The Citadel 1, USC Aiken 3
Charleston, S.C. ? After taking the first game against USC Aiken, The Citadel dropped the next three games to lose a 3-1 decision to the Pacers. Junior Rachel Sanders notched her sixth double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs, junior Emily Hill picked up her fourth double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs and freshman Caitlin Vyborny picked up her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and led the team with 13 digs. Freshman Blaine McAllister also contributed with 11 digs of her own.
Game one was a back and forth battle as there were 13 ties and six lead changes. The Citadel began the game with the lead and the momentum, but USC Aiken fought back to gain the lead and the momentum. It would then be the Bulldogs that came back to take the lead and the battle began. Nine tie scores later, the Bulldogs would capitalize on crucial Pacer mistakes to take game one 30-28.
In the second game, The Citadel would dig themselves into a hole as they fell behind 19-6. The Bulldogs struggled to set up a solid attack as they had only seven assists and had a .074 hitting percentage to the Pacer’s 20 assists and a .486 hitting percentage. The Citadel would lose game two 30-14, and lost a lot of momentum.
The Bulldogs would play better in the third game as they had a solid .286 hitting percentage and made few errors. The score was dead even in the early stages of the game as the score was tied six times and finally at 12. However, the Bulldogs struggled to get key digs as the Pacers came out strong and had an impressive .607 hitting percentage. The Pacers used a 10-1 rally late in the match to pull away from the Bulldogs and win the game 30-19.
In game four, the Bulldogs would fall behind early in the game 10-2. However, they refused to go down without a fight as they climbed back into the match as they came within two points at 18-16. The Bulldogs kept the Pacers close at 27-24, but they could never regain the lead as USC Aiken took game four 30-25 and the match.
The Citadel (2-16, 0-6 SoCon) will play the second game of tonight’s double-header at 7 p.m. in McAlister Field House against Savannah State.
The Citadel 3, Savannah State 0
Charleston, S.C. ? Led by Emily Hill’s seven service aces and Rachel Sanders’ 19 kills, The Citadel dominated a 3-0 decision over Savannah State Tuesday’s nightcap. Game scores were 30-14, 30-18 and 30-16. The Bulldog serving game, ignited by Hill, caught fire against the Tigers as The Citadel served up 12 aces in the match.
Hill’s seven aces places her tied for fifth in school history for aces in a match but does not eclipse her personal record of nine aces set in 2005. Hill also dished up 42 assists along the way. The offensive effort was aided by Caitlin Vyborny’s career-high 12 kills in the match, topping her previous personal-best 10-kill matches set five times previously.
The Citadel (3-16, 0-6 Southern) dominated all facets of the contest as the Bulldogs hit .438, easily their best hitting mark of the season. That .438 mark ties the school record for fourth in school history, pulling even with similar .438 performances against Bethune-Cookman in 2003 (W, 3-0) and at Winston-Salem State in 2006 (W, 3-0).
“We executed well, passed well and minimized our hitting errors,” said head coach Carolyn Geiger. “It was the best offensive effort from our team as a whole this season thus far. Emily [Hill] served very well and we were able to play everyone. This is a great win to build momentum off of heading into Sunday’s match against Georgia Southern.”
Sanders’ 19 kills was not nearly as impressive as her .444 hitting percentage, committing only three errors off of 36 attempts. Jessica Maas recorded 14 digs as the libero, playing the defensive position due to a pulled groin muscle. Jasmine McLamb witnessed her first action of the season, recording a kill late in the third game.
With the win, The Citadel kept its program record perfect against Savannah State. The Bulldogs are now 11-0 all-time against the Tigers with the series dating back to 2002.
The Citadel next hits the court on Sunday, Oct. 7 as the Bulldogs return to SoCon action as they host Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. in McAlister Field House.
Davidson 1, Furman 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Senior outside hitter Katie Pierucci posted her eighth double-double of the season, with 24 kills and 22 digs, and her second in as many matches, but the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team dropped a hard-fought four-game battle (28-30, 30-23, 30-28, 30-23) to the Furman Paladins at Belk Arena Tuesday night in SoCon action.
Pierucci was joined by junior outside hitter Kittery Neale and sophomore outside hitter Tierney Hodge in double-digit kills for the 'Cats, who fall to 6-12 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Alison West (24 kills, 11 digs) and Chibuzo Aguocha (23, 13) each double-doubled to pace the Paladins, who improve to 11-4 and 4-1 in the league.
Neale posted a season-high 18 kills, while also Hodge contributed a season-high, and with 13 kills, was just one shy of her career high. As a team, the Wildcats posted season highs in both kills (69) and assists (65). Freshman setter Hayley Lawson posted a career- and team season-high 58 assists, while Courtney Stewardson had 65 for Furman. On the defensive end, senior libero Lindsey Woeste chipped in 15 digs for the 'Cats, while Stephanie Smith had 14 for Furman.
Fresh off Saturday's 3-1 win over The Citadel, Davidson came out firing on all cylinders, rolling to an 11-5 lead behind three kills by both Pierucci and Hodge in game one. After an early Paladin timeout, Hodge added two more kills, as freshman Jennifer Chamblee served six straight points to give the 'Cats a 12-6 lead. Furman would mount a late attack, with the 'Cats holding a tenative 28-24, and put together a 4-2 run to pull within one, 29-28. Head coach Tim Cowie used a timeout, and the 'Cats responded, as Neale put away her second kill for the 30-28 win.
In the second game, Davidson again jumped out to an early lead, taking a 4-1 edge behind a pair of kills from Neale and a putaway by freshman middle blocker Jorden Benedict. Furman gradually chipped away, eventually getting the score knotted at 15, and pulled ahead on one of Aguocha's 10 kills. Pierucci got the point back, and the two teams traded possessions, until with the score tied at 18, Furman put together a four-point serve to take a 22-18 lead. From that point, the Paladins used a 8-5 run for the 30-23 win to tie the match.
Davidson fell behind after the break, losing the first three points, but fought back to knot the score at 11-11, and again at 12-12, as Pierucci and Neale combined for 12 kills in the third game. Tied at 12, the 'Cats won four straight to take a 16-12 lead and force Furman into a timeout. Davidson would hold that lead until later in the match when a 7-0 run knotted the score at 24, and West put the Paladins on her back, talling 10 kills and hitting .714 in the 30-28 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth and final game was back-and-forth most of the way. With the Paladins holding a slight 20-18 lead, Pierucci put away a pass from Lawson, to put the 'Cats within one. The teams traded possessions, until Neale knotted the score at 21-21 with one of her five kills. Emily Harby posted a kill to regain possession for the Paladins, and Pamela Gehrke put Furman in control with a six-point serve for a 28-21 lead. After back-to-back kills from Neale, the Paladins took the final two points for the 30-23 win for the match.
Davidson will travel to Elon for a 4 p.m. match on Saturday and on to Greensboro for a noon match on Sunday.
UNCG 1, Elon 3
GREENSBORO, NC ?The UNC Greensboro volleyball team lost its second Southern Conference match on Tuesday night as Elon defeated the Spartans, 3-1 at Fleming Gymnasium.
Branagan Fuller continues to pace UNCG (11-9, 4-2 SoCon) on the offensive side of the ball and tallied a match-high 21 kills and 12 digs, marking the seventh time this season the Murietta, CA native has tallied double-digit kills.
Katherine Hart and Kaitlyn Nortz also tallied double-digit kills with 13 and 12, respectively. Catherine Hanners recorded 28 digs in the loss while setters Lisa Fawell and Kimiko Naito both dished out double-digit assists with 33 and 22, respectively.
Elon (9-10, 4-2 SoCon) had three players with double-digit kills and was led by Mandy Wilson who tallied a team-high 14 kills. Emily Lucci recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs while and Lauren Copenhagen also contributed with 10 kills.
The Spartans seemed to have game one decided after taking an early 17-9 lead. UNCG extended its lead to 20-12 before the Phoenix called a timeout. Elon responded with three straight points to cut the lead to 20-15 but UNCG used kills from Fuller and Hart to push the game to game point at 29-26. Four unforced errors by the Spartans gave Elon a 30-29 lead and two more errors saw Elon come from behind and take game one, 32-30.
Game two was much closer throughout and saw seven ties in the first few minutes of the game. Elon was able to take a 10-8 lead but UNCG battled back to tie it at 13-13 but they would play from behind from that point on as unforced errors gave Elon the game, 30-28 and a 2-0 match lead.
After the intermission the Spartans were able to rebound and opened with a 4-1 run in game three and never looked back. The Spartans were able to push their lead to 17-10 midway through the game fueled by kills from Fuller and freshman Kayren Finney. Elon got as close as 24-17 but UNCG was able to take the game, 30-20 and cut the lead to 2-1
The Spartans trailed from the outset of the fourth game and couldn’t match Elon’s momentum as they saw the Phoenix go up 17-8 early. UNCG was able to get as close as 15-21 but again too many errors cost the Spartans the match as Elon took the final game, 30-23.
UNCG welcomes SoCon rival, Appalachian State to Fleming Gymnasium on Saturday night. First serve is set for 7 pm.