Furman 3, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon Phoenix volleyball team dropped Friday night’s match versus Furman, losing 3-0 (30-15, 30-26, 30-16) at Alumni Gym. The Phoenix falls to 7-10 (2-2 SoCon), while the Paladins improve to 10-3 (3-0 SoCon).
Furman’s powerful offense, led by Chibuzo Aguocha’s 12 kills, tallied a .330 hitting percentage in the three-game set. Aguocha posted a double-double, adding 12 digs on the night, while the Paladins had 11 service aces ? three from both Courtney Stewardson and Pamela Gehrke.
Elon was led offensively by freshman Lauren Copenhagen, who logged 10 kills and hit .348. Mandy Wilson and Jessica Barrow tallied seven kills each for Elon. The Phoenix managed just a .073 team hitting percentage in the match as the Paladin’s posted 12 team blocks, led by Nicole Palazzo’s 11 (10 block assists, one solo block).
Palazzo led Furman in game one, tallying four kills (.571) and four blocks. The Paladin defense stifled Elon’s hitting, holding the Phoenix to a .026 team hitting percentage and three of Elon’s top hitters to negative hittiner percentages, and Furman took game one 30-15.
Elon held the score closer in the second frame, as Copenhagen posted five kills (.400). But, Aguocha tallied nine kills in the second stanza, hitting .500 to lead Furman to a 30-26 win and a 2-0 match advantage. Lizzie West logged three service aces, leading the Phoenix.
Furman’s defense posted six team blocks and held Elon to a -.108 hitting percentage in the final game. Palazzo was the only player in the frame to post more than two kills with four, as the Paladins won the match with a 30-16 victory.
For Elon, Natalie Moore dished out 27 assists, while Kelley Blakewood led the squad with 12 digs.
UNCG 3, Wofford 0
GREENSBORO, NC? The UNC Greensboro volleyball team picked up its third Southern Conference win of the season with a 3-0 win over Wofford in Fleming Gymnasium Friday night. The Spartans took the match by scores of 30-12, 30-26 and 30-14 for their third shutout win in their last four outings.
Sophomore Branagan Fuller led UNCG (10-8, 3-1 SoCon) with 11 kills and six digs. The Spartans also had three players with double-digit digs with Lauren Keiser and Catherine Hanners leading the way with 14 digs each.
Freshman Kayren Finney posted a career-high .625 hitting percentage with six kills on eight attempts while Lisa Fawell dished out a match-high 25 assists.
Wofford (6-9, 0-3 SoCon) was led by Stacy Byrd who tallied seven kills while teammates Sarah Palmer and Shanna Hughes recorded 15 and 11 digs, respectively. Setter Joanna Suaddath also tallied 21 assists in the loss.
In game one, the Spartans opened up a 14-8 lead early behind kills from Katherine Hart and Branagan Fuller. UNCG was able to capitalize on several Wofford miscues and used two service aces from Kayleigh Knerr to extend their lead to 19-8 and never looked back and took game one, 30-12.
The Terriers were able to take an early 8-3 lead in game two and but the Spartans used back-to-back kills from Katherine Hart and a kill from Kaitlyn Nortz to tie the game at 10-10. The game saw five more ties before UNCG was able to pull ahead 24-21. Wofford wouldn’t go away and down the stretch got as close as 28-26 before a kill from Branagan Fuller coupled with a ball-handling error from Suddath gave UNCG the 2-0 match lead.
In the final frame the Spartans went on a 5-1 run to open the game and cruised to the victory. Wofford was able to cut the Spartan lead to three points but couldn’t stop UNCG’s momentum as the Spartans took the match by a score of 30-14.
UNCG held Wofford to a .018 hitting percentage for the match while the Spartans registered a .202 hitting percentage and a match-high 11 blocks.
Appalachian State 3, The Citadel 0
September 28, 2007 - BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State volleyball opened its home schedule in style Friday night, sweeping The Citadel, 30-20, 30-26, and 30-20, in front of 275 fans at the Holmes Center. Freshman Lauren Swecker paced the team with 12 kills and 14 digs. The squad is now 5-10 on the season and 2-1 in Southern Conference play.
The Apps broke out of a 5-5 tie in the first game with a seven-point run that featured a pair of kills from both Caroline Sedon and Jackie Santarelli. Sedon finished the match with three kills and four of the team’s 11 blocks. Santarelli posted seven kills and a block on the night. Cassie Engelgau led the team with four service aces, all of which came in the opening set, as the team cruised to a 30-20 win.
ASU jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the second game, but the Bulldogs stormed back and took their first lead of the match, at 21-20. With a little help from the home crowd, the Moutaineers strung together a pair of three-point bursts to regain the lead for good, as the 30-26 win was punctuated by setter Lorelle Rau’s fourth kill of the game. Rau finished the night with nine kills, 39 assists, four digs, and three blocks.
Carla Durham led the team with seven blocks, as the team rejected a total of 11 on the night, tying the team’s second highest total of the year. Durham added ten of the team’s 57 kills in the game as well. Durham’s offense led the team in game three, as the squad used an 8-3 run to extend the lead from 12-9 to 20-12 en route to another 30-20 win.
Rau and Brittany Zahn -seven kills in 12 attacks - each hit .500 for the match, as the team hit .302 on the night. It was ASU’s third-highest rate of the season. The Citadel was held to just .047 hitting and four blocks in the contest. The Bulldogs drop to 2-14 on the season and 0-5 in conference play.
College of Charleston 3, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - College of Charleston hit .286 with a team-high 41 kills on
91 swings as the Davidson volleyball team were unable to solve the top team in the Southern Conference, dropping a 3-0 (30-18, 30-14, 30-21) SoCon match on Friday night at Belk Arena.
With their ninth consecutive loss, the Wildcats fell to 0-3 in SoCon play and 5-11 overall. CofC remained perfect at 4-0 in league play and improved to 9-5 overall.
Senior Katie Pierucci led the Wildcat hitting attack with 11 kills, while freshman Hayley Lawson picked up 24 of Davidson's 25 assists.
Charleston's Emily Sawin was the lone Cougar in double digits in kills with 11, but three other players had a combined 24 to support the offensive attack.
Game one saw Davidson fall behind by eight, 10-2, after a Sawin kill.
Charleston would push its lead out to as many as 11 points behind a .462 hitting percentage on its way to a 30-18 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Sawin and Whitney Russell then led the Cougars to a 30-14 game-two win with a combined seven kills, while Lindsey Kane picked up 10 of her 35 assists to carry CofC to a 2-0 lead.
After the 10 minute intermission, Davidson jumped out to a 9-5 advantage after back-to-back kills from junior Kittery Neale and Pierucci, coupled with a Cougar hitting error. The Wildcats maintained the lead until Sawin tied things up at 12-12. Both teams traded points for seven possessions, as the scored stayed knotted at 15, but Charleston put the match away with a
13-3 run for the 30-21 win.
Defensively, senior Lindsey Woeste paced Davidson with 10 digs, while Cole Dawley of CofC had 21.