Western Carolina 3, Davidson 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina volleyball (5-9, 2-2 SoCon) posted a season-high 18 total blocks to help the Catamounts capture a 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-24) victory over Southern Conference foe Davidson (5-9, 0-1 SoCon) Saturday in the Ramsey Center.
The victory halted a two-match losing streak for Western Carolina and is the second victory at home over a Southern Conference team. The club is now 2-0 at home against conference opponents.
“We really needed this win,” said Head Coach Stephanie Dragan. “Mentally we were really beat up and I really believe the win will boost our confidence. Not to mention it evens our record in conference play.”
Western Carolina had 35 kills in the match and committed just 18 errors for a .153 attack percentage. The club had seven block solos and 22 block assists for a total of 18 blocks. Freshman LaTonia Cunningham had nine block assists in the match, just one shy of tying the school record. Cunningham also has three solo blocks.
“We had a bigger blocking presence today,” Dragan said. “We came out here today with the will to win and have fun.”
Freshman Ali Rook led both teams with 12 kills and she also had seven digs and one service ace. Senior Meredith Harmon followed up with 10 kills, four digs, one solo block and two block assists.
Sophomore Katie Hennessey leant a hand with 32 assists and libero Liz Rondone dug out 20 digs.
Western Carolina’s eight match home stand ends on Wednesday when the Catamounts host East Tennessee at 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.
Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) recorded a match-high 17 kills and hit .469 while setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) registered 39 assists to lead Chattanooga (6-6, 2-0) to a 3-0 victory over Appalachian State (4-10, 1-1) Saturday afternoon at Maclellan Gym in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Mocs move to 2-0 in the Southern Conference with victories of 30-26, 30-18 and 30-23. It is Chattanooga’s fourth straight victory and third consecutive sweep.
Both teams came out strong to start the match, registering five ties and three lead changes as they battled out to a 7-7 tie early on. A 3-0 run by the Lady Mocs made the score 10-7 before a rally by the Mountaineers closed the gap to 11-9. A 7-4 spurt capped off by a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Kelsey Amundson (Houston, Texas) extended Chattanooga’s lead to 18-13. From that point, ASU would close to within three points only twice as Ball and senior middle blocker Julianna Martinez (Austin, Texas) combined for six kills to led UTC to a 30-26 opening set victory.
Following a brief 2-1 lead by Appalachian State to open the second game, Chattanooga regained the serve on a Ball kill and mounted a 6-0 run behind the serving of senior outside hitter Jamie Engel (Troy, Ill.). Engel added two of her three service aces on the day, back-to-back, in the run to push the score to 8-2. The two teams then exchanged points for the next four serves to make the score 11-7 before UTC put together four straight points to take a 15-7 advantage.
The Mountaineers would eventually close to within 21-16 before Chattanooga ended all hope of a comeback with a 9-2 run that included the final six points of the game to lock up the 30-18 Game 2 victory and secure a 2-0 match lead.
Game 3 was a back-and-forth affair early on as Appalachian State refused to go quietly. ASU pulled out to an 8-5 advantage before Chattanooga tied the score at 8-8. The two teams exchanged points over the next five serves to leave score tied, this time at 13-13. Back-to-back kills by the Lady Mocs put them ahead 15-13 and that is where they would stay.
After several rallies the score stood at 21-19, Chattanooga. At that point, the Lady Mocs put together a match-ending 9-4 run to take home the 30-23 victory and their third straight match won by shutout, 3-0.
Senior setter Lorelle Rau led the Mountaineers with a strong all-around performance, posting a team-high 38 assists, 11 digs and four blocks while freshman outside hitter Lauren Swecker led the team with 13 kills and added 10 digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Cassie Engelgau posted a match-high 17 digs and freshman middle blocker Caroline Sedon notched a match-high five kills. Freshman outside hitter Jackie Santarelli and junior middle blocker Carla Durham rounded out the offense with 10 kills a piece.
In addition to Ball and Herndon’s performances, the Lady Mocs received a total team effort as a number of players posted strong outings. Senior middle blocker Sarah Bass and Martinez each finished with seven kills while Engel tallied five kills, eight digs and three service aces. On defense, six players recorded at least seven digs, including junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) with a team-high 16, Ball and Amundson with nine each and junior setter Michaela Huff (Dallas, Texas) with seven. Amundson also added six kills.
As a team, Chattanooga hit .242 on the afternoon. Over the last three matches, UTC has hit at least .232 with a high of .298 against Western Carolina on September 18.
The Lady Mocs will be back in action tomorrow, September 23, when they host the Davidson Wildcats on Sunday, September 23 at 2 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, UNCG 1
Charleston volleyball defeated UNC Greensboro 3-1 (30-24, 25-30, 30-22, 30-26) in four games. The Cougars improve to 2-0 in the Southern Conference and 7-5 overall.
“The team played really well today even with all the changes in the lineup that we made last minute,” Head Coach Jason Kepner said. “Cole [Dawley] did a great job leading our offense considering she hasn’t set since pre-season. Greensboro played really well and forced us to raise our level to win the match. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s match against Elon.”
Charleston took game one with a well-balanced offensive attack. The game saw six Cougars record kills. The defense was also a team effort with six players earning digs, and four who tallied blocks.
Greensboro won the second game behind an even offensive production with seven players recording kills including four players with an attack percentage over .500. Charleston was led by Deanna Patrick who had five kills. By winning the game, Greensboro tied the score at one and forcing a fourth game.
Game three saw Patrick earn a .800 attack percentage (4-5) and Cole Dawley and Paige Johnson each earning a service ace. Greensboro’s Kaitlyn Nortz had a game leading eight kills.
In the final match of the game, the Cougars once again executed the game-plan well, combining for 17 kills and 11 blocks. The Spartans pressured the Cougars, but CofC rose to the challenge, forcing two time outs to be called by the Spartans. Charleston won the game and the match off of a kill by Patrick.
Led by Patrick with 15 kills and a team leading 17 points, the Cougars saw three players record double digit kills, including Emily Sawin who earned a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. The team also tallied six service aces in the victory. Dawley had 49 assists and recorded four blocks, including one solo block.
Defensively for the Cougars, Tiffany Blum led the team with five assisted blocks. Patrick, Sawin, Dawley, Whitney Russell, Annie Uthe, and Ginny Phillips combined for 13 blocks, including four solo blocks.
UNC Greensboro was led by Kaitlyn Nortz who tallied 17 kills, with Branagan Fuller adding 16 of her own with one service ace. Five Spartans recorded kills in the effort. Lisa Fawell, Lauren Keiser, Fuller, Catherine Hanners, and Kayleigh Knerr each had at least one service ace during the match.
The defense was led by Emily Lindborg who recorded four assisted blocks, with seven Spartans adding to the total. The team also had 41 digs.
Elon 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Elon volleyball improved to 2-0 in Southern Conference play and evened its overall record at 7-7, defeating The Citadel 3-0 (30-19, 30-21, 31-29) Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs fell to a good Elon team who posted 12 team blocks, 1 solo and 22 block assists. Elon was led by sophomore Mandy Wilson and freshman Lauren Copenhagen who tallied 11 kills each. Senior Emily Lucci finished with 10 kills. Copenhagen, Lucci, Sarah Schermerhorn and Natalie Moore each posted two service aces in the three-game set. Moore dished out 42 assists and recorded the Phoenix’s only solo block of the day, while Kelley Blakewood had 12 digs.
In game one, a tough block set by Elon caused trouble for the Bulldogs. The Citadel couldn’t put a good attack together as they had a .065 hitting percentage with no blocks, while the Phoenix hit .341 with six block assists. The Phoenix mustered a 7-0 run at the end of the match to put the game out of reach as Elon took game one 30-19.
In the second game, Elon jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, and maintained it for the majority of the match. The Bulldog offense never gained the momentum needed to make up the deficit,eventually falling 30-21.
With the score tied at seven in the final frame, the Bulldogs put together a 4-0 run to take the lead 11-7. The Phoenix came back to tie the score at 12 and the battle began. From there the lead changed 12 more times forcing the game to be decided in extra points. With the score tied at 29, Elon stole the victory with two consecutive points.
Elon will face College of Charleston Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.