Furman 3, Western Carolina 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Paladin volleyball team improved to 4-1 in the Southern Conference with a 3-0 sweep of Western Carolina on Wednesday.
After allowing the Catamounts to take a 7-5 lead in the first set, the Paladins went on a five-point run to take the 10-7 lead. Furman went on to score 15 of the next 21 points to take the first set 25-13.
Furman led by as many as nine points in the second set, and seemed to have the set in the bag, up 24-15, before Western Carolina fended off six game points to narrow the lead to 24-21. Furman finished the set with a score of 25-21 off a kill by Katherine Hall.
In the third set, Furman jumped to a 12-4 lead and never slowed down, taking the third set 25-14.
Western Carolina was led by Brittany Lysik’s eight kills. Liz Rondone and Katie Hennessey led the Catamounts with 11 digs each.
Furman’s Alison West recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore Katherine Hall led the team with 13 kills, and freshman Alexis Shaffer added 9 kills off 17 attempts for a .529 hitting percentage. Shaffer also led the net defense with six total blocks. Libero Brooke Ellison tallied 15 digs to lead the defense.
With the win, Furman improves to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Conference while Western Carolina falls to 3-15 on the season and 1-4 in the league. The Paladins will travel to Birmingham, Ala. and Chattanooga, Tenn. this weekend to take on Samford on Saturday and Chattanooga on Sunday.
Samford 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ---- The Samford University volleyball team grabbed its 12th consecutive win on Wednesday at Chattanooga. The Bulldogs took the match in three straight games (25-15, 27-25, 25-19). Samford is now 16-2 overall, 5-0 in SoCon play, and continues its longest win streak in Samford history, while Chattanooga falls to 8-11, 3-2 SoCon.
The Bulldogs ran away with the first set, but Chattanooga fought hard in the final two sets, making Samford work for the win.
“We came into a hornet’s nest tonight,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “UTC, behind their libero, playing inspired volleyball, defensively.”
Chattanooga’s libero Lara Newberry broke the NCAA all-time record for digs in set two of the match, notching 2,799 digs. However, Samford libero Courtney Gay outdug Newberry, 24-23.
“I’m very proud of Courtney Gay, who led the way for our defense to match theirs and then out offense tipped the scales,” Schroeder said.
In set one, Adams put Samford on the board with a kill. Chattanooga evened the score but, Adams answered back with another kill. A UTC error and an ace by Fountain gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead but soon the Mocs evened the score. Both teams fought through two more ties before Samford took a four-point on kills by Sears, Fountain and Stangohr and an ace by Bland. The Mocs climbed back within two but the Bulldogs soon pulled out to a nine-point lead. UTC called a timeout but Samford was not done as they led by as much a 12 in the final third of the set and went on to win, 25-15.
Chattanooga grabbed the first two points of the second set, but Sears knocked down a kill to get Samford on the board and Stangohr and Fountain blocked a ball to tie up the score. Back-to-back aces by Gardner and a block by Stangohr and Fountain gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead and soon Samford was up by four. The Mocs fought back to tie the score but Samford pulled ahead again by four points. After a UTC timeout, the Mocs climbed back within one point before Samford called its own timeout. The Mocs tied it up on the next point after the timeout and it was a back-and-fourth game for the duration of the set. With the score tied at 24, Samford called another timeout to talk things over. UTC took a brief lead but Adams tied things up with a kill and Sosnowski got the lead back for the Bulldogs. A UTC error was committed on the next point and Samford won set two, 27-25.
Two kills by Gadberry and Adams gave Samford the early two-point lead in set three. A Samford error gave the Mocs their first point but the Mocs returned the favor by adding a third point to Samford’s tally. A kill by UTC cut the lead to one but a UTC error gave Samford another two-point lead. The Mocs grabbed two more points to tie it up and soon grabbed another two-point lead. With a kill by Sears and an ace by Gardner the Bulldogs tied the score at seven and took over by two on kills by Stangohr and Adams. UTC tied the score again and went ahead by two before Samford tied the score again. The Bulldogs soon went up by three and then went ahead by six, winning the third set, 25-19.
Gay added one assist to her 24 digs while Adams led the Bulldogs offensively, knocking down 20 kills and hitting .359 while having five digs. Stangohr and Sears both posted seven kills. Stangohr also had three two digs and five block assists while Sears added one dig and one block solo. Kirstein Sosnowski knocked down eight kills with one block solo, and Samantha Bland grabbed 10 digs and three aces. Hillary Fountain dished out 43 assists while grabbing one kill, three aces and four block assists. Rachel Gadberry had three kills while Sarah Gardner dug five balls and serve three aces.
The Bulldogs will be back at home at the Pete Hanna Center this weekend, Oct. 11-12, as they host two more Southern Conference foes. Samford will meet up with Furman at 7 p.m. on Saturday night after the Samford football game against Appalachian State. The Bulldogs will then wrapped up weekend play with a 2 p.m. match with Wofford on Sunday.
Elon 3, UNC Greensboro 2
ELON, N.C. ? With fans clad in pink for the second annual Dig For the Cure match, the Elon volleyball team posted a 3-2 (27-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-11) victory over the UNC Greensboro Spartans in SoCon volleyball action at Alumni Gym Wednesday night. The team improves to 14-7 on the year, including a 3-2 mark in league play. Following the loss, UNCG drops to 11-8 and 3-2 in the conference.
Set one saw 12 ties and four lead changes before Elon won 27-25. The teams kept the set close in the with neither team gaining more than a three point lead. Consecutive service aces by UNCG’s Lisa Fawell gave the Spartans a 6-3 lead. The teams battled hard, with neither team gaining more than a two-point lead over the next several possessions. The Phoenix scored four straight behind the service of Traci Stewart to take a 19-17 lead. Elon would hold the lead until a kill by Branagan Fuller tied the set at 23, forcing an Elon timeout. The teams tied at 24 and again at 25 until Elon scored the final two points off of blocks by Mandy Wilson and Stewart.
UNCG jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, but the Phoenix fought back to within three at the 7-10 mark. UNCG strung together three two-point runs that extended its lead to 17-12. Elon brought the set to within four at the 17-21 mark, but UNCG scored the final four points to take set two 25-19.
The Spartans continued their momentum as the team built a 4-2 lead at the start of the third set. Elon fought back and tied the set at six off a Wilson kill. The team tied three more times before Elon took advantage of Spartan miscues and grabbed a 17-13 lead. UNCG battled back and tied the set at 22. The Spartans grabbed the final two points of the set and won 25-23.
The teams kept set four close at the beginning tying three times, until Elon took its largest lead of the set at the 16-10 mark behind the service of Kelley Blakewood. UNCG would not give up, coming within four at the 16-12 mark. Elon kept its lead for the remainder of set three, scoring the final four points, including the last two off a Blakewood service ace and a Wilson kill.
The Phoenix dominated the fifth and deciding set of the match. The team took a 7-1 lead off of four straight blocks by Stewart, Sarah Schermerhorn, and Wilson. The Spartans slowly fought back to within four at the 12-8 mark, but would ultimately come up short as Elon took the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.
Elon had four players with double-digit kills against Greensboro. Caroline Lemke and Wilson each had 15, while Schermerhorn had 11 and Stewart added 10. Lemke connected on 15-of-29, committing just two errors, for an attack percentage of .414. Regan paced the offensive explosion with a match-high 41 assists. The team also had four service aces. As a team, Elon posted an attack percentage of.369 over the five sets.
Blakewood led the team in digs with 18. Lauren Copenhagen and Stewart also notched double-digit digs with 12 and 10, respectively. Stewart’s eight total blocks tied her career-best and also led the team. Wilson was in on five blocks, while Schermerhorn tallied six.
Fuller led the Spartans with 22 kills, with Kaitlyn Nortz adding 10. Kimiko Naito and Fawell split time at setter, recording 24 and 18 assists. The team notched an impressive 12 service aces, led by Catherine Hanners with six.
Kayren Finney, Billi Baker, and Nortz led the team in blocks with three each. Hanners also had 16 digs in the effort.
Elon concludes its homestand this weekend as they host The Citadel on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. and the College of Charleston Monday at 5 p.m. Full coverage, including live stats and video streaming, of both matches will be available at www.elonphoenix.com.
College of Charleston 3, The Citadel 0
Charleston, S.C. ? The Bulldogs (6-11, 0-5 Southern) dropped a 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 19-25) decision to the College of Charleston (12-5, 5-0 Southern) Wednesday night during the first night of the 2008 Dig for the Cure campaign. The Citadel, dressed in pink socks and pink ribbons to support breast cancer research, lost a hard fought battle to the Cougars.
“While it’s always tough to swallow a cross town rivalry loss, the way our girls fought and hung tough in all three sets and never backed down against a proven College of Charleston team made me proud,” said Head Coach Carolyn Geiger.
Tatum Jestila earned her sixth double-double performance of the season, leading the team in kills and digs. Jestila recorded 11 kills and 16 digs. Rachel Sanders and Alyssa Holum recorded double-digit digs. Sanders tallied 10 digs, while Holum recorded 11. The Bulldogs recorded 55 digs on the night.
In the first set, the Bulldogs recorded 11 kills on 37 total attacks. Blaine McAllister and Jessica Maas each recorded a block assist, making up two of the Bulldogs’ four total block assists. McAllister led the way for the Bulldogs with three kills, while Jestila led the defensive efforts of the Bulldogs with six of her 16 digs. The Citadel fell behind from the beginning but fought hard and tied the set twice, but were unable to take the lead in the set. The Bulldogs fell, 25-19.
The Bulldogs had a much better performance in the second set, hitting a .229 hitting percentage with 15 kills on 48 total attacks. Maas led the Bulldogs on offense with 5 kills, while Jestila led on the defensive end with seven digs. McAllister and Amanda Beal each recorded a block assist.
The second set was one of the best performances the Bulldogs had ever put on against the Cougars, holding them to a .273 hitting percentage. The Citadel took control from the first serve.
The Cougars tied the set up at 7-7 and took the lead for one point before the Bulldogs grabbed a hold of the set once more. The Bulldogs were ahead until the Cougars tied the match up at 19-19. The set became a back and forth battle between both teams with two lead changes after the 19-19 tie. An attack error by Maas would give the Cougars the set at 25-22.
The Citadel recorded a hitting percentage of .239 in the third set with Jestila leading the way with five kills. Sanders led the defensive side for the Bulldogs with seven digs. In the beginning, both teams went back and forth between points, but at 2-2, the Bulldogs took control. A kill by Elyse Chubb would tie the set at 10-10, but the Bulldogs did not quit, fighting for a spot in history and their first conference win.
A kill by Cole Dawley would tie the set at 16-16, but two other ties would take over before the Cougars finally took control. An attack error by Maas gave the Cougars the momentum they needed, taking control and finishing the set off, not allowing another lead change. College of Charleston took the set and the match with a 25-19 victory.
“The confidence from a performance like this will carry us through our North Carolina road trips this weekend,” said Geiger.
The Citadel Volleyball team will be back in action this weekend when they travel to North Carolina to take on UNC Greensboro and Elon. The Bulldogs will face the Spartans of UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2:00 p.m. They will then face the Phoenix of Elon on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1:00 p.m.
For more information on Bulldog Volleyball, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at
www.CitadelSports.com.