Elon 3, Wofford 2

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Wofford volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to the visiting Phoenix of Elon on Saturday night inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Elon took the match on set scores of 25-19, 18-25, 28-26, 29-31 and 15-13.

Wofford (15-15, 5-10 SoCon) fell behind early in set one by four but was able to get within one a 12-11 after a Joanna Suddath service ace. Elon responded by winning six of the next seven points to take a comfortable lead en route to taking the opening set.

Set two started off very similar, however the Terriers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. Wofford would continue to build on the lead throughout going up by as many as seven. The Phoenix made a late push at the end but the Terrier lead was never overtaken as they took set two to square the match.

Elon (18-13, 7-8 SoCon) would start off just like set one taking an early advantage in set three. Trailing 16-12, the Terriers were able to string together two extended runs to knot the set at 20. Both teams would continue to hold serve and fight off set points until Elon eventually put back-to-back points together to take the two set to one lead.

In set four, the Terriers jumped out to a commanding 14-7 margin and and continued to extend the lead. Trailing 24-20, Elon put together a four point run to even the set at 24. Once again, both teams battled back and forth holding serve until a kill by Lindsey Richardson set up set point for the Terriers in which Hughes capped off with another kill.

The fifth and deciding set stayed even until the score was tied at seven. With the score knotted, a questionable call awarded a point to Elon in which they would use to swing momentum.  Elon would create a 10-7 advantage but the Terriers responded winning the next five points to take a 12-11 edge. Tied at 13, back-to-back Elon kills gave the Phoenix the win.

The Terrier offense was led by Liz Sheets who hit .417 and tallied 12 kills and committed just two errors. Hughes had a match high 23 kills while Stacy Byrd and Richardson both reached double digits in kills with 18 and 15, respectively. Suddath also chipped in three kills to go along with 63 assists.

Brittany Thompson led the Terrier defense with 44 digs while Sheets added five total blocks. Four other Terriers reached double digits in digs with Byrd adding 18, Suddath 14, Hughes 14 and Carolyn Rivers 13

Caroline Lemke led the Phoenix offense with 22 kills while Emily Regan added 50 assists. On the defensive side, Lauren Copenhagen had 29 digs and Lizzie West added 24.

The Terriers will be back in action tomorrow against UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. inside the Benjamin Johnson arena. Prior to the match, the volleyball team will honor its four departing seniors.

UNC Greensboro 3, Furman 2

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Furman volleyball team fell to UNC Greensboro on Saturday in a thrilling five-set match.

After allowing UNC Greensboro to take the first two sets, Furman fought back to force a fifth and deciding game.

Although Furman out-hit the Spartans in the first set, the Paladins were unable to take the lead after an 8-7 lead early in the set, allowing Greensboro the 25-23 victory. The Spartans controlled much of set two, jumping out to an 11-6 lead and finishing the set by a score of 25-21.

The Paladins turned it around in the third set, taking a 7-3 lead and never allowing the Spartans to take the lead again, earning a 25-20 victory. The fourth set was even more decisive, with Furman tearing out of the gates to take a 17-5 lead, and finishing the set 25-18 to force a fifth set.

After two successful offensive sets, the Paladins failed to produce in the fifth set, combining for a -.045 team hitting percentage and only four kills. UNC Greensboro managed eight, enough to take the fifth and final set 15-9.

Greensboro was led by sophomore middle blocker Kayren Finney’s 15 kills and seven total blocks, while junior outside hitter Branagan Fuller added 10 kills and 13 digs. Libero Catherine Hanners led the team with 23 digs and middle blocker Alissa Beaudway also contributed seven total blocks to help the Spartans outblock the Paladins 15 to six.

Furman was led by senior Alison West, who recorded 18 kills and 10 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Sophomore Katherine Hall added 17 kills and middle blocker Nicole Palazzo tallied 11. Libero Carolyn Nicoletti recorded 22 digs and Kelly Kirby added 10 defensive saves. Junior setter Kelsey Salava ran the offense with 47 assists and added 4 kills and a .500 attack percentage.

With the loss, the Paladins fall to 15-13 on the season and 8-7 in Southern Conference play, while UNC Greensboro improves to 19-9 overall and 11-4 in the league. Furman will take the court again on Sunday in their final home match of the season. The Paladins will honor seniors Emily Harby, Pamela Gehrke, Nicole Palazzo and Alison West in their 4:00 p.m. matchup against Elon.

Samford 3, Western Carolina 0

CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina volleyball (6-23, 3-12 SoCon) fell 3-0 (19-25, 14-25, 12-25) to new Southern Conference member and league-leading Samford (25-3, 14-1 SoCon) Saturday in the Ramsey Center.

The Catamounts are still without the services of libero Liz Rondone who sat out due to an injury, but expect to have the junior back, on a limited bases, against Chattanooga on Sunday. The all-time leading digs leader in school history has been hampered by an injury the last two weeks forcing freshman middle blocker Carrie Minogue to play all the way around and play defense for the first time in her career.

“I think Carrie has done a phenomenal job playing all the way around,” said Head Coach Stephanie Dragan. “Because she has had to focus more on defense that has taken her out of the attack a bit in her middle blocker position but I think she has really stepped up her game.”

Western Carolina ran into the top team in the conference hosting Samford. The Catamounts ended the contest hitting .106 as a team while the Bulldogs hit a scorching .361. Both teams had 14 errors in the match but the difference was Samford had 44 kills and Western Carolina had 21.

Western Carolina hosts its final home match of the season welcoming SoCon rival Chattanooga at 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Center. It is also senior day and lone senior Liz McLauchlin will be honored prior to the match.

Davidson 3, The Citadel 0

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Led by sophomore Sarabeth Peele's game-high 14 kills, the Davidson women's volleyball team finished the weekend with a 1-1 mark after take a 3-0 home win over The Citadel Bulldogs on Saturday evening at John M. Belk Arena in Southern Conference action.

The set scores on the evening were 25-17, 28-26 and 25-15.

Davidson, which snapped a four-match losing streak, ran its overall mark 12-17 and 7-9 in league play. The home victory was the Wildcats' sixth of the season and improved to 20-1 all-time against The Citadel. Dropping its second straight 3-0 affair, the Bulldogs fell to 8-22 overall and 1-15 in SoCon action.

Peele finished the match with a .464 hitting percentage as she knocked down 14 of her 28 swings with only one attacking error. Right behind her was fellow classmate Jorden Benedict with nine kills and a .350 hitting percentage to guide the 'Cats to a .295 average as a team for the match (48-15-112).

Peele also played a big part defensively, digging out 10 would-be kills by the Bulldogs and coming up with four blocks, while Jennifer Chamblee led the defensive unit with a game-high 15 digs. Sophomore Hayley Lawson capped off a strong night from the sophomore class by setting up her teammates 94 times and earning 40 assists, to go along with a team-best three service aces.

Rachel Sanders of The Citadel led the Bulldog offense with 10 kills on 26 swings and picked up 10 digs. Setter Emily Hill had 28 of The Citadel's 32 assists and also added five digs.

Set one saw both teams go back-and-forth as there were six lead changes and 12 times in all. Knotted at 14-all, Davidson started to pull away with a 7-2 run, aided by five Bulldog errors. Back-to-back kills by senior Kittery Neale and two more attacking errors by the Bulldogs led the Wildcats to a 25-17 set one victory. Benedict and Neale combined for nine of the 'Cats 12 kills in set one.

Much was the same in set No. 2 as The Citadel and Davidson again traded points on its way to 11 ties and seven lead changes. The Bulldogs had two brief three-point leads, but the Wildcats came right back to tie things up at 10-all and 15-all each time.

Later, four straight Wildcat kills, three from Peele, gave the 'Cats a three-point advantage of their own at 20-17. Davidson would hold the lead until Rachel Sanders picked up two straight kills for the Bulldogs to tie things up again, this time at 23-23.

Both teams would trade leads until Peele picked up her eighth kill of the set for a 27-26 Wildcat lead. Anna Bradbury served the set-winner when The Citadel's Tatum Jestila hit an attacking attempt into the net, finishing the second set at 28-26 in favor of the Wildcats.

Peele knocked down eight of her 14 swings for a .571 hitting percentage in the set, and Davidson as a team put away 20 of its 48 swings (20-7-48) for a .271 mark.

Leading 8-7 in the third set, Davidson opened up a 13-point advantage on a 13-1 run, highlighted three Alison Dwyer kills and two more by Peele, along with a serve ace, for a 21-8 lead. Brittany Narr then finished off the 25-15 set-three win with three kills of her own as Davidson closed out the match on a Peele kill.

Davidson wraps up it regular season with two home matches next weekend, starting with a 7 p.m. contest against the Wofford Terriers on Friday, Nov. 14. Davidson and Wofford will be battling it out for a spot in the SoCon Tournament, Nov. 21-23. Closing out the four-match home slate will then be a 2 p.m. Senior Day affair against Furman on Sunday.

Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 1

BOONE, N.C. - Seniors Carla Durham and Charissa Clearman provided strong performances on Saturday's Senior Night but Appalachian State University volleyball fell in four sets to Chattanooga, 25-22, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-16.

Durham crushed 12 kills and swatted four of the team's nine blocks while Clearman set 36 assists with seven digs, two kills and a block.

After a close start in the opening set, the Lady Mocs (16-13, 11-4 SoCon) used a small run to take a 10-6 lead. The Mountaineers (6-23, 2-13) powered back to take a three-point lead at 16-13. The teams found themselves knotted up at 20-20 before UTC rattled off five of the next seven points in the 25-22 win.

Durham was matched by junior Maja Jechorek with four kills in the set as ASU had a three-kill advantage in the statsbut had just one block and no aces to Chattanooga's three blocks and two aces. Jechorek closed out the night with a match-high 14 kills to go along with 12 digs and an assist.

Jechorek's six second-set kills helped the Apps to an early three-point lead. The Lady Mocs broke a 9-9 tie with a 4-1 run and extended the lead to 20-15 before the Mountaineers made a late run. It would be too little too late as UTC took a 2-0 lead into the intermission with the 25-21 victory.

Clearman picked up both of her kills and 10 of her assists in the third set as ASU regained momentum. The teams traded small leads early in the set but after a 12-12 tie the Apps would not trail again en route to a 25-22 triumph.

The fourth set was all Chattanooga, however, as the Apps had only nine kills and a negative hitting percentage. UTC won each of the first six points of the match before ASU got rolling. Durham was the bright spot of the set for the Mountaineers, as she recorded a pair of blocks and four kills. ASU pulled within three points on two occasions but could not muster any more of a comeback in the 25-16 setback.

Heather Kale led three Mountaineers with double-figure digs as the libero had 16. Kale also accounted for both of ASU's service aces in the match. Cassie Engelgau had 12 digs in the contest. Caroline Sedon was efficient at the net as the middle blocker pounded out 11 kills and three blocks. Becca Norris also had a strong match with eight kills, four digs and a team-high six blocks.

Sunday marks the final home match of the season for Appalachian, as the team hosts SoCon North leader Samford at 2 p.m. The match will mark the final one in Boone for Durham and Clearman, who have won more than 70 percent of their matches in the Holmes Center over the past four seasons.