UNCG 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, SC? The UNC Greensboro volleyball team picked up a Southern Conference road win, with a 3-1 victory over Wofford on Sunday afternoon in Benjamin Johnson Arena. UNCG won the match by scores of 22-30, 30-27, 30-24 and 30-23.
UNCG (15-13, 8-6 SoCon) had three players with double-digit kills and was led by Branagan Fuller who tallied a match-high 17 kills. Emily Lindborg and Alissa Beaudway also tallied 14 and 10 kills, respectively in the win. The Spartans also had four players with double-digit digs. Catherine Hanners led the way with 18 digs on the afternoon.
Shanna Hughes and Stacy Byrd led Wofford (9-18, 2-12 SoCon). Hughes tallied a team-high 13 kills in the loss while Byrd contributed 12 kills. Hughes also led the Terriers on defense with 19 digs.
The Spartans found themselves in a battle in game one which featured three ties in the opening minutes. Wofford was able to take a 13-10 lead and didn’t look back. The Spartans were able to get as close as one point at 22-21 but the Terriers went on an 8-1 run to close the game, taking game one 30-22.
UNCG rebounded in game two and opened with a 6-0 run. Wofford would fight back and managed to take a 15-14 lead after forcing several ties. The teams traded points for the rest of the game with neither team taking more than a one point lead. The Spartans were able to take control down the stretch and with a 28-26 lead used kills from Kayren Finney to take a 30-27 victory to tie the match.
The third game was much like the other two and featured several ties and lead changes. UNCG was able to capitalize on a bad set from Wofford’s Joanna Suddath and a kill from Fuller to take a 22-19 lead before going on a 8-5 run to take a 30-24 win and 2-1 match lead.
Wofford looked like they were going to run away early in the fourth game, opening with a 5-0 run but the Spartans kept their composure and used a 10-3 run to take a 10-9 lead and didn’t trail after that point. The Terriers forced several ties but with the UNCG leading 23-21, the Spartans closed out the match with a 7-2 run to seal the victory.
The Spartans held a .155 to .1330 hitting percentage advantage but the teams were equally matched in all other statistical categories.
UNCG returns to the court Nov. 3 when they head to Boone, NC for a match with SoCon rival, Appalachian State. First serve is set for 2 pm.
College of Charleston 3, Davidson 0
Behind a .330 team hitting percentage and 27 total blocks, the College of Charleston shutout Davidson 3-0 (30-11, 30-20, 30-21) on Senior Day at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston improves to 12-2 in the Southern Conference and 18-7 overall. With the loss, Davidson drops to 5-9 in league play and 10-17 overall.
“Today was a special day for our seniors. This group has played such an enormous role in the success of this program,” said Head Coach Jason Kepner. “The whole team came out and played very well against Davidson. I was very happy with the way the team responded to today’s match and I am looking forward to Tuesday’s match against The Citadel.”
The Cougars took game one in dominating fashion, earning a .500 team hitting percentage, with 16 kills while posting 27 blocks. Tiffany Blum, Deanna Patrick, Annie Uthe, and Cole Dawley each recorded a hitting percentage of .500 or above. Charleston opened with an 8-3 run which forced Davidson to take an early timeout. The team held Davidson to single digit scoring until a service error by Emily Sawin gave the Wildcats their 10th point. Charleston would score the final three points to take the game, 30-11.
Game two saw the teams trade points on seven possessions before a block by Tiffany Blum and Cole Dawley gave Charleston a 15-13 lead. Davidson took its first timeout after ball handling error by Kittery Neale gave Charleston an 18-15 lead. Six plays and five unanswered CofC points later, Davidson used its second timeout. CofC never gave up the lead and put the game out of reach after a kill by Uthe gave the Cougars a 26-20 lead. Charleston went on to win the game, 30-20.
Davidson scored the first two points in the final game, but Charleston answered with six consecutive points to give them a 6-2 lead. Davidson narrowed the Cougar lead to one, at 10-9 before Charleston scored five straight points, causing Davidson to call the only timeout of the game at the 15-9 mark. Brooke Truxillo earned her first kill of the season to give Charleston a 25-12 advantage. Davidson went on a 4-0 run to narrow CofC’s lead to 27-18. The teams traded points on the last four possessions before a kill by Uthe sealed the game and the match for the Cougars.
Uthe and Patrick posted 12 kills each in the win, while five additional Cougars combined for 20 additional kills. Truxillo earned a team high two service aces. Lindsey Kane paced the team with 35 assists. Defensively, Uthe led the team with nine total blocks. Blum, Sawin, and Kane recorded five blocks each. Sawin and Megan Parkerson paced the defense with 11 digs a piece.
For the Wildcats, Neale and Sarabeth Peele led the team with eight kills each. Six Wildcats recorded at least one kill in the match, for a total of 28 team kills. Jorden Benedict, Peele, and Neale each earned one block. Courtney Cron posted a match high 12 digs.
The Cougars return to the John Kresse Arena Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 for a 7 p.m. match against cross-town rival The Citadel.
Georgia Southern 3, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- Georgia Southern junior Christy Dowd (Indianapolis, Ind.) posted a match-high 18 kills and freshman Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) had nine kills and no errors to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-24) victory at Western Carolina Sunday.
GSU improves its record to 9-17 overall and 6-8 in the Southern Conference. WCU falls to 8-21 and 3-11 in the league.
“Today is a great win for us, to come up and play a great Western Carolina team and get a win on the road,” said GSU head coach Nicole McCray. “We served and passed well, which I think was the difference in the match.”
The Eagles ran off five straight points to break a 7-7 tie in game one to take control. Uzoh began the run with two kills and Dowd picked up where she left off with two more kills.
Western Carolina cut the deficit to one on several occasions, but was never able to tie the score.
Georgia Southern came out firing on all cylinders to start game two, scoring the first five points and eventually leading 13-1. Seven of GSU’s points came thanks to WCU errors and another was scored on a service ace. GSU held the Catamounts to a .050 hitting percentage in the second frame, and Dowd and Uzoh combined for eight of the team’s 14 kills.
“We definitely served very well in the second game,” said McCray. “They could not return the ball which enabled us to block balls and control anything they sent over.”
Game three was a different story, featuring 11 ties and two lead changes. The Eagles took the lead at 10-9 and never trailed again. Georgia Southern outscored Western Carolina 8-2 to close out the match.
Dowd led the team in kills for the second time in as many matches. She had a .326 hitting percentage and added four aces.
“Christy had a great weekend. Even though we lost on Friday night, she stayed aggressive in the front row and back row, and served and passed well.”
Uzoh’s nine kills came on a .643 attack percentage. She and Dowd combined for four solo blocks.
“For our M1 to hit .643 and have nine kills in 14 attempts with no errors against a very, very good defensive team in Western, means that she’s learning and staying patient, and not getting frustrated in difficult situations.”
Western Carolina was led by Jelena Jakovjevic, who recorded 17 kills.
The Eagles return home for their final two home matches of the season, hosting the College of Charleston Friday night and The Citadel on Sunday afternoon.