UNC Greensboro 3, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, NC? The UNC Greensboro volleyball team recorded its 10th shutout win of the season with a 3-0 win over Davidson in Southern Conference volleyball action at Belk Arena on Sunday afternoon. UNCG defeated the Wildcats by scores of 30-24, 30-22, 30-28.
UNCG (16-14, 9-7 SoCon) had three players with double digit kills and was led by Kaitlyn Nortz who tallied a match-high 16 kills in the win.
Catherine Hanners led the way on the defensive end and recorded 12 digs for the Spartans while teammate Lisa Fawell dished out 43 assists on the afternoon.
Kaite Pierucci led the way for Davidson (10-19, 5-11 SoCon) with a team-high eight kills and eight digs. Hayley Lawson recorded 20 assists while Jorden Benedict tallied four blocks in the loss.
Game one was close from the outset and featured eight ties before the Spartans could pull ahead. With the score notched at 21-21, UNCG used kills from Branagan Fuller and Emily Lindborg to take a two-point lead. The Spartans picked up additional points on two Davidson attack errors to extend their lead to 25-21. Davidson would get as close as, 26-24 but UNCG closed the match with four unanswered points to take game one, 30-24.
In the second game Davidson went up early behind kills from Alison Dwyer and Sarabeth Peele but UNCG used a 10-4 run to take a 10-6 lead and cruised from that point. Davidson tried a comeback late in the match and cut UNCG’s lead to 18-22 but kills from Fuller and Nortz coupled with several untimely Davidson errors gave UNCG the game, 30-22 and gave them a 2-0 match lead.
Davidson came out refreshed after the intermission and gave the Spartans all they could handle in the opening minutes of the third match. The Wildcats were able to take a 20-15 lead midway through the game behind the hitting of Pierucci and several UNCG miscues but the Spartans were able to mount a comeback down the stretch.
With Davidson holding a 26-20 lead, the Spartans went on a 10-2 run behind kills from Nortz and Fuller to put the game out of reach, taking the game 30-28. UNCG dominated in the statistics, including holding the Wildcats to a 0.51 hitting percentage for the match. UNCG hit .272 for the match and recorded 21 blocks.
The Spartans return home to close out the regular-season when they host Chattanooga and Western Carolina next weekend. UNCG will honor seniors Katherine Hart and Lauren Keiser prior to Sunday’s match against Western Carolina.
Chattanooga 3, Wofford 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior middle blockers Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) and Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) combined for 28 kills and a .431 hitting percentage and freshman setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) posted a match-high 50 assists as Chattanooga, (17-12, 12-4) defeated Wofford (9-20, 2-14) in a Southern Conference volleyball match Sunday afternoon in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Mocs dropped the Terriers 30-11, 24-30, 30-21 and 30-19 to collect their 12th conference victory.
Chattanooga was outstanding in the first game as they quickly charged out to leads of 11-2 and 16-4 before rolling on to a dominating 30-11 victory. The Lady Mocs posted a .480 hitting percentage with 14 kills in the first frame, with Ball accounting for five of those. Wofford did not register a point off of their serve in Game 1, tallying all of their points off of rotations.
The second game saw the Terriers come alive, however, jumping out to early leads of 6-2 and 9-4. With their lead reduced to 9-7, Wofford proceeded to score seven of the next eight points, including five in a row, to extend to a 16-8 lead. At that point, Chattanooga got back in the game, scoring six straight points to pull to within 16-14. That would be as close as they would get though, as the Terriers maintained their lead to hold on for a 30-24 victory to tie the match at 1-1.
The Lady Mocs opened Game 3 with a 14-8 lead before Wofford rallied to within 15-12 behind a 4-0 run. Chattanooga pushed their lead to up to 21-16 before extending to a 27-18 advantage and powering to a 30-21 victory and a 2-1 match lead.
The Terriers started strong in Game 4, taking a 9-7 lead. An 8-1 run by the Lady Mocs erased that advantage and gave them a 15-10 lead. With the score at 16-12, Chattanooga delivered the decisive run of the match, rolling up ten of the next eleven points to extend to a dominating 26-13 lead. From there, the Lady Mocs closed out the game, and the match, with a 30-19 victory.
Sophomore setter Joanna Suddath set up the Terriers offense with 39 assists and added 13 digs while freshman outside hitter Stacy Byrd paced the Wofford hitters with 14 kills. She was joined in double-digits by sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Richardson who finished with 12 kills. Defensively, Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Palmer led the way with a team-high 15 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Palmer and sophomore outside hitter Shana Hughes each added 14 digs.
For Chattanooga, Leslee Ball led the offensive attack with 16 kills and hit for a .379 percentage and added five blocks, while fellow senior Julianna Martinez recorded 12 kills off of a .500 percentage. Setting up the offense was freshman setter Bailee Chastain (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) who finished with 50 assists and 11 digs.
Manning the defense for the Lady Mocs was the nation’s leading libero, junior Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who finished with a match-high 29 digs. Senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.) added 11 kills and 15 digs while senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) finished with 11 digs. As a team, Chattanooga finished the day with a .258 hitting percentage and posted 84 digs to continue leading the nation in the later category.
The Lady Mocs will wrap up the regular season on the road next weekend when they travel to UNC Greensboro on Saturday, November 10 for a 2 p.m. match and then to Elon for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday November, 11.
Georgia Southern 3, The Citadel 0
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern volleyball team celebrated Senior Day in style, sweeping The Citadel 3-0 (30-18, 30-15, 30-26) Sunday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles improve to 10-18 overall and 7-9 in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs fall to 5-27 and 0-16.
“With this being Senior Day and an emotional day across the board, our girls came out and played well and were very disciplined from the beginning, which helped us put three solid games together,” said GSU head coach Nicole McCray.
Georgia Southern hit .308 as a team, led by freshman Michelle Uzoh’s (San Antonio, Texas) 10 kills and .769 attack percentage. The Citadel, on the other hand, hit just .034, including -.077 and -.029 in games one and two, respectively.
“We blocked well and we dug balls,” added McCray. “Defense has been a huge part of our game this year and for us to have 58 digs in three games says enough. We worked a lot on being disciplined and digging around the block, and I think that’s really paid off.”
The Eagles’ Gorana Bacic (Richmond, Va.) led all players with 13 kills on a .400 hitting percentage.
Georgia Southern never trailed in the first two games and held a .365 to -.055 advantage in attack percentage.
The Bulldogs raced out to a 13-7 lead in game three, but following a GSU timeout, the Eagles reeled off five straight points to close within one. Another 5-0 rally put Georgia Southern ahead for good 18-16.
GSU junior Mae Chabra (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) recorded match-highs of 38 assists and 14 digs.
Before the match the Eagles said goodbye to its seniors: Bacic, Bailey Coleman (Awendaw, S.C.) and Flavia Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
“This is a tough year because we are losing three great individuals and three great student-athletes,” said McCray. “They have done so much for this University and have been great role models for kids in the area, and that’s what we need in a senior group. They have showed leadership throughout their careers ? on and off the court ? and if our younger players can follow in their footsteps, we’re going to have a great program here.”