blocks, while Caroline Sedon had three blocks and two kills of her own.
The team heads out on the road on Tuesday to face Furman at 7 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, UNCG 2
Behind 14 kills by senior Tiffany Blum, the College of Charleston volleyball team defeated UNC Greensboro 3 -2 (30-28, 20-30, 20-30, 30-27, 15-12) in the second five-game match of the weekend. With the win, Charleston extends their winning streak to six games, dating back to the Oct. 11 win over Western Carolina.
Charleston improves to 17-6 overall and a 11-1 league mark to maintain first place in the SoCon. UNC Greensboro drops to 7-4 in conference play and 14-11 overall.
“I was happy with the way the team competed today,” Coach Jason Kepner said. “This was a tough and very emotionally charged match and we responded very well to that environment. It is great to leave NC with two five-game victories.”
Charleston took game one 30-28 after falling behind 12-6. The Cougars scored three consecutive points to narrow UNC Greensboro’s lead to three at 18-15. An attack error by UNC Greensboro at the 22-20 mark put Charleston within one, 22-21. The game had seven ties before Charleston scored the final two points off a Blum kill and a block by Blum and Deanna Patrick.
The Spartans took the next two games 30-20 to earn a 2-1 match advantage. The Spartans held Charelston’s hitters to a .256 attack percentage in the second game and a .000 attack percentage in game three.
Charleston rebounded to take the fourth game of the match 30-27 to force a fifth, deciding game. Charleston opened with a three point drive before UNC Greensboro scored four of the next five points to tie the game at four. The Spartans scored on nine of the next 13 possessions, forcing CofC to use its first time out. Charleston scored seven points to narrow the Spartans’ lead to 23-21, causing UNCG to take a time out. Two plays and two Spartan points later, Charleston called their second time out. The team regrouped and went on to eight unanswered points to take a 29-26 lead. A UNCG attack error gave the Cougars the game point and tied the match, 2-2.
UNC began game five with a 4-1 advantage before Charleston two back-to-back points to bring the game within one. A block by Ginny Phillips and Blum tied the game at six. The team traded points of five straight possessions before an Emily Lindborg kill gave the Spartans a10-8 advantage and forced a CofC time out. The Cougars scored on their next three possessions to make it a 11-10 Charleston advantage. An attack error by Patrick tied the game at 11, but Charleston scored on four of the last five possessions to take the game and the match.
The match saw four Charleston players with double-digit kills including Blum with 14, Emily Sawin with 13, 11 by Patrick, and Annie Uthe who totaled 10. Whitney Russell, Cole Dawley, and Lindsey Kane combined for 12 kills. Kane paced the offensive attack with 48 assists, while Megan Parkerson notched three service aces.
Defensively, Uthe led the Cougars with eight total blocks (one solo, seven assisted). Blum earned five blocks in the win while Patrick and Sawin combined for five. Kane paced the offense with 16 digs while Parkerson added 13 of her own.
Paced by Lisa Fawell who recorded 64 assists, Nortz led the Spartan offense with 23 kills, while Fuller, the September SoCon Player of the Month, tallied 21. Katherine Hart and Lindborg, also recorded double-digit kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Fawell, Alissa Beaudway, and Kayren Finney combined for 10 kills. The team earned nine service aces on the effort with Nortz leading with three.
Nortz led the defense with seven blocks while Fuller and Hart posted a combined seven blocks. Cathering Hanners recorded a match-high 23 digs.
Charleston returns to the John Kresse Arena Friday, October 26 at 7 p.m. against Appalachian State. The team will host Davidson Oct. 27 and The Citadel on Oct. 30 in the last two home conference matches this season. Live stats will be available for all matches at www.cofcsports.com