Wofford 3, Western Carolina 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Wofford volleyball rallied to beat Western Carolina for the Terriers’ first Southern Conference win of the season in Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C., Saturday afternoon.
Game one was a competitive battle between the two teams with the Lady Catamounts finishing on top by a score of 32-30.
In game two Western Carolina (7-15, 2-5 SoCon) led by as many as eight with the score at 29-21. Wofford (7-11, 1-5 SoCon) rallied five straight points before the Lady Catamounts claimed the game clinching point winning 30-26.
With Western Carolina up two games to none, sophomore Lindsey Richardson’s insertion in the lineup in game three changed the momentum of the match and eventually the Terriers’ game win by a score of 30-26.
The Terriers continued to utilize Richardson and extended their comeback with thrilling games four and five to crown themselves as the match victors. Richardson’s .389 hitting percentage was the key during the match as she finished with nine kills and 18 total attacks.
A service ace by sophomore Shanna Hughes turned the lead over to the Terriers at 4-3 in game four. Wofford maintained the edge throughout the game, winning 30-16. The Lady Catamounts were held to a -.067 hitting percentage.
Going point for point, Wofford took game five via a kill by freshman Catelyn Amende for a final score of 16-14.
Other top offensive performances by the Terriers came from freshman Stacy Byrd collecting 10 kills and 41 total attacks. Junior Liz Sheets also finished strong offensively with 14 kills and 33 total attacks for a .333 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Joanna Suddath recorded an impressive all around performance tallying 12 kills and 37 total attacks, along with a match high 47 assists. She also recorded the lone solo block for the Terriers and tallied 24 digs.
Along with Suddath’s 24 digs, four other Terriers finished the match with double digit digs. Sophomore Brittany Thompson led the pack with 25. Sophomore Sarah Palmer also had 24, Hughes finished with 18 and freshman Caitlyn Horton collected 12.
Senior Meredith Harmon led the Lady Catamounts offense with 20 kills and 58 total attacks. Freshman Ali Rook followed by collecting 14 kills and 56 total attacks.
Sophomore Katie Hennessey notched a team best 42 assists.
Four Lady Catamounts also had double digit digs. Sophomore Liz Rondone led the team with 31, followed by freshman Jelena Jakovjevic with 21. Western Carolina also recorded 13 total team blocks.
The Terriers return to Benjamin Johnson Arena Sunday for a 2 p.m. match against Chattanooga.
Furman 3, Chattanooga 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Libero Lara Newberry’s 34 digs weren’t enough to lift the No. 1 ranked digging team in the nation over the Paladins, as Furman defeated Chattanooga 3-2 in SoCon volleyball action this afternoon.
The Paladins came out strong in game one, racking up a .405 team hitting percentage and outdigging Chattanooga 18-13, but the Mocs kept the score close, with Furman winning game one 30-28.
In game two, Furman took an early 5-1 lead, but allowed the Mocs to come back and tie the game at 17. From there, the Paladins fell behind 26-29, but fought back through several tie scores to take the game 36-34.
Furman came out flat after the break, allowing the Mocs to lead for most of the game before tying the score at 19. The Paladins couldn’t quite finish, however, and Chattanooga took game 3 by a score of 30-24.
In game four, the Paladins committed several hitting errors, and the Mocs
27-21 lead proved too much as they took game four 30-26.
The Paladins came out strong in the fifth game, led by senior Chibuzo Aguocha’s 3 kills and one solo block in the first 4 points of the game.
Furman took a 10-3 lead, and continued to finish the game and the match by a score of 15-9.
Chattanooga was led by senior Leslee Ball’s 23 kills, while libero Lara Newberry racked up 34 digs.
The Paladins had four players reach double-digit kills, with Aguocha’s season-high 28 kills leading the way, one short of her career high.
Aguocha also added 20 digs and 4 solo blocks to the winning effort. Senior Kerry Wooten contributed 13 kills and 10 block assists, while middle blocker Nicole Palazzo also added 13 kills. Junior Alison West rounded out the offense with 18 kills, and added 13 digs.
Junior libero Pamela Gehrke led the Paladins with 24 digs, and senior setter Courtney Stewardson notched a double-double with 66 assists and 18 digs.
With the win, the Paladins improve to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in the SoCon, while the Mocs fall to 9-8 and 4-1 in the league.
Appalachian State 3, UNCG 2
October 6, 2007 - GREENSBORO, N.C. - For the second straight day, Brittany Zahn set a new school record for kills in a match as the team battled to five games. Saturday’s battle came against UNC Greensboro, and this time the Appalachian State volleyball team found a way to win. Zahn collected a record 36 kills in the match, two more than her record of 34 in Friday’s loss. The team beat the Spartans 28-30, 30-25, 30-22, 34-36, and 15-8. The Mountaineers move to 4-3 in Southern Conference play and 7-12 overall.
A tightly contested first game proved to be an indication of how close the match would turn out to be, as it saw ten ties. Zahn had five kills in the game, while Carla Durham added four of her own, but the team hit just .194 as it fell 28-30 to fall behind after the opener. Durham finished the match with 21 kills, six blocks, and a .357 hitting percentage. The team totaled ten blocks on Saturday.
Zahn again led the way in game two, hitting .545 with six kills and no errors. As a whole, the team hit .452 in the set en route to a .275 hitting mark for the match. Following an early deficit, the team rallied with a five point run behind solid serving from Charissa Clearman to take the lead for good. A kill by Durham extended the lead to eight points, at 23-15 before the Apps closed out the game 30-25. Clearman served up two of the team’s five aces in the match, along with three digs. Heather Kale also picked up a pair of aces in the match, and led the team with 17 digs.
Hitting proficiency dropped a bit in game three, but ASU made up for it with six blocks. One of the stuffs belonged to setter Lorelle Rau, and Zahn picked up three of her own. Each player finished the match with a total of four. Rau also racked up 64 assists, eight digs, and three kills. In this game, a late seven point run was the difference, as Dianna Thomas served her team to a 28-18 lead. Greensboro fought back with four points of their own, but the Mountaineers took a two games to one lead with the 30-22 win.
UNCG stole some momentum back in game four, winning the marathon 36-34. The back and forth game saw 15 ties and numerous lead changes. The Spartans never led by more than four points in the match, and stellar play from the back row kept the visiting team close throughout. Kale and Cassie Engelgau each recorded eight digs in the match, while Zahn picked up 13 of the team’s 24 kills in the game. Greensboro ended up with the match-tying win, but not the match momentum.
Appalachian stormed out to an insurmountable 10-1 lead in the deciding game and cruised to a 15-8 win for the match. The Apps put down ten kills with just one error, with five of the kills belonging to Zahn. Zahn averaged seven kills per game over the weekend, and now has 313 kills on the season. The former school record for kills in a match was 33, held by Stephanie Young, who set the mark in 1998 against Davidson.
Elon 3, Davidson 0
ELON, N.C. - The Elon Phoenix volleyball team defeated Davidson 3-0 (30-21, 30-18, 30-22) Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the win, Elon improves to 11-10 overall (6-2 Southern Conference) and extends its winning streak to four matches. The Phoenix has also won seven of its last 10 competitions.
Jessica Barrow led the Phoenix offense, tallying 18 kills and hitting .333 over the three games. Also leading Elon was Emily Lucci, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season, posting 10 kills and 11 digs. Lucci hit .400 in the match.
Lucci logged most of her kills in the first frame, posting seven (.582) and adding two blocks in the 30-21 Elon win. The Wildcats, led by Katie Pierucci's five kills, hit just .146 in the match.
Barrow recorded 10 kills and hit .500 in game two to lead Elon to a 30-18 win. Pierucci added five kills for Davidson, but the Wildcats his .047 as a team to the Phoenix's .256 as Elon took a 2-0 advantage.
Despite seven kills from Davidson's Pierucci in the final game, Elon defeated the Wildcats 3-0 with a 30-22 win. Barrow added four kills to her total for the Phoenix, while Lucci added three kills and two blocks.
The Phoenix logged seven team blocks, led by five from Lucci. Natalie Moore dished out 39 assists, while Lauren Copenhagen tallied a season-high 20 digs.