Chattanooga 3, Wofford 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Fresh off her NCAA record performance against Samford on Wednesday, Lara Newberry was at it again on Saturday with another career day in Chattanooga’s (9-11/4-2) exciting 3-2 win over Wofford (11-9/1-4). The teams’ defenses were the story in the match as both squads combined for 262 digs.
After being award a plaque for her breaking of the NCAA’s all-time digs record before the match, Newberry put on an encore few could match with a career-high 51 digs in the victory. The performance breaks her previous record of 45, which she accomplished twice last season. The Lady Mocs took the match from the Terriers 25-17, 20-25, 27-25, 23-25, and 15-8.
Newberry was not the only player that enjoyed a career-high performance on the day as Courtney Barnes continued her strong play with 16 kills, which led the team. Ashley Yeager, Jessica Scott, and Laura Nethery also had double-digit kills with 12, 11, and 10 respectively.
“Lara is amazing, as were both teams today,” Head Coach Lisa Rhodes said. “Wofford’s defensive game was just as strong as ours this afternoon. This was a fun match to watch and I am just glad to be leaving with a win.”
In the match, the Lady Mocs were able to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead after taking the first set 25-17. Early in the frame, Chattanooga was able to overcome a 3-6 deficit with nine straight points to take the 12-6 lead over the Terriers.
Wofford would bounce right back however as the Terriers took the second set 20-25. Wofford’s Shanna Hughes recorded seven of her match-high 20 kills as the Terriers tied the match at one.
After a 27-25 win by the Lady Mocs in the third, Chattanooga seemed poised to take the contest after UTC found itself up 18-10 mid-way through the fourth set. Wofford would not quit however, as the team would end up outscoring Chattanooga 15-5 to end the match with a 25-23 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
In the final frame, the Terriers continued to have all the momentum as Wofford rattled off three quick points as UTC quickly found itself down 3-0. The Lady Mocs would answer however with five straight points of its own, sparked by a Wofford attack error. Barnes, Yeager, Newberry, Michaela Huff, and Scott all recorded kills in the set as the Lady Mocs would not relinquish its lead to take the set 15-8, and the match.
Joanna Sudduth led all players in the match with 40 assists while Wofford’s libero finished the match with 43 digs. Leading the match for the Lady Mocs in assists was Cassie Conner with 31, while Huff ended with 21.
The Lady Mocs will wrap up its five-game homestand Sunday with a 1 p.m. match against Furman.
UNC Greensboro 3, The Citadel 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro’s volleyball team hit over .300 for the first time since Sept. 6 as the Spartans swept The Citadel, 3-0, on Saturday in Southern Conference action at Fleming Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-15, 26-24, 25-14.
The Spartans registered a .319 hitting percentage, making 42 kills off 91 total attacks with 13 errors. UNCG last hit over .300 in its 3-0 sweep of South Carolina State at the HPU Volleyball Classic presented by Radisson Hotel. In that match, the Spartans made 46 kills off 93 total attacks and committed just 15 errors en route to hitting .333.
Sophomores Kayren Finney and Alissa Beaudway and junior Emily Lindborg each hit over .500. Finney had a match-best .583, making eight kills off 12 total attacks with one error. Beaudway made six kills off nine total attacks with one error for a .556 hitting percentage, while Lindborg hit .500 with four kills off six total attacks with one error. Junior Branagan Fuller had 12 kills and was the only player to reach double-digits in kills. Junior Lisa Fawell had a match-high 19 assists, while classmate Catherine Hanners had 12 digs.
Tatum Jestila led the Bulldogs with eight kills. Emily Hill had 15 assists, while Ashley Winter recorded nine digs.
Both teams used runs early in the first set to stay close to each other. However, with the score tied 9-9, a kill by Fuller started a four-point run for the Spartans to make it 13-9. UNCG gradually increased its lead by scoring two-straight points on three occasions. Another Fuller kill ultimately made it a 19-12 set. The Citadel pulled to within five with kills from Emily Hill and Rachel Sanders, but UNCG scored six of the set’s last seven points to win the set. The Spartans closed out the set with a block assist by sophomore Billi Baker and junior Samantha Kirby.
In the second set, the Bulldogs held the early lead, but UNCG used a pair of three-point runs to establish a 9-6 lead. The Citadel pulled to within two on three occasions, including using a Spartan attack error to make it 11-9 in favor of UNCG. However, a kill by Baker sparked a four-point run that provided the Spartans with a six-point, 15-9 cushion. The teams traded points until the Bulldogs got back-to-back kills from Blaine McAllister and Sanders to cut The Citadel’s deficit down to four. Straight Fuller kills allowed UNCG to regain a six-point advantage, but The Citadel notched eight of the next nine points in order to take a 21-20 lead. However, three-straight Bulldog errors and a Fuller ace made it a 24-21 UNCG advantage. The Citadel used a Jestila kill to start a three-point run to even the set up at 24-24. The Spartans ultimately won the set off a Lindborg kill and a Bulldog attack error en route to taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, UNCG used a seven-point run to establish control of the third set. With The Citadel up 5-4, a kill by Beaudway sparked the Spartans’ run as UNCG went up 11-5. The Citadel eventually trimmed UNCG’s lead down to four on two occasions. UNCG ultimately regained a seven-point cushion as Beaudway and Finney blocked a Bulldog attack to make it 19-12. After a Spartan service error, freshman Luciana Shafer had a kill that was the first of five-straight UNCG points to give the Spartans a 24-13 advantage. UNCG ultimately won the set and the match off a Finney kill.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday when the four-time defending SoCon Champion College of Charleston visits Fleming Gymnasium. Match time is set for 5 p.m.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro def. The Citadel 25-15,26-24,25-14
The Citadel (6-12, 0-6 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Tatum Jestila 8-1-2; Amanda Beal 7-0-2; Rachel Sanders 6-1-1; Jessica Maas 4-0-3; Emily Hill 1-0-0; Blaine McAllister 1-0-1; Ashley Winter 0-2-0; Shannon Frain 0-0-1; Totals 27-4-5.5. (Assists) - Emily Hill 15. (Dig leaders) - Ashley Winter 9; Alyssa Holum 5
UNCG (12-7, 4-2 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Branagan Fuller 12-1-0; Kayren Finney 8-0-3; Alissa Beaudway 6-0-2; Emily Lindborg 4-1-0; Kaitlyn Nortz 4-0-1; Billi Baker 3-0-2; Luciana Shafer 3-0-3; Kimiko Naito 1-0-0; Lisa Fawell 1-0-0; Samantha Kirby 0-0-1; Catherine Hanners 0-1-0; Totals 42-3-6.5. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 19; Kimiko Naito 15. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 12; Luciana Shafer 8; Branagan Fuller 8
Samford 3, Furman 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team extended its current win streak to 11 Saturday night with a 3-0 sweep of the Furman Paladins. The win is the first for the Bulldogs over Furman in Samford volleyball history after an eight match drought in past years.
Samford (17-2, 6-0 SoCon), is ranked fifth in the nation in hitting percentage, had an 89 percent sideout efficiency in the final set, hitting .429 as a team. Furman (11-8, 4-2 SoCon), the nation’s 40th-best blocking squad, out-blocked the Bulldogs, 5-3.
“This was a solid effort from 0-0 in set one to 25-19 in set three,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “I think our serve-receive passing, again, was exceptional. Courtney Gay, Sarah Gardner and Samantha Bland are doing great job with that. Hillary (Fountain) is making great decisions because the passes are so easy, that she can make her decisions and all of it just clicks on all cylinders.”
Furman led off of the first set, scoring on a Samford error, but Stangohr quickly knocked down a kill to even the score. A service error by the Bulldogs gave the Paladins another one-point advantage, but Samford tied the score and took over on kills by Adams and Gadberry. After five more ties and three more lead changes, Samford began to pull away. With the score at 12-10, Samford took a timeout and came back to score three straight points on a kill by Gadberry and back-to-back aces by Fountain too take a five-point lead. Furman then took a timeout and went on an 8-4 run to tie the score at 19. After a Bulldog timeout, Samford only allow the Paladins to score three more times before taking the first set, 25-22.
The Paladins again took the early lead in set two, but that would be the only led for Furman in the set. Samford quickly got on the board with a kill by Adams and took a one-point lead by Sosnowski. The Paladins tied the score but Samford answered back and soon pulled out to a five-point lead on kills by Sears and Stangohr and a couple of Furman errors. With the score at 12-7, the Paladins went on a 5-1 run to get within one point. However, the Bulldogs fought back pushed the lead out to six on several Paladin errors, a kill by Sosnowski, a block by Stangohr and Sears, and a service ace by Gardner. After a Furman timeout, the Paladins cut the lead to five but Samford charged ahead and went on to win the second set, 25-17.
A Furman error landed Samford its first point of the third set. A Bulldog blocking error evened the score but a kill by Sears put Samford back on top. Two service errors by Bulldogs evened the score again but kills by Adams and Gadberry allowed Samford to take the lead once more. After the Paladins tied the score at four, Samford pushed its lead out to three on a kill by Gadberry, an ace by Adams, and a block by Sosnowski and Gadberry. Furman fought back but Samford eventually extended its lead to six on kills by Adams and Gadberry. A block by Sosnowksi and Stanoghr stretched the lead to seven, and Furman fought back to get with four, but Samford continued to forge ahead and the Bulldogs went on to win set three, 25-19, on a Furman service error.
Rachel Gadberry led the Bulldogs in hitting, posting a career-high .800 hitting percentage. She knocked do wn nine kills on 10 attempts, committing only one error. She also added one block assist. Kirstein Sosnowski was just behind, posting a .533 average and knocking down 10 kills. She also added two block assists and one dig. Ashley Adams posted a .367 hitting percentage with 13 kills, six digs and one ace. Sheriden Stangohr added seven kills and two block assists.
Hillary Fountain dished out 41 assists with three digs, two kills and two service aces. Courtney Gay and Samantha Bland both posted nine digs. Gay also grabbed one ace and one assist while Bland knocked down a kill. Sara Sears had four kills, one dig and one block assist while Sarah Gardner had seven digs, two aces and two assists.
“We had two players with nine digs, Sam and Courtney, and that makes me feel really good because we’ve been working really hard on defense,” Schroeder said. “If we bring that along, we are going to be a very tough team to beat all year.”
The Bulldogs will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as they take on Wofford in a 2 p.m. match at Pete Hanna Center. A full recap and results will be available upon completion of the match on www.samfordsports.com.
Davidson 3, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball fought hard on Saturday night but was unable to pick up its first Southern Conference win of the season against Davidson at the Holmes Center. The Wildcats won in three sets, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-21. Carla Durham led the Mountaineers with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
The Mountaineers (4-15, 0-5 SoCon) came out strong to open the match and ran off an early 5-0 run to take a 7-4 lead before the Wildcats rallied to tie the score 10-10. DC never trailed again in the match and won 11 of the final 13 points after a 14-14 tie to take a 25-16 win in the first set. Heather Kale had four digs in the set and finished the night with a team-high 13 to go along with an ace.
Charissa Clearman had another of the team's three aces and paired it with 20 assists and four digs. Kasey Sauls split time at setter with 12 assists along with three digs.
The second set was as close as could be and even saw the Mountaineers on top statistically. Durham posted six of her team-best 11 kills in the set as the Apps collected 16 kills and a .256 hitting mark compared to 14 kills and .200 for the Wildcats in the set. ASU out-blocked Davidson 4-to-1 in the set as well but a pair of kills were enough to break a 23-23 tie and put the Wildcats up two sets to none heading into the intermission.
Caroline Sedon and Lauren Swecker had four kills each in the set with just one combined error. Sedon went on to capture seven kills and a .333 hitting percentage while Swecker had five kills and three blocks. Becca Norris led the team with five of ASU's 12 blocks. The 12 blocks matched a team high for the season.
Appalachian looked to be turning a corner in the third set with an early four-point lead but DC (8-11, 3-3) rallied to tie at 16 all. The squads saw three more ties but in the end Sarabeth Peele's five third-set kills were too much as the Wildcats pulled away for the 25-21 win. Peele ended the match with 14 kills.
The Mountaineers return to the court Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Holmes Center against Georgia Southern.