#4 Chattanooga 3, #5 Elon 1
PHOTOS
Chattanooga, Tenn.- First team all-conference member Leslee Ball carried the Lady Mocs offense with 26 kills and a .377 hitting percentage while Libero-of-the Year anchored the Mocs defense with 40 digs.
The Chattanooga defeated Elon 3-1 to advance to the semifinals and play No.1 seed College of Charleston.
In game one, the Mocs took a quick 4-0 lead with three kills and a service ace. Chattanooga didn’t let up on the scoring against the Phoenix as they pushed their lead to 10-6. Elon went on a run and tied the game at 16-16 with kills by Lucci, Copenhagen, and hitting errors by Chattanooga. The game went back and forth before Chattanooga pulled away with a kill by Jamie Engel, an error by Elon and a service ace by Bailee Chastain.
In game two Elon trailed 6-3 earlier but three quick points brought the score to a tie. Elon went on 9-3 run to push their lead 15-10. Elon didn’t lose the lead after that point as the Phoenix kept the lead the rest of the way to win 30-26.
Game three, started with Elon getting the first three points of the game kills from Lucci, Copenhagen, and Barrow. Chattanooga then tied the game at three with two hitting errors by Elon and kill by Jamie Engel. Elon kept Chattanooga on their heels with a array of different attacks. Chattanooga tied the game at 13-13 with a hitting error by Elon and took control of the game. A series of points went back and forth until Chattanooga took a 28-22 lead and closed out the Phoenix with a Leslee Ball kill to win 30-26.
Game four saw Elon jump out to an 2-0 lead with kills by Brittany Westphal and a service ace by Jamie Engel. Chattanooga tied the game at 4-4 with a hitting error by the Phoenix. The game teetered back and forth until Elon made two hitting errors and gave the Lady Mocs a 14-8 lead. The Lady Mocs held onto the lead and finished off the Phoenix with a Leslee Ball kill to win 30-24.
#1 College of Charleston 3, #8 Georgia Southern 0
PHOTOS
Chattanooga, Tenn. - College of Charleston sweeps Georgia Southern in the third game of the Southern Conference Tournament. All-Conference members Tiffany Blum and Annie Uthe paced the Cougars in kills with 15 and 12 respectively. Lindsey Kane posted a double-double in leading the potent Cougar attack.
College of Charleston will play the winner of the Chattanooga/Elon match on Saturday, November 17.
In game one, College of Charleston jumped out to a 5-2 lead with two hitting errors by Georgia Southern, two kills and a service ace by Brook Truxillo. The Cougars didn’t give away the lead the whole game; they lead by more 10 points at one point in the game. A kill by Emily Sawin and a hitting error by Georgia Southern clinched the first game 30-16.
Game two was a tightly contested match were neither team wanted to give an inch. There were nine ties in game two and each team match each other points. Charleston broke through with five straight points to go up 23-18. Georgia Southern went on a 9-7 run to tie the game at 29-29. A kill by Annie Uthe and a service error by Georgia Southern gave the Cougars a 31-29 victory.
College of Charleston jumped out to a 9-4 lead behind strong play from middle blocker, Tiffany Blum who had five kills in the game. The Cougars lead increased to seven before the Georgia Southern started to make a run. Georgia Southern went a 10-4 run to close the gap to 21-19 but the Cougars countered with a 9-3 run to close out the match 30-23.
#6 UNC Greensboro 3, #3 Furman 1
(28-30,32-30,30-24,30-28)
PHOTOS
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? UNC Greensboro upset the No.4 seeded Paladins of Furman in four games by the score of 3-1(28-30, 32-30, 30, 24, 30-28). Four Spartans were in double figures in kills with Branagan Fuller leading with 20.
UNC Greensboro advances to the semifinals to play No.2 seeded Appalachian State at 4:30 on Saturday.
Game one saw the Lady Paladins dispense points evenly with Chibuzo Aguocha with eight kills and Palazzo and West with five a piece. The lady Paladins started the game off with a 4-1 lead with kills from Aguocha, Palazzo and Harby. UNC Greensboro went on an 8-4 run to tie the game at 8-8. UNC Greensboro went on an 11 point run to take the lead at 19-15. The Lady Paladins score four straight points to tie the game at 19-19. The team’s battles back and fourth with the Spartans taking a small lead at 24-21. Furman captured the lead with kills from Palazzo, West and Agoucha to go ahead by one. The teams fought to three ties before kills by West and Agoucha won the game for the Lady Paladins 30-28.
The Spartans got off to a strong start in game two by taking an 8-3 led with perfectly placed attacks and errors by the Paladins. Furman used an 8-3 run to tie the game at 11-11. Each team went on runs with the Paladins scoring eight and the Spartans scoring nine. Both teams went back and forth with scoring, neither team taking a big advantage. A kill by Branagan Fuller and a Furman hitting error gave the Spartans the win at 32-30.
UNC Greensboro led Furman in most of the statistical categories. UNC Greensboro had more attacks, more kills, and a better hitting percentage then Furman. Furman started out with a 6-2 run with three errors by UNC Greensboro and kills from West, Wooten and Stewardson. Greensboro went on an 8-4 scoring spree to tie the game at 10-10. The Spartans went up 15-10 behind two kills, a service ace and two hitting errors by Furman. UNC Greensboro never trailed after that and were ahead by eight points at one time. The Spartans went on to win the game 30-42.
In game four, the play of each team was similar with Furman recording 15 kills and UNC Greensboro tallying 17. Neither team got a big lead on the other, with each team taking the lead back from the other. Furman took the lead 26-23 with a kills from Alison West but UNC Greensboro went on an 8-3 run to win the match 30-28.
#2 Appalachian State 3, #7 Davidson 1
(27-30, 30-25, 30-25, 31-29)
PHOTOS
Chattanooga, Tenn. - Player-of-the Year, Brittany Zahn and Lauren Swecker combined for 39 of Appalachian State’s 70 kills. Zahn had 21 kills and a hitting percentage of .273 while Swecker had 18 kills and 4 digs. The Mountaineers won the first game of the quarterfinals 3-1 (27-30, 30-25, 30-25, and 31-29).
Appalachian State will play the winner of the UNC Greensboro/Furman match on Saturday November 17 at 4:30.
In game one, the Mountaineers came out very aggressive getting a quick 7-4 lead over the Wildcats with a series of kills from Zahn and Swecker. The Wildcats came back to take the lead at 8-7 because of a setting error by Lorelle Rau. The Wildcats didn’t trail after taking the lead and went on to win the game by a score of 30-27.
In game two, the Wildcats got out to a quick 6-2 lead by two hitting errors, a service ace by Sarabeth Peele and a kill by Hodge. The Mountaineers fought back to tie the game at 13-13 with an attack error by Jennifer Chamblee. The points went back and forth until Thomas pushed a set from Rau cross court to make the score 26-23. Appalachian State never lost control of the game after that point winning 30-25.
In game three, score went back and forth with each team answering each others' attacks. The game started to swing the Mountaineers' way when a Davidson error and a kill by Lauren Swecker put the Mountaineers up 17-15. Davidson tied the game at 22-22 on an attack error from Appalachian State. Appalachian State went on a 8-2 scoring run to close out the third game 30-25.
In game four, the Wildcats started the game on a 7-2 scoring run with points coming from all angles. The Mountaineers tied the game at 10-10 by going on a 8-3 scoring run topped off with kills by Zahn, Swecker and Durham. Davidson took a 16-12 lead with the help of 4 attack errors by the Mountaineers hitters. Appalachian State came back to tie the game at 16-16 with kills from Swecker and Durham. Both teams went on mini runs with Davidson scoring seven points and Appalachian State scoring ten to tie the game at 22-22. Appalachian State went on to win game four and the match 31-29.