Furman 3, Wofford 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Despite posting one of the lowest team hitting percentages of the season, the Paladins successfully overcame a focused attack from Wofford to down the Terriers 3-2 in volleyball action Tuesday.
Furman started off in winning fashion, holding the Terriers to a .082 team hitting percentage and one team block, and taking the win by a score of 30-26.
Wofford turned the table in the second game, this time out-hitting, out-digging, and out-blocking the Paladins to win 30-26.
The Paladins showed a glimpse of their true potential in game three, topping the Terriers 30-15 while holding Wofford to a negative team hitting percentage.
However, Wofford reacted in the fourth game, hitting a combined .316 and keeping the lead for the whole game before winning 30-28.
The fifth game was another close one, with 10 tied scores and 3 lead changes, which the Paladins ultimately won with two kills and two solo blocks from senior Chibuzo Aguocha and junior Nicole Palazzo.
The Terriers were led offensively by sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Richardson with 18 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Shanna Hughes led the defense with 27 kills, while libero Sarah Palmer added 23.
The Paladin offense had four players reach double-digit kills. Furman senior middle blocker Kerry Wooten led the team with a .457 hitting percentage, with 19 kills and only 3 errors. Senior outside hitter Aguocha racked up a 20-20 match, with 20 kills and 20 digs. Juniors Alison West and Nicole Palazzo added 15 and 13, respectively.
The Paladin defense was also successful, racking up a total of 109 digs.
Five Paladins reached double-digit digs with libero Brooke Ellison leading the way with 26 defensive saves. Senior setter Courtney Stewardson notched a double-double with 57 assists and 15 digs.
With the win, the Paladins improve to 18-6 overall and 11-3 in the Southern Conference, while Wofford falls to 9-19 overall and 2-13 in league play. Furman travels to Chattanooga on Friday to take on the Mocs.
Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) posted a match-high 25 digs and freshman setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) recorded a match-high 43 assists and added 14 digs to lead Chattanooga (16-11, 11-3) to a 3-1 victory over Western Carolina (8-22, 3-12) in a Southern Conference volleyball match Tuesday evening in Cullowhee, N.C. The Lady Mocs defeated the Catamounts 26-30, 30-27, 30-21 and 30-25 for their third consecutive victory.
Western Carolina dominated the first half of Game 1, opening up leads of 14-5 and 19-9 behind the serving of sophomore setter Katie Hennessey, who posted three aces, before the Lady Mocs got into the game. Down ten points, Chattanooga eventually rallied to within 25-19 and 27-23 before back-to-back points brought WCU to game point, 29-23. UTC scored the next three points before falling 30-26 to give the Catamounts a 1-0 match lead.
Game 2 began much the same way that the first set had, with Western Carolina jumping out to a dominating lead, this time 12-4. The Lady Mocs had a run of their own this time, rattling off ten of the next eleven points, including seven straight, to take a 14-13 lead. From there it would be a tightly contested game as the Catamounts quickly tied the score at 14-14. The next several plays would feature three ties before WCU tallied seven of the next nine points to take a 25-20 lead.
Down by five points late in the match, and in jeopardy of going down 0-2 in the match, Chattanooga rallied to score ten of the final twelve points, including the final six, to collect a come-from-behind 30-27 victory.
With the match now tied, the Lady Mocs wasted little time in taking an advantage in Game 3, pulling out to leads of 15-9 and 21-11. A 6-2 mini-run brought the Catamounts to within 23-17 but they would get no closer as UTC rolled to a 30-21 victory, and a 2-1 match lead.
WCU would not go quietly in Game 4, battling out to leads of 9-5 and 13-10 early on before a 6-3 run by the Lady Mocs tied the score at 16-16. The two teams would deadlock twice more prior to the Catamounts pulling out to a 23-21 lead. Back-to-back points by UTC then tied the score at 23-23 before a kill by freshman middle blocker LaTonia Cunningham made the score 24-23. That would be the next to last point WCU would see as Chattanooga took control of the game with a 6-0 run, going up 29-24. Following a Western Carolina kill, senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) put the game, and the match, away with a kill of her own for a 30-25 victory.
Hennessey led the offensive attack for the Catamounts, posting a triple-double with 13 kills, 41 assists and 18 digs while freshman outside hitter Jelena Jakovjevic posted a match-high 15 kills. Defensively, sophomore libero Liz Rondone finished with 21 digs and junior libero Liz McLauchlin added 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Meredith Harmon added 12 kills on the day.
For Chattanooga, senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) led the way with a match-high 10 kills to go along with 14 digs while freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) finished with 13 digs. Senior middle blockers Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) and Sarah Bass (Baton Rouge, La.) added nine and eight digs respectively.
With her 25 digs, Lara Newberry continued her record setting season as she broke her own Chattanooga single season digs mark with 754 on the season. She continues to lead the nation with an average of 7.11 digs per game.
The Lady Mocs will next be in action when they return home for a special Friday night contest with Furman. The Paladins are the only Southern Conference team that Chattanooga has not beaten this season. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Maclellan Gym.
College of Charleston 3, The Citadel 0
Behind a .554 team hitting percentage, the College of Charleston volleyball team defeated cross-town rival The Citadel 3-0 in the final conference match of the season at the John Kresse Arena. Eight Cougars earned at least a .500 hitting percentage in the win.
Charleston improves to 13-2 in the Southern Conference and 19-7 overall with the win. The Citadel falls to 5-26 and 0-15 in league play.
“I was very happy with the way the team played tonight. We played three entire games at a high level,” said Coach Jason Kepner. “We got very good performances out of all 14 players tonight. We have two days of practice to prepare for Georgia Southern on Friday.”
Charleston used a dominating .783 team hitting percentage and a 14-1 run to take game one 30-12. The Citadel took the opening two points of the game before Charleston went on a 7-0 run, forcing the Bulldogs to take their first timeout. Charleston scored four unanswered points that brought the score to 19-11, which caused the second Bulldog timeout. Following the timeout, the Cougars scored six consecutive points that gave them a 25-11 lead. A kill by Tiffany Blum sealed the game for the Cougars.
The Cougars took 10 of the first 13 points in game one, forcing The Citadel into an early timeout. The Citadel scored four unanswered points to narrow Charleston’s lead to eight, at 16-8. Charleston went on a 4-0 of its own to bring the score to 18-9, causing the Bulldogs to call their second timeout of the game. The Cougars took game two, 30-15, off a kill by Blum.
With senior Lindsey Kane serving, Charleston scored the first 11 points of game three. After an 8-0 run by the Cougars, the Bulldogs used their first timeout. The Bulldogs narrowed Charleston’s lead to 11 at the 21-10 mark, but that would be the closest The Citadel would come. A kill by Sarah Luers put the game out of the reach as Charleston clinched the game and the match 30-12.
Emily Sawin led the Cougars with a .800 hitting percentage with 12 kills. Annie Uthe and Blum tallied 11 kills each and hit a .500 and .562, respectively. Kane earned a match-high three service aces. Deanna Patrick notched nine kills in the win, hitting .471. Megan Parkerson paced the Cougar defense with 19 digs. Cole Dawley and Blum each earned two blocks in the win.
Rachel Sanders led the Citadel’s offensive effort with 10 kills, while Caitlyn Vyborny notched five kills in the effort. Jessica Maas earned two blocks to lead The Citadel defense.
Charleston returns to action Friday, Nov. 2, 2007 when it travels to Statesboro, Ga. for a 7 p.m. match against Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs takes on the Eagles, as well Sun., Nov. 4th at p.m.