Furman 3, UNC Greensboro 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Several Paladins turned in solid performances for the second day in a row to help the team to a 3-1 win over UNC Greensboro in volleyball action.
Furman came out strong in the first game, taking an 11-1 lead, and outscoring the Spartans to win 30-14. The Paladins had no hitting errors in game one, and recorded a .485 hitting percentage, led by junior Alison West’s 6 kills and 7 digs.
In game two, the Spartans were able to take a 6-5 lead early in the game, but it would be their last, as the Paladins surged ahead to take an 18-13 lead and a 30-22 victory for the game, this time led by senior Kerry Wooten’s 5 kills and .833 hitting percentage.
The Paladins returned flat after the break, and the Spartans took advantage, jumping out to a 11-4 lead. UNC Greensboro held the Paladins to a .105 team hitting percentage, and took the third game 30-15.
Furman regrouped in game four, again taking an early lead and did not allow the Spartans back into the match. Led by West’s 7 kills and 5 each from Chibuzo Aguocha and Nicole Palazzo, the Paladins took the fourth game 30-15 for the win over the Spartans.
UNC Greensboro was led by junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Nortz, who recorded 15 kills. Senior outside hitter Lauren Keiser led the defense with 19 digs.
As a team, Furman tallied 20 team blocks, an average of 5 per game. Three Paladins reached double-digit kills and four notched double-digit digs, with outside hitter West leading the way with 19 kills and 20 digs. Senior Aguocha also notched a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs.
Senior setter Courtney Stewardson recorded her own double-double with 50 assists and 15 digs, while libero Brooke Ellison added 11 defensive saves.
Junior middle blocker Palazzo also scored a double-double, with 12 kills and 15 total blocks.
With the win, the Paladins improve to 17-6 overall, with a 10-3 SoCon record. UNC Greensboro falls to 14-13 overall and 7-6 in league play.
Chattanooga 3, Georgia Southern 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) pounded a match-high 24 kills and freshman setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) recorded a match-high 56 assists to lead Chattanooga (15-11, 10-3) to a 3-1 victory over Georgia Southern (8-17, 5-8) Saturday afternoon at Maclellan Gym. The Lady Mocs defeated the Eagles 30-19, 24-30, 30-23 and 31-29 to collect their tenth Southern Conference victory of the season, equaling last season’s mark.
“Georgia Southern is a very scrappy and great blocking team and we somehow found a way to win” said head coach Lisa Rhodes. “I’m very pleased with the way we stepped up our play today”.
Chattanooga’s play was strong from the opening, as UTC pulled out to a 16-9 lead behind five kills from Ball in the first game before Georgia Southern narrowed the gap to 18-12. With the score 23-14, the Eagles made their run with four straight points to pull to within 23-18 but would get no closer as the Lady Mocs slammed the door on Game 1, finishing the set with a 7-1 run for a 30-19 victory.
In Game 2, the Eagles and Lady Mocs battled to through five ties early on to make the score 9-9 and another five later in the game to knot the score at 21-21. Following back-to-back kills by Ball to make the score 23-21, Georgia Southern took control of the game with a 9-0 run that brought the Eagles to game point, 29-23 before a kill by senior right side hitter Gorana Bacic put the game away, 30-24 to tie the match at 1-1.
The third game was an evenly matched contest until midway through when Chattanooga, trailing 14-13, put together a dominating 9-1 run, fueled by four kills from sophomore outside hitter Ashley Yeager (Parker, Colo.), to go ahead 22-15. From there, the Lady Mocs salted away the game for a 30-23 victory and 2-1 match lead.
Georgia Southern came back with a vengeance in Game 4, jumping out to a 12-4 lead behind six kills from junior outside hitter Christy Dowd. With the score 13-6, Chattanooga put together their own run, to the tune of seven straight points to tie the game at 13-13. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair, with the two teams deadlocking eight more times before seeing the score settle at 24-24.
The Lady Mocs then took a two point advantage, 26-24, on back-to-back points before extending to a 28-25 lead by capitalizing on GSU miscues. Trailing 29-27, the Eagles rallied to tie the game at 29-29 before a kill by senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) and a Georgia Southern error gave the Lady Mocs a 31-29 Game 4 win and a 3-1 match victory.
Dowd led the way offensively for the Eagles with a team-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs and was joined by Bacic with 17 kills and six blocks. Junior setter Mae Chabra setup up the offense with 46 assists while senior outside hitter Bailey Coleman led the defense with a match-high 29 digs and junior outside hitter Bianca Julio contributed 11 digs. Freshman middle hitter Sara Gildersleeve finished with five blocks on the day.
For the Lady Mocs, in addition to her match-high 24 kills, Ball contributed 13 digs and four blocks while Chastain added nine digs. Junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the defense with 26 digs and was joined by senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) with 18 digs and three blocks. Martinez added 13 kills while freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) and senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) each finished with 14 digs. Yeager finished the day with 11 kills to round out the offensive attack.
“I am extremely happy with the win we got today” said Rhodes. “I’m very proud of the girls for finding a way to finish, especially in that fourth game. Bailee Chastain is doing a great job of running the offense for us, coming into a hard situation and this performance today is a good sign for us”.
The Lady Mocs will be back in action on Tuesday, October 30 when they travel to Western Carolina. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Davidson 3, The Citadel 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Junior middle blocker Kittery Neale had 16 kills on 28 swings to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to a 3-0 (31-29, 30-20,30-18) blanking of the Citadel Bulldogs, the 'Cats fourth straight victory, on Saturday in Charleston, S.C.
Freshman outside hitter Sarabeth Peele posted 14 kills and hit .357 in the match, while senior outside hitter Katie Pierucci turned in a double-double with 13 kills and a match-high 13 digs. Senior libero Lindsey Woeste also had 13 digs, while freshman setter Hayley Lawson added a match-high 49 assists.
With their fourth-straight win, the 'Cats improve to 10-16 overall and 5-8 in SoCon play. The Citadel falls to 5-25 and 0-14 in the league.
The two teams battled for every point in the first game, and it would take more than 30 for the Wildcats to get the win. Davidson outhit the Bulldogs
.292 to .262 in the game, but the Citadel committed less errors and outblocked the 'Cats. Nonetheless, Davidson managed the 31-29 victory in game one to take a 1-0 lead in the match and won the next two games by large margins for the match win.
The Wildcats took a 6-1 lead to open the second game and would lead the rest of the way. After playing tightly in the first game, the 'Cats' offense got going in the second game and took a 2-0 lead in the match with a commanding 30-20 win in game two.
Davidson used an 11-3 run to open a dominant 18-8 lead in the third game, which proved enough for the 30-18 win for the match. The Citadel kept coming from behind but another run, this one 7-2, effectively put the game away for the 'Cats.
Davidson will return to action tomorrow, taking on the College of Charleston at 2 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, College of Charleston 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior Dianna Thomas picked up 19 kills with just one error to take over first place on the Appalachian State record book, with 1,397. Three other players also recorded double-digit kills for the Mountaineers, as the team rallied from a loss in game one to win the match 29-31, 30-20, 30-28, and 30-27. The second place Apps are now 11-3 in the Southern Conference, while College of Charleston falls to 12-2.
ASU jumped out to a 6-0 lead with Thomas serving, and the team led for a majority of the game before College of Charleston rallied with six points to take a 26-24 lead. The visiting team then fought off three straight game points to tie the game at 29 points apiece, but the Cougars scored the final two points of the contest for the win. Thomas had the first of her three aces in the first game. The team finished with four.
The Mountaineers regained momentum in game two, as an early run gave the team a 5-1 lead. Following a brief 12-12 tie, ASU took over with an 18-8 run to end the game and square the match at 1-1. Carla Durham posted nine of her team-leading 22 kills in the second game, as the squad hit .359 and collected 10 blocks. The Apps totaled 18 blocks in the match. Durham, Thomas, and Becca Norris led the way with eight blocks each. Norris finished with two kills.
Following the intermission, the teams battled to another two-point decision, with the Mountaineers coming out on top. Facing a 28-26 deficit, Thomas posted her fifth kill of the game and then combined with Durham on a block to tie the game at 28. Durham finished off the set with consecutive kills for the 30-28 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Cougars would not go quietly, as the home team took a 15-11 lead in the deciding fourth game. With a six-game winning streak on the line against Appalachian’s seven straight, the Cougars were unable to hold on as ASU mounted a 6-2 run to knot the game at 17 all. Dianna Thomas recorded her final seven kills and four blocks of the match in the game. The teams would tie nine more times before Brittany Zahn connected on her 20th kill of the game before a pair of blocks sealed the result for Appalachian.
The win is the ninth straight for ASU, tying the longest streak since the 2005 season. Lorelle Rau completed a triple-double, with 11 kills, 56 assists, and 10 digs. Rau also picked up a pair of blocks and an ace. Zahn led the team with 23 digs, while Heather Kale accounted for 21 of the team’s 76 in the match.
ASU (15-12) returns home to host Elon on Friday at 7 p.m. and UNC Greensboro on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Elon 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Emily Lucci recorded yet another double-double, tallying 15 kills and 13 digs as the Phoenix defeated Wofford 3-1 (30-28, 24-30, 30-27, 30-23) Saturday evening at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Lucci hit .324 in the four-game set, adding a solo block and three block assists to her ledger. The Phoenix had four players reach double digits in kills, led by Britany Westphal's 19. Freshmen Lauren Copenhagen and Sarah Schermerhorn posted 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
Game one featured a competitive battle after the Terriers jumped out to an early 5-1 on a pair of kills from freshman Stacy Byrd. Elon (15-13, 9-5 SoCon) would battle back and force the score to be knotted at 9-9 before they claimed their first lead, 11-10, since an early 1-0 edge. Neither team had more than a two-point advantage until Shanna Hughes put Wofford up 20-17 forcing the Phoenix to call a timeout.
Schermerhorn would tie the game again at 24 apiece and Britany Westphal followed with another kill, leading to a Terrier timeout with Elon in front, 25-24. The teams traded points before Schermerhorn closed the game with a kill on a Natalie Moore assist for the game victory.
In game two, Wofford (9-17, 2-11 SoCon) found itself trailing 10-7 when Liz Sheets teamed with Joanna Suddath for a block. Sheets then proceeded to get the next kill as part of a 5-0 Terrier run to put the hosts ahead 12-10. Wofford's advantage would grow to as high as six, 20-14, following an attacking error by the Phoenix. Another error by Elon pushed the lead to seven, forcing another timeout, before Sheets tallied a service ace to give Wofford a eight-point cushion at 26-18. The Terriers held off kills by Lucci and Westphal to earn their only game win.
Game three was another competitive contest which featured 12 ties. Freshman Anna Gustafson forced a 17-17 deadlock on a kill but a block by Elon's Natalie Moore and Lucci started a 6-0 spurt by the Phoenix for a 23-17 lead. Wofford fought back to tie the game one last time at 27-27 on an attacking error by Elon, but the Phoenix capitalized on a pair of attacking errors by the Terriers to clinch the game triumph.
Elon would then take an early lead in game four and never looked back. The Phoenix lead grew to as much as seven on three instances, the last at 22-15, following a Wofford service error. Elon continued to increase its margin to nine, 28-19, on a service ace and withstood a late Terrier attempted comeback to record the game and match win.
Byrd led the Terriers with 15 kills, while Anna Gustafson had four block assists.
The Phoenix improves to 15-13 overall, 9-5 SoCon, while the Terriers drop to 9-17, 2-11 SoCon.
Elon returns to action at Appalachian State on Friday, Nov. 2 for a 7 p.m. match.