College of Charleston 3, Georgia Southern 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) dished out a match-high 35 assists and added four blocks while junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) pounded 11 kills and had nine digs as the College of Charleston (10-5, 3-0) clipped Georgia Southern (7-11, 1-3) 3-0 Friday evening in a Southern Conference match in Charleston, S.C. The Cougars claimed the match by scores 25-14, 25-15 and 25-19.
The Cougars charged out of the gate in Game 1, taking a 7-2 lead as they forced four Eagle errors and delivered a pair of kills before Georgia Southern responded with a 6-0 run of their own to grab the lead at 8-7. From there it would be a back-and-forth affair as the teams battled through four ties and two lead changes before settling at 13-13. At that point, the College of Charleston put the match away with a devastating 12-1 run that featured seven kills, including the final six points, as the Cougars took the set by the score of 25-14.
Ahead 1-0 in the match, CofC continued its high level of play at the start of the second set, scoring the first three points on the way to an early 4-2 lead. GSU knotted the score at 4-4 on consecutive kills before the teams deadlocked again at 5-5. The Cougars then answered with a 12-5 run of their own, fueled by four kills from Emily Sawin, to take a 17-10 lead. The Eagles would close to within 20-14 before Charleston closed out the set with a 5-1 run for the 25-15 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
The Cougars surged to the front early in Game 3 as they powered out to a 6-3 lead behind a pair of kills by sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.). Georgia Southern kept the game close as they stayed within four points and eventually narrowed the gap to 9-7 before back-to-back kills by Phillips made it 11-7.
Leading 13-10, Charleston took full control of the set as they exploded for seven straight points, four of them on kills, to blow the game wide open at 20-10. The Eagles managed a late9-4 run to close to within 24-19 before the Cougars locked up the 25-19 win in the game and a 3-0 victory in the match.
Freshman outside hitter Bethany Sanford led the way for Georgia Southern with a match-high tying 11 kills and added five digs while local product senior and setter Mae Chabra dished out a team-high 28 assists. Junior libero Cristin Haines led the defense with seven digs and freshman right side hitter Lauren Claybaugh posted a solid all-around performance with seven kills, three digs and two service aces.
For the Cougars, Dawley led the way with a match-high 35 assists and added four blocks and five digs while Emily Sawin drilled a match-high tying 11 kills to go along with nine digs. Ginny Phillips delivered her third straight 10-kill performance, and fifth double-digit outing of the year, along with a .615 hitting percentage and a match-high three service aces.
Defensively, freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a match-high 16 digs while freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) had a career-high eight blocks, three solo, along with nine kills and a .353 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Hayley Harrell (Charleston, S.C.) finished with a career-high 11 digs.
As a team, Charleston hit .341 on the night with 40 kills and connected at a .571 clip in the second set.
The Cougars improve to 3-0 in the Southern Conference and return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Davidson Wildcats in John Kresse Arena. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m.
NOTES
Following a 3-2 loss by previously unbeaten UNC Greensboro to Furman on Friday evening, the College of Charleston is one of only two teams in the Southern Conference with an unblemished record ... with 11 kills, Sawin has now posted double-digit kills in each of her last three matches ... she totaled 16 at Wofford and 15 against Furman ... Elyse Chubb set a new career-high with eight total blocks, surpassing her previous mark of seven accomplished on September 27 at Furman ... Chubb has totaled 15 blocks over her last two matches ... in the just released NCAA Volleyball RPI, the College of Charleston is the second highest rated Southern Conference team behind Samford at 59 ... the Cougars currently rank 99th out of 329 Division I schools.
Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? After being on the road for almost a month, the Chattanooga volleyball team returned to Maclellan Gym in style on Friday with a 3-1 victory over Appalachian State. Aurore Kullak led the Lady Mocs with a match-high 13 kills as UTC took the match, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-11. The Lady Mocs are now 7-10 on the season and 2-1 in Southern Conference play while the Mountaineers fall to 4-13 and 0-3 in conference action.
Along with Kullak, Courtney Barnes continued her red-hot play with 12 kills and a .458 hitting percentage, the highest of any UTC player all season. Jessica Scott and Ashley Yeager also pitched in with nine kills apiece. Cassie Conner led all players in the match with 49 assists, and Lara Newberry tied a season-high with 34 digs, a number she has reached in three straight matches. Newberry now sits only 45 digs away from breaking the NCAA mark for digs in a career.
Lauren Swecker and Maja Jechorek led Appalachian State with 11 kills apiece, while Charissa Clearman had a team-high 23 assists. Defensively, Appalachian State was led by Heather Kale with 21 digs.
In the first set, Appalachian State would start the match off with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Caroline Sedon kill. That would be the only time ASU would lead in the set however, as the Lady Mocs would quickly tie the match up with a kill of her own. Kullak led all players in the set with five kills as the Lady Mocs took the first set, 25-17.
The second set would begin with three straight points for the Lady Mocs as UTC jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Appalachian State would not back down however, as ASU would answer with three straight of its own to tie the set at three. The Lady Mocs would then go on several small runs only to see the Mountaineers fight back. Chattanooga would not trail in the set until the 16-16 mark, when ASU would take the one point advantage on an attack error by Laura Nethery. The Lady Mocs would fight back and would eventually tie the match back up at 19-apiece. From there, Chattanooga would not look back as it would take the 2-0 advantage with a 25-22 win.
The Lady Mocs continued its hot play in the match as the team began the third set with eight of the set’s first ten points as UTC jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. Appalachian State continued its scrappy play as the Mountaineers would quickly cut into the lead with three points of its own as the ASU would fight back to eventually cut the Lady Mocs’ lead to 13-10. Chattanooga would counterpunch with a huge 10-6 run that would seem to put the Lady Mocs on the verge of victory. That would not be the case however as Appalachian State would not allow another UTC point as ASU scored the set’s final nine points to stave off defeat as the Mountaineers shocked the Lady Mocs with a 25-23 win.
The fourth set would begin much like the third set ended for the Mountaineers as ASU would cap off an 11-0 run with the first two points of the set to take a 2-0 lead. The Lady Mocs would then answer in a big way as UTC would allow only nine more points in the set for ASU as the Lady Mocs took the fourth set convincingly 25-11. Fittingly, Courtney Barnes would end the match with her twelfth and final kill to give the Lady Mocs the 3-1 win.
The Lady Mocs will return to Maclellan Gym on Saturday as UTC will play host to Western Carolina (3-12/1-1). First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Furman 3, UNC Greensboro 2
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro was unable to withstand Furman’s rally as the Spartans fell to the Paladins 3-2 in Southern Conference action on Friday night at Fleming Gymnasium. Set scores were 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 16-18.
Junior Branagan Fuller posted a match-high 25 kills and added 17 digs. Sophomore Kimiko Naito had a career-high 36 assists. Junior Catherine Hanners recorded a match-high 21 digs.
The Paladins got 13 kills and 16 digs from Alison West. Alexis Shaffer hit a match-best .526 with 11 kills off 19 total attacks and one error, while Nicole Palazzo hit .375 with 12 kills off 32 total attacks with no errors.
Although Furman maintained the led throughout much of the first set, UNCG kept fighting back. The Spartans tied the set on six different occasions as the Paladins’ largest lead was three. With Furman up 16-15, West had back-to-back kills to make it 18-15. UNCG answered with three-straight points of its own to even the set. The teams exchanged points until kills from Fuller and sophomore Alissa Beaudway gave the Spartans a 22-21 lead. However, Furman used a three-point run to score four of the set’s final five points in order to win the set.
The Spartans rebounded in the second set. After Furman scored the set’s first point, UNCG had the next three to take the early 3-1 advantage. UNCG did not relinquish its lead during the set, using multiple runs to pull away from the Paladins. The Spartans eventually got its largest lead of the set as senior Kaitlyn Nortz had a kill to make it an eight-point, 16-8 set. Furman gradually trimmed UNCG’s lead half to make it 18-14, but a kill from sophomore Lisa Fawell and a Paladin miscue pushed the Spartans’ advantage to six. The teams traded points until Fawell notched the set-winning kill to even the match at 1-1.
Both teams battled for control throughout the first part of the third set as 12 ties and six lead changes occurred. It was not until midway through the set before the Spartans began to pull away. With Furman up 13-12, two kills from Nortz and an ace from Fuller allowed UNCG to take a 15-13 advantage. The Paladins pulled to within one off a Shaffer kill, but a Beaudway kill sparked a four-point run and made the score 19-14. UNCG eventually made it a six-point, 22-16 set as Furman had an attack error. The Paladins eventually pulled to within four, but the Spartans had three of the set’s final four points, including the set-winning kill from sophomore Billi Baker, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, UNCG had to contend with several Furman runs. The Paladins had a six-point run early in the set to hold a 6-1 advantage. Although UNCG eventually tied the set at 7-7 off an Emily Lindborg kill, the Paladins scored eight of the next nine points, using a pair of four-point runs to take a 15-8 advantage. UNCG eventually pulled to within four, but a block assist from West and Palazzo started another Paladin four-point run. Furman used that run to take a 22-16 advantage. However, with the score 24-19, sophomore Kayren Finney and freshman Clara Tse got back-to-back kills, but West tallied the set-winning kill for the Paladins to force a deciding fifth set.
Furman led by as many as six in the fifth set before the Spartans began to rally. UNCG cut the deficit down to three as freshman Luciana Shafer had a kill to make it 11-8 in favor of Furman. However, the Paladins eventually made it a 14-10 set as Katherine Hall and Palazzo combined for a block. With match-point on the line, UNCG scored the next four points to even the set. The Spartans got kills from Finney and Fuller, while two Paladin errors made it 14-14. The teams traded points until Furman got back-to-back kills from Shaffer and West in order to win the match.
UNCG is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 4 when the Spartans host Wofford at Fleming Gymnasium. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
AGATE
Furman def. UNCG 25-23,18-25,19-25,25-21,18-16
Furman (9-7, 2-1 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Alison West 13-0-6; Nicole Palazzo 12-0-8; Alexis Shaffer 11-0-6; Emily Harby 6-0-0; Katherine Hall 6-0-3; Kelly Kirby 6-2-2; Kelsey Salava 2-2-0; Carolyn Nicoletti 0-2-0; Totals 56-6-16.0. (Assists) - Kelsey Salava 49. (Dig leaders) - Carolyn Nicoletti 17; Alison West 16; Kelly Kirby 15; Brooke Ellison 13
UNCG (10-6, 2-1 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Branagan Fuller 25-2-2; Kayren Finney 14-0-3; Kaitlyn Nortz 9-1-3; Clara Tse 6-0-2; Alissa Beaudway 4-0-1; Billi Baker 3-0-2; Emily Lindborg 2-0-0; Lisa Fawell 2-0-0; Luciana Shafer 1-0-0; Catherine Hanners 0-4-0; Totals 66-7-6.5. (Assists) - Kimiko Naito 36; Lisa Fawell 20. (Dig leaders) ? Catherine Hanners 21; Branagan Fuller 17; Clara Tse 13; Lisa Fawell 9; Kimiko Naito 9