College of Charleston 3, Wofford 0

 

CHARLESTON, S.C.. - Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) dished out a match-high 24 assists and freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) finished with eight kills and a career-high nine blocks as the College of Charleston (18-6, 11-1) earned its sixth straight victory with a 3-0 victory over Wofford (14-13, 4-8) Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference match in Charleston, S.C. The Cougars took the match by scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-19.

                                 

Charleston took charge early as three kills each by sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) and sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) helped fuel a dominant 11-0 run to start Game 1. Following back-to-back points by the Terriers to break up the streak and make it 11-2, the Cougars quickly responded with another six straight points to push their lead to a commanding 17-2. They would maintain a double-digit advantage the rest of the way as they snuffed out a late rally to take the set 25-13 and go up 1-0 in the match.

 

The Cougars again jumped out to an early lead in the second game, this time 3-0, but it would be a different story as the Terriers kept the set much closer and battled back to trail 8-5. Another 3-0 run that featured a kill by Phillips and a pair of service aces from Dawley then extended the lead to 11-5. With the score at 16-11, a 5-1 Cougar run that saw five different players notch kills stretched the advantage to 21-12 before Charleston closed out the set at 25-17 on another Phillips kill.

 

Up 2-0 in the match, the Cougars scored the first six points of Game 3 off of Wofford attack errors before a pair of kills by Russell helped push the lead to 9-1. Three straight Terrier points then narrowed the gap to 9-4. With the score at 11-5, Charleston used a 7-1 run that included five straight points to take a commanding 18-6 lead.

 

Leading 20-9, the Cougars withstood a furious rally by Wofford that featured an 8-1 run that made the score 21-17. The Terriers would get no closer as CofC maintained their four-point lead at 23-19 before a pair of kills by junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) and Phillips put the game, and the match, away at 25-19.

 

Sophomore outside hitter Stacy Byrd led the way for Wofford with a team-high eight kills while junior outside hitter Shanna Hughes finished with seven kills and six digs. Junior setter Joanna Suddath set up the offense as she totaled 20 assists on the day while senior libero Brittany Thompson led the defense with a team-high 12 digs. Senior defensive specialist Carolyn Rivers chipped in with six digs. As a team, the Terriers hit .037.

 

Whitney Russell’s 10 kills led the offensive attack for the College of Charleston while Elyse Chubb tallied eight kills and recorded a career-high and team season-high nine blocks. Ginny Phillips tied her career-high with six blocks and added seven kills and four digs while Emily Sawin finished with six kills, 10 digs and two blocks.

 

Cole Dawley posted a match-high 24 assists to go along with six kills, four digs, three blocks and a .750 hitting percentage. Freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the defense with a match-high 15 digs. It is the 15th time in her last 16 matches that she has reached double-digits.

 

As a team, the Cougars hit .309 for the match and connected at a .344 clip in Game 1 and .385 in Game 2. Defensively, Charleston limited the Terriers to a -.051 hitting percentage in the first set and a -.30 mark in the final set.

 

The Cougars return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host Furman at 2:00 p.m. in the John Kresse Arena.

 

NOTES

The College of Charleston has now won the past 23 meetings with Wofford, dating back to October 25, 1998 ... they lead the all-time series 25-1 ... Elyse Chubb’s nine blocks represent a career-high and tie the Cougars season-best mark of nine set by Sarah Havel against UNC Greensboro on October 12.

 

 

Chattanooga 3, Davidson 1

 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? In its second-to-last home game of the season, the Chattanooga volleyball team defeated Davidson 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 27-25) Saturday, avenging a 3-2 loss to the Wildcats (11-15, 6-7 Southern) earlier this year.

 

Aurore Kullak had a career day for the Lady Mocs (14-13, 9-4 Southern) as the sophomore posted her fifth double-double of the season with career-high tying 15 kills and 14 digs. The Beloeil, Belgium native also posted a career-best .343 hitting percentage in the victory.

 

“That was a huge win for us,” Head Coach Lisa Rhodes said. “We need to keep taking care of business at home and hopefully we will come back tomorrow and close out our home schedule with a win.”

 

Courtney Barnes eclipsed the double-digit mark in kills for the second time in three games with 10, while senior Laura Nethery finished the match with nine. Michaela Huff led the Lady Mocs in assists with 38 and Lara Newberry led the team with 29 digs.

 

For the Wildcats, Sarabeth Peele led all players with 21 kills and had a .415 hitting percentage. Hayley Lawson had a match-high 43 assists and Jennifer Chamblee led the match with 30 digs in the loss for Davidson.

 

The Lady Mocs were able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the match thanks to capturing the first set 25-22. Both teams had opportunities to win the opening set as the two squads held leads late in the match. Kullak finished off the opening frame with one of her three kills to give the Lady Mocs the 1-0 advantage.

 

The second set was close through the early stages as both teams fought to an 11-11 tie. From that point however, the Lady Mocs would take control of the set and go on a 14-5 run to put UTC up 2-0 going into the locker rooms.

 

After Davidson staved off the 3-0 defeat with a 25-18 win in the third set, the Lady Mocs were finally able to put the Wildcats away in the fourth set by edging out a 27-25 victory.

 

With her 29 digs on the afternoon, Lara Newberry surpassed 3,000 digs for her career. The senior now sits at 3,201 in her career and is the NCAA record holder for both digs in a season and a career (942).

 

The Lady Mocs will wrap up the home portion of its schedule Sunday against Georgia Southern. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. from Maclellan Gym. The Lady Mocs’ three seniors: Michaela Huff, Laura Nethery, and Lara Newberry will be recognized for their service to both the university and the volleyball program Sunday in observance of Senior Day.

 

 

Samford 3, Georgia Southern 0

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team extended its home win streak to 11 Saturday night when it swept Georgia Southern at the Pete Hanna Center. The match was the second to last match at home for the Bulldogs, and the win lifts Samford to a 12-1 record in the Southern Conference.

 

Samford (23-3, 12-1 SoCon) struggled in the first two sets hitting only .229 and .129, respectively, in each set while keeping Georgia Southern (14-14, 7-6 SoCon) to .189 and .108. The Bulldogs challenged themselves to get back to the basics of what their team is all about ? focused, alert, determined, execute ? and bounced back to hit .500 in the third set and hold their opponents to .000.

 

“We have reached a point in our season where complacency is a big enemy,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “Games one and two tonight were not a focused, alert, determined typical Samford team. I am very happy that after being challenged between games two and three, we responded with a very determined and relentless 25 points in game three.”

Ashley Adams and Sheriden Stangohr led the Bulldogs in hitting this evening. Adams knocked down 11 kills while hitting .409 and Stangohr posted seven kills with no errors and hit .538. Adams also posted five digs, one ace, two assists and three block assists. Stangohr added one ace, two digs and two block assists.

 

Hillary Fountain grabbed three kills along with 29 assists, two digs and one block assists. Courtney led the defense, grabbing 10 digs and grabbing one assist. Kirstein Sosnowski had seven kills with on e block assist while Sara Sears had five kills and two digs.

 

Rachel Gadberry led the Bulldogs in blocks, posted three block assists and one block solo while also knocking down three kills. Samantha Bland had nine digs, one kill, one assist and one ace while Sarah Gardner added seven digs, four aces and one assist.

 

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set on kills by Stangohr and Fountain, a service ace by Stangohr and a Georgia Southern error. However, the Eagles came back to tie the score at five on four Samford errors and an ace. GSU then took over by three after another Bulldog error and then a block and kill of their own. Samford fought back to tie the score at 10 with an ace by Bland and go ahead by two with kills by Stangohr and Bland.

 

Several times the Eagles got within one point but the Bulldogs kept a two point lead until Georgia Southern called a timeout. Out of the break, a kill got the Eagles back within one and a Samford error tied the score at 16. Twice more the score was tied but back-to-back kills by Stangohr moved Samford ahead by two before Georgia Southern called another timeout. The Bulldogs then went on a 5-2 run to go ahead by five and a kill by Adams closed out the 25-20 win for Samford in the first set.

 

A block by Adams and Gadberry got Samford on the board first in set two but an attack error by Sosnowski got the Eagles right into the game. A kill by Adams put the Bulldogs back up by one but GSU answered right back to tie the score and two errors and block soon moved the Eagles ahead by three. A service error by Georgia Southern pulled the Bulldogs within two but a service error by Gay and a kill gave GSU a four-point advantage. However, three consecutive error moved Samford within one and a couple more errors by the Eagles tied the score at nine.

 

Fighting through five more ties, the Bulldogs gain the advantage on a service error by the Eagles and went ahead by one on a kill by Adams. GSU kept it a score game tying the score several times, but Samford would not relinquish the lead. With the score at 22-19, the Eagles took a timeout but Samford would only allow Georgia Southern two more points and went on to win the second set, 25-21.

 

A service ace gave Georgia Southern the first point of the third set but Samford answered back with four consecutive kills by Sears, Stangohr and Fountain to go ahead by three. Samford was soon ahead by four and kept that lead for a while before the Eagles fought back to tie the score at 10. However, the Bulldogs would not give up their lead and scored four straight points again on an Eagle error, an ace by Gardner and two blocks by Stangohr and Adams.

 

After Georgia Southern called a timeout, the Bulldogs scored five straight points to take nine point lead. With Sarah Gardner serving all seven points, an Eagle attack error was followed by back-to-back aces by Gardner and another attack error by GSU. A kill by the Eagles cut the lead to eight but Adams answered back with a kill to push it back out to nine. Georgia Southern took another timeout but a 5-3 run by the Bulldogs put the Bulldogs ahead by 10 and Samford took the third set win, 25-15.

 

The Bulldogs will play their final match at home Sunday as they host the Davidson Wildcats. Match play will begin at 2 p.m., in the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs will honor their five senior prior to first serve. Admission is free and a full recap and results can be found at www.samfordsports.com.

 

 

Furman 3, The Citadel 0

 

Charleston, S.C. ? The Bulldog Volleyball team (8-18, 1-11 Southern) dropped a 3-0 decision Saturday night to the Paladins of Furman (14-11, 7-5 Southern). The Paladins took the match with scores of 25-20, 25-12 and 25-16. Rachel Sanders and Jessica Maas led the Bulldogs on offense, while Tatum Jestila and Ashley Winter led the Bulldog defense.

 

Sanders led the team with nine kills, while Maas recorded six kills. Emily Hill contributed 18 assists on offense. Jestila led the team on defense with 13 digs, while Winter recorded 11 digs. Blaine McAllister and Amanda Beal each tallied two block assists for four of the Bulldogs’ six blocks.

 

“I thought we played well and fought hard in the first set,” said Head Coach Carolyn Geiger. “We weren’t able to keep that momentum in the second and third sets. We still need to work through the frustrations that will inevitably come.”

 

Furman overpowered the Bulldogs on offense and defense, recording a .363 hitting percentage with two players tallying double-digit kills. Nicole Palazzo and Alexis Shaffer led the Paladins’ offense with Kelsey Salava contributing 38 assists. Defensively, the Paladins recorded 52 digs and eight blocks, with two being solo blocks.

 

The first set was a head-to-head matchup with both teams showing confidence on defense. Neither team could manage to find their offense, with both teams hitting a little over .100. Furman struck first, scoring the first two points of the set. A kill by McAllister put the Bulldogs on the board. The Paladins were ahead for the majority of the set with five tie scores and only two lead changes, where the Bulldogs’ only lead came at 4-3 before a ball handling error by McAllister tied the set back up. The Paladins jumped ahead with a kill by Alison West and never allowed the Bulldogs a chance to take control. The Citadel dropped the first set, 25-20.

 

In the second set, the Paladins struck first once again, but the Bulldogs quickly tied the score 1-1 with a kill from Beal. A 3-0 run by the Paladins put Furman up 4-1 until a service error would push the Bulldogs within two points. A 1-1 tie was the only tie of the set with the Bulldogs trailing the entire set. The smallest deficit for the Bulldogs was 4-2, but they never managed to get within a point since they trailed 2-1. Furman dominated on offense, pounding a .750 hitting percentage with 16 kills on 20 total attacks. Furman took the set, 25-12.

 

The third set started out just like the previous two with the Paladins getting on the scoreboard first. Furman started the set with a 3-0 run before a kill by Maas slowed the Paladins down and put the Bulldogs on the board. The Bulldogs scored back-to-back points before the Paladins struck again. The Citadel managed to hang with the Paladins with six tie scores, but they were unable to jump in front. Furman’s defense never allowed the Bulldogs to take the lead with the last tie being 13-13. Once again, the Paladins overpowered the Bulldogs on offense, shooting a .467 with 16 kills on 30 total attacks. The Citadel fell, 25-16.

 

“We are young and talented, but we have to support one another and learn to persevere in the end,” said Geiger. “It’s about setting both personal and team goals and working towards achieving those goals, one step at a time and one point at a time.”

 

The Bulldogs are back in action on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. when they host the Terriers of Wofford at McAlister Field House. Live statistics and a live video stream will be available. Match statistics and a match recap will be available immediately following the match.

 

 

UNC Greensboro 3, Appalachian State 0

 

GREENSBORO, NC ? Kayren Finney had a match-high 13 kills and Catherine Hanners had 15 digs and four aces as UNC Greensboro swept Appalachian State in three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-14, in Southern Conference volleyball action Saturday evening.

 

The Spartans hit .237 for the match to earn the victory. UNCG (16-9, 8-4 SoCon) swept the regular season meetings from Appalachian State for the first time since 1995.

 

In the opening set, the Spartans used an 8-4 run to extend a 12-10 advantage to 20-14. Finney capped off the run with her sixth kill of the set, forcing the Mountaineers to call a timeout. Appalachian State, however, could not close the gap to less than four.

 

In the second, the Mountaineers (5-22, 1-12) scored six of the first eight points and jumped out to a 10-5 lead. But UNCG came roaring back with an 11-4 run to take the lead. It remained a tight match through 20-20. However, the Spartans scored the last five points, capped off by a Branagan Fuller kill, to win the second set.

 

UNCG closed it out with a dominating performance in the third, limiting the Mountaineers to just four kills. Three straight aces by Hanners gave the Spartans a 4-0 lead. A kill by Alissa Beaudway ran the lead to 10-3 before Appalachian State put together a spurt to get back in it. Consecutive attack errors by the Spartans gave Appalachian State an 11-7 lead. The margin was still four at 14-10 when UNCG scored eight of the next 10 points, capped off by Kayleigh Knerr’s service ace. UNCG coasted home from there, closing it out with a kill by Emily Lindborg.

 

The Spartans return to action Sunday when they host Western Carolina at 12 noon.

 

AGATE

 

UNCG def. Appalachian State 25-19,25-20,25-14

 

Appalachian State (5-22, 1-12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Maja Jechorek 6-0-0; Maggie Seeds 5-0-2; Becca Norris 4-0-1; Caroline Sedon 4-0-1; Lauren Swecker 3-0-3; Charissa Clearman 1-1-0; Carla Durham 0-0-4; Cassie Engelgau 0-1-0; Totals 23-2-6.0. (Assists) - Charissa Clearman 10; Kasey Sauls 10. (Dig leaders) - Charissa Clearman 9; Heather Kale 9

 

UNCG (16-9, 8-4) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kayren Finney 13-0-1; Kaitlyn Nortz 8-0-3; Branagan Fuller 5-0-2; Caley Redden 4-0-0; Alissa Beaudway 4-0-2; Billi Baker 2-0-1; Emily Lindborg 2-0-0; Kimiko Naito 1-0-0; Lisa Fawell 1-1-0; Kayleigh Knerr 0-1-0; Catherine Hanners 0-4-0; Totals 40-6-5.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 17; Kimiko Naito 13. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 15; Caley Redden 8

 

 

Elon 3, Western Carolina 1

 

ELON, N.C. ? Sarah Schermerhorn and Traci Stewart each posted 16 kills to lead the Elon volleyball squad to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Western Carolina Catamounts. Elon took the first two sets before the Lady Catamounts claimed the third set. Elon fought back to earn the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.

 

Elon moved to 17-12 overall and 6-7 in Southern Conference play while Western Carolina falls to 6-20 overall and 3-9 in the league.

 

Elon set the tone early, scoring seven of the opening 10 points of set one. The Lady Catamounts pulled within three at the 10-7 mark off a kill by Carrie Minogue. Elon put together two three-point runs, highlighted by three kills by Mandy Wilson, to take a 19-12 lead. The Phoenix scored the final four points, capped off by a service ace by Kelley Blakewood to take set one 25-13.

 

The Lady Catamounts took an early 3-0 lead in the second set before Elon tied the game at four on a kill by Schermerhorn. Western Carolina scored the next three points to again take the lead by three, 7-4. But Elon scored six of the next seven points to go ahead 10-8 on a kill from Caroline Lemke. Elon extended its lead to 17-10 on a service ace from Blakewood before the Catamounts fought back to within four at 17-13. Elon pushed the lead back to seven at 24-17 before WCU scored four points to cut the lead to 24-21. Elon closed the game at 25-21 on a kill by Wilson.

 

The Phoenix jumped to an 8-0 lead behind Blakewood's serve to start the third set. In that run, Elon got kills from Lauren Copenhagen, Schermerhorn and three from Stewart along with a Schermerhorn and Stewart block. Western Carolina then used a 9-3 run to close the gap to just two at 11-9. Elon scored the next two points to push the lead back to four at 13-9 before the Lady Catamounts battled to knot the game at 18 on a block by Brittany Lysik and Rebecca Stoltz. After a 19-19 tie, Amanda Kerr posted back-to-back kills to give WCU the lead 21-19. The Catamounts would hold onto the advantage for the remainder of the set and close the game 25-22 on a kill by Kerr.

 

The fourth set saw 12 ties and five lead changes. The teams battled to a 6-6 tie before Elon posted the next two points to take an 8-6 lead. The Catamounts knotted the score at 10-10 on a service ace by Katie Hennessey and then took a 11-10 lead. The teams then knotted the score at 11 and at 12 before WCU went ahead 14-12. Elon tied the score at 14 and the teams knotted up again at 15, 16, 18 and 19. Coming out of a 19-19 tie, Elon scored the next five points - behind two Copenhagen kills, a service ace from Blakewood, a block by Copenhagen and Schermerhorn and a kill by Stewart. The Catamounts earned a point on a Minogue kill at 24-20 before Elon closed the game 25-20 on a kill from Schermerhorn.

 

Schermerhorn set a new career best with her 16 kills while Stewart tied her career high with 16 kills. Emily Regan posted a career-best 52 assists while also tallying three service aces and six digs. Wilson added 11 kills while Copenhagen posted nine kills and 11 digs and Lemke recorded eight kills. Blakewood paced the defense with 15 digs along with four aces.

 

Kerr led the Lady Catamounts with 11 kills along with nine digs. Minogue posted nine kills and lead the team with 14 digs while Lysik added eight kills and seven digs. Hennessey registered 33 assists and 12 digs along with two service aces.

 

Elon returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 5 in a 7 p.m. match at neighboring UNC Greensboro.