Georgia Southern 3, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Bethany Sanford recorded 12 kills to lead the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-15) win over the Davidson Wildcats in both team's Southern Conference opener on Wednesday night at Belk Arena.
With the loss, Davidson falls to 4-9 overall and 0-1 in league action, while Georgia Southern moves to 7-8 and 1-0 in conference play.
Davidson was led by senior middle blocker Kittery Neale, who contributed 12 kills, hit .333 (12-4-24) and paced the defense with seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Sarabeth Peele had 10 kills, the only other player in double figures, and freshman Madison Benedict added nine kills and a block to the effort.
For the Eagles, Christy Dowd (8 kills) and Michelle Uzoh (7) complemented Sanford, as the Eagles hit .330 as a team. Parker Small and Hannah Nelson each had four blocks, while Blaire Brueggemeyer led all players with 15 digs.
Neale earned the first point of the match, on a putaway from sophomore setter Hayley Lawson, and the 'Cats jumped out to an early 7-3 lead.
Freshman Christine Perzinski posted her first of five kills in the match, and Lawson aced her serve to push Davidson's lead to 10-5. The Eagles put together a 7-4 run to knot the score at 14 on a Wildcat hitting error, but the 'Cats regained the lead in the next possession on a putaway from Perzinski. The teams would trade points for the next two possessions and be tied as late as 20-20. The Eagles would win the next four straight, on kills from Sarah Gildersleeve and Uzoh, before Dowd lifted her team to a 25-21 comeback win.
The second set was a similar story, though it was the Eagles who took the early, slight lead, 9-6. The 'Cats used a 4-1 run, punctuated by Neale, to knot the score at 10, but the Eagles took four straight points and a 15-11 lead. After a couple of timeouts, the Wildcats stayed in the game, as a kill from Peele evened play at 23-23. Hannah Nelson would win the Eagles a set-point opportunity, but a service error from teammate Brueggemeyer forced the extra possessions with the score tied at 24. Uzoh posted back-to-back kills to capture the 26-24 win and give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage in the match.
In the final set, Georgia Southern took a 9-2 lead and turned in into a 25-15 win for the match. Davidson will return to action on Saturday, hosting the newest member of the league, Samford, in a 2 p.m. match. The 'Cats will then host SoCon rival Chattanooga the following afternoon at 2 p.m.
Wofford 3, Winston-Salem State 0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- The Wofford volleyball team picked up another road win Wednesday night with a 3-0 win in Winston-Salem, N.C., over the home standing Lady Rams of Winston-Salem State. The Terriers took down the Lady Rams 25-20, 25-14 and 25-8.
In set one, the Terriers and Lady Rams battled back and forth with neither team able to break away. With the score tied at 18 Wofford scored four straight points capped off by two Lindsey Richardson kills to create separation and take a one set lead.
The second set started off similar to the first as neither team was able to get in front early. However, two extended runs by the Terriers, one being six points and the other being eight, broke open the set and made way for a 2-0 lead. In set three Wofford (10-5) took control early and held the Lady Rams to a -.083 hitting percentage en route to the match.
Senior Liz Sheets led the Terrier attack with a .467 hitting percentage tallying seven kills with zero errors on 15 attacks. Shanna Hughes chipped in 9 kills while Richardson and Stacy Byrd also added seven apiece. Setter Joanna Suddath totaled 30 assists.
Wofford's defense held the Lady Rams to a negative hitting percentage in sets two and three and held them to a .013 percentage for the match. Libero Brittany Thompson led the defensive efforts tallying 15 digs while Anna Gustafson added two blocking assists.
Annika Barnwell and Ashley Harris led the Lady Rams in kills with eight and five, respectively. Alexandria Brown and Valentina Pushkina both reached double digits in digs with 14 and ten to anchor the Winston-Salem State defense (1-9).
Wofford will open conference play this weekend as they play host to College of Charleston Friday night at 7 p.m. and The Citadel Saturday night at 6 p.m in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Both matches will be streamed live on "TerrierVision." For more information on "TerrierVision" visit athletics.wofford.edu.
UNC Greensboro 3, Appalachian State 1
BOONE, N.C. - After dominating the first set, Appalachian State University volleyball saw the next three slip away as UNC Greensboro won the first Southern Conference match of the season for both teams, 17-25, 29-27, 25-16, 27-25, at the Holmes Center on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers (4-11, 0-1 SoCon) opened the first set with strong fundamentals as the team did not commit a hitting error in its first 21 attacks. The Apps hit .333 in the set (13 kills-3 errors in 30 attacks) en route to a 25-17 win. Jordan Jesberg posted six kills in 11 attempts in the opener and finished the night as the team's leader with 13 in the match. She hit .140 and added eight digs and an ace.
Heather Kale was a large part of the early success and closed out the night with three aces and 12 digs. Cassie Engelgau also posted three aces to go along with eight digs and a pair of assists. Carla Durham had a strong presence at the net with 10 kills and five blocks.
Kale served Appalachian to a 5-0 lead in the second before the Spartans rallied and eventually tied the score at 9-9 before ASU regained the advantage by as many as five points three times later in the set. UNCG (9-5, 1-0) came back again to tie the score with 19 points each before taking the next three points. The teams tied five more times before Greensboro came away with a 29-27 win to tie the match 1-1.
After the break, both teams played even and split the first 30 points of the third set evenly before the Spartans won the next eight points and took a 25-16 win. The Apps hit just .032 in the set with Caroline Sedon leading the team with three kills in the third. Sedon had eight kills on the night with just two errors and got in on three of ASU's nine blocks.
The fourth set saw extra points again, as ASU trailed by as many as five points before fending off a pair of match points to tie the set at 24-24 with a kill by Lauren Swecker. Swecker would add one more to tie the score one last time but Kaitlyn Nortz put down the final three Greensboro kills of the night to give the Spartans the set, 27-25.
Swecker had eight kills, 11 digs, a pair of blocks and two aces for the night. The Mountaineers served up nine aces compared to just one for the visitors. Nortz was joined by Branagan Fuller as UNCG players with double-figure kills.
Freshman Kasey Sauls collected a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs to go along with four kills. It was the first regular season win for UNCG in the series against ASU since the 200 season, a string of 15-straight Appalachian wins. The Spartans hold a two-match winning streak against the Apps in the postseason.
The Mountaineers host Elon on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Southern Conference play continues. Admission is free for all fans.
Elon 3, High Point 2
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon volleyball team posted a thrilling 3-2 (27-25, 25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 15-9) victory over High Point Wednesday night in Alumni Gym that ended the Panther’s winning streak at eight matches. The win improves Elon’s record to 11-5, and 2-0 in five set matches, this season, while High Point drops to 10-3.
High Point jumped out to a 9-5 lead after Elon scored three of the first five points of the first set. Elon pulled back within two at the 12-10 mark off a kill by Traci Stewart. A kill by Lauren Copenhagen tied the set at 16 and forced High Point to call its first timeout of the set. Elon grabbed a 20-18 lead before back-to-back Panther points tied the set at 20. The teams would tie four more times before consecutive Elon points by Stewart and Mandy Wilson sealed set one for the Phoenix, 27-25.
The teams tied seven times in the opening 14 possessions to being set two. With the score deadlocked at seven, Elon rallied for a four-point run that gave the Phoenix an 11-7 lead. An attack error by Copenhagen tied the set for the eighth time at 12. Elon regained a 17-13 after a kill by Kelley Blakewood sparked Elon to score five of the next six points. HPU battled back to tie the second set at 18. The teams tied four more times before a bad set by HPU’s Tara Lott gave Elon a 25-23 win in set two.
High Point scored the opening point of set three before Elon tied the set at four. The Panthers strung together an eight point run behind the serving of Kristina Taylor to gain a 13-5 lead. A HPU attack error ended the streak. Elon brought the set within six, but could not find an answer as the Panthers forced a fourth set with a 25-13 win.
Elon answered in set four by jumping out to an early 8-2 lead. The Panthers fought back to bring the set within two at the 14-12 mark. High Point took the lead for the first time in set four at the 18-17 off a kill by Stephanie Wallin. Elon scored just three more points as HPU took the set 24-20 to forced a fifth and final set.
The Phoenix dominated the final set of the match, scoring six of the first nine points. High Point cut the score in half at 8-4, but Elon answered with a Blakewood kill to maintain a 9-4 lead that caused the Panthers to use a timeout. Following the timeout, the Phoenix scored five of the next eight point to gain a 13-8 lead. High Point would score just once more, before a kill be Caroline Lemke sealed the set 15-9 and the match 3-2.
Stewart posted a double-double in the win with 16 kills to go along with her 13 digs. Also recording double-digit kills was Lemke with 10. Mandy Wilson earned nine kills in the offensive attack, while Copenhagen and Blakewood recorded eight and six kills, respectively. Serving as the team’s setter was freshman Megan McMahon who led the team in assists with 36, one shy of her career best.
The Phoenix defense that held High Point to a .190 attack percentage, posted 16 blocks. Lemke led the way with one solo and four block assists. Stewart recorded four assisted blocks. Adding to the total was Blakewood, Copenhagen, and McMahon with two each and Wilson with one. For Phoenix players earned double-digit kills with Blakewood and McMahon leading the way with 20 each. Lizzie West turned in 15, while Stewart added 13.
High Point had three players with double-digit kills in Lindsay Raus (18), Wallin (14), and Audie Gonzalez and Ashley Mellot with 13 each. The offensive effort was paced by Taylor who recorded a match-high 56 assists. The team also recorded eight service aces, led by Raus with three.
Lott led the defense with one solo block to go along with her two assisted blocks. Mellott added two assisted blocks in the effort. The team have five double-digit dig performances, led by Julie Hershkowitz with 27. Gonzalez with 14, Tara Dyer and Lauren Hatch with 13 each, and Taylor with 11 followed her total.
Elon will return to action Saturday, September 27 when they travel to Boone, N.C. to take on Appalachian State at 4 p.m. for the conference opener. Live stats and full results of that match will be available at www.elonphoenix.com .