Samford 3, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Samford University volleyball team defeated Wofford Saturday in five-set nail-biter on the road. The Bulldogs won the first, fourth and fifth sets and while Wofford grabbed the second and third. Samford improves to 14-10 overall and 8-2 in the Southern Conference while Wofford falls to 16-9 overall and 3-6 in league play.
"What we showed today was resiliency and that's what a team needs to win tough matches like that," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Thing may not have gone our way every time but we were able to look at the situation and see what we could do to make something happen, and then do it. Tomorrow will be two giants from the conference slugging it out tomorrow. We are going to have to bring a lot more tomorrow than we did today."
Sheriden Stangohr matched a career-high in kills against the Terriers with 21, hitting .311 while grabbing three block assists and one block solo. She also added two aces and three digs. Rachel Gadberry notched a team-high .625 hitting percentage, knocking down 11 kill on 16 attempts with one error. She also added two block assists, two digs and one assist. Allie Bettinger posted her seventh double-double on the year with 17 kills and 19 digs with one ace. Elizabeth Neisler also had 11 kills while grabbing four digs and four block assists.
Hillary Fountain posted her fifth double-double of the season, dishing out 47 assists and 18 digs while also posting seven kills and two block assists. Casey Garvey also posted her first double-double with 12 assists and 17digs with three aces. Alexis Bauer added 18 digs, five assists and one ace while Alicia Roth posted her first career kill along with six digs and two assists. Shelby Brandon grabbed three kills and one dig while Katie Luckman had two kill, one dig and one block assist.
The Bulldogs will face off with conference unbeaten Furman Sunday at 1 p.m. Video streaming is accessible through links at www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and results will available upon completion of the match.
Samford 3, Wofford 2
Samford jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead due to four errors by Wofford and a kill by Bettinger, but the Terriers answered back with four straight points to cut the lead to one. However, Samford rallied back to push the gap back out to six on kill by Stangohr and Bettinger and a couple of Terrier errors. Wofford fought to get within four but Samford maintained its six-point lead one a block by Neisler and Gadberry, a couple of kills by Stangohr and a kill by Bettinger to force Wofford to burn its last timeout. Samford then went on a 9-5 run to win the first set, 25-18.
After a long rally, Samford finally won the first point of the second set on a kill by Luckman. A block by Stangohr put the Bulldogs up by two but Wofford answered back with a kill to cut Samford's lead in half. A Terrier service error put Samford back up by two but Wofford knocked down three straight points to take a one-point lead. It was a back-and-forth game from then on, with Wofford going up by one and Samford coming back to tie the score at each point. The Terriers finally took over by two at 14-12, forcing Samford to take its first timeout of the set.
With a 4-1 run out of the break, Wofford went ahead by four and held that lead before Samford would come back to cut the lead to three and call its last timeout with the Terriers leading, 22-19. After a Samford error, the Bulldogs cut the lead to one on a Wofford service error and a service ace by Garvey. Wofford called a timeout but Samford answered back and tied the score at 24 on kills by Stangohr and Fountain. The score was tied a 25 and 26 but Wofford was able to put away the second set, 28-26, on a kill and an ace.
Both teams traded kills to start the third set before Wofford went on a 6-4 run to take a three-point lead. The Terriers maintained that lead until Samford put together a 5-1 run to tie the score at 13. Wofford called a timeout and came back out with a 7-3 run to go ahead by four before Samford called a timeout. The Bulldogs then answered with three straight points on a kill by Neisler, a Wofford error and an ace by Garvey to get within one before the Terriers called a timeout.
Garvey served up another ace out of the time out to tie the score at 20 before the Terriers came up with a block to go back ahead by one. However, Samford went on a 3-1 run to take a one-point lead on kill by Neisler, Stangohr and Gadberry. Wofford answered back with a 3-1 run of their own, though, to go ahead by one, 25-24, and with another ace closed out the fourth game, winning 26-24.
The Bulldogs jumped out to 2-0 lead at the top of the fourth set before Wofford got on the board with a kill. Samford then tacked on four straight points to go ahead by six followed by a 7-4 run to push the lead to seven and force Wofford to call a timeout. Samford continued to fight, pushing its lead out to eight but Wofford put together a run to get within five and force Samford to call a timeout. The Bulldogs committed an error out of the break but Gadberry answered back with a kill to maintain Samford's five-point lead. With the score at 20-16, each team traded four points, but Samford had the advantage and would win set four, 25-19, to send the game in a tie-breaker fifth set.
Samford opened the final set with a block by Stangohr and Neisler followed by an ace by Bauer. Wofford got on the board with a block but Fountain tacked on two more kills for the Bulldogs to go ahead by three. Samford then went on a 4-3 run to push its lead to four before the switching of sides. After the switch, Wofford went on a 3-0 run to get within three but the Bulldogs responded with a kill by Brandon and a block by Neisler and Gadberry to go ahead by five and force a Wofford timeout.
Wofford cut the lead to three out of the timeout but a kill by Stangohr to widen the gap to four had Wofford wanting a timeout. The Terriers scored three straight to force Samford to take a timeout. After the Bulldogs' timeout, each team traded points, but the Terriers were within one. After Samford burned its last timeout with the score at 14-13 in the Bulldogs' favor, a block by Stangohr and Fountain sealed the deal and Samford won the fifth and final set, 15-13.
Furman 3, Chattanooga 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team was unable to give Furman (17-3, 9-0) its first Southern Conference loss as the squad dropped the match 3-0. The Lady Mocs were led by sophomore outside hitter Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) with eight kills, while adding five digs.
At least one kill was recorded by each player who played for Chattanooga (11-11, 3-7 SoCon) except for freshman libero Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.), who led the match defensively with 12 digs.
Freshmen middle blocker Christina Teter (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and defensive specialist Dakota Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) registered their first collegiate kills, while Davis also added her first two assists with the Lady Mocs.
Junior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) recorded six kills and freshman outside hitter Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas) notched five kills on the afternoon. Three Lady Mocs, freshman Heather Parman (Chattanooga, Tenn.), sophomores Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio, Texas) and Jessica Scott (Lawrence, Kan.), each added two kills.
The Lady Mocs played well in the first set out-hitting the Paladins at .237 with 12 kills and only three errors, but were unable to make up for the 16 kills that Furman recorded. Chattanooga rallied from down 17-12 to come within two points at 20-18, but Furman put an end to the effort scoring the next five points taking the set, 25-18.
In the closest set of the match, Chattanooga once again would come from behind down 19-11 and get within three at 22-19. The Paladins continued their consistent play notching a 25-21 win after registering 15 kills and a .286 hitting percentage, while the Lady Mocs committed eight costly errors.
Furman came out in the third set and hit .344 on 16 kills showing why they have won their first nine SoCon matches of the season. Chattanooga was unable to generate a consistent offensive effort in the third only coming up with six kills. The Lady Mocs return to action Sunday at 2 p.m. when they travel to Wofford.
Then during Blue-Gold week, Chattanooga hosts Kennesaw State for the squad's annual "Dig for the Cure" match on Wednesday. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Maclellan Gym and the match also serves as the 2009 UTC volleyball camp reunion day, where the team will sign autographs following the final set.
College of Charleston 3, UNC Greensboro 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) led three Cougars in double-digit kills with a career-high 17 along with six blocks while junior setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) notched a match-high 48 assists as the College of Charleston (11-10, 7-2) snapped UNC Greensboro's (13-10, 6-3) seven-match winning streak with a 3-2 victory Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference volleyball match. CofC earned the victory by scores of 25-13, 21-25, 25-17, 19-25 and 15-13.
Trailing 2-1 in the match, UNC Greensboro rallied for a 25-19 win in Game 4 to setup a decisive fifth set with the College of Charleston. Having finished the previous set with four straight points, the Spartans continued their strong play at the start the final set as they took a commanding 5-2 lead. It would be short lived, however, as the Cougars responded with a 4-0 run, all on UNCG errors, to take a 6-5 lead.
The teams would trade points over the next three rallies before UNC Greensboro notched a 9-7 advantage on a pair of Cougars errors. A pair of kills and a service ace then helped fuel a 4-0 run that vaulted the College of Charleston ahead with an 11-9 lead. Unwilling to go quietly, the Spartans forced back-to-back errors to tie the frame at 11-11.
A kill by sophomore middle blocker Sarah Havel (Carmel, Ind.) gave CofC back the lead at 12-11 but it would not last long as a service error and a kill by junior outside hitter Caley Redden gave UNCG a 13-12 lead. It would be their last as three straight kills, including consecutive by Chubb, put the set, and the match, away at 15-13.
Earlier in the match the College of Charleston dominated play as they claimed a 25-13 first set victory behind a 10-1 run in the middle of the frame before the Spartans battled back from a 19-14 deficit in Game 2 to tie the score at 20-20 and pull out a 25-21 match-evening victory. The Cougars regained the lead when they took the third set, 25-17, with a 12-5 run to close out the frame.
After battling through a number of early ties in Game 4, UNC Greensboro fought off a College of Charleston rally that left the score at 21-18 before forcing a decisive fifth set by scoring four of the final five points for a 25-19 victory.
Redden led the way for the Spartans with a team-high 12 kills while senior libero Catherine Hanners and senior defensive specialist Kayleigh Knerr led the defense with 19 and 18 digs, respectively. Junior outside hitter Billi Baker contributed on both sides of the ball with five kills six digs and four blocks while senior middle blocker Emily Lindborg finished with eight kills and a match-high seven blocks. Junior middle blocker added Kayren Finney five blocks on the day.
The College of Charleston was led offensively by Elyse Chubb who finished with a career-high 17 kills behind a .533 hitting percentage and added six blocks while Cole Dawley dished out 48 assists and also contributed nine digs. Junior right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.), coming off of her first career Southern Conference Player of the Week award finished with 11 kills, 14 digs and three blocks while Sarah Havel added 11 kills. Junior libero Paige Johnson (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) led the defense as she posted a career-high 25 digs to break her previous mark of 22 set against Furman on October 4.
The Cougars return to action tomorrow when they wrap up their weekend set with a 2 p.m. match with Elon (18-4, 5-3).
NOTES
The Cougars' victory snaps UNC Greensboro's seven-match winning streak which had included six straight against Southern Conference opponents ... Chubb's previous career-high in kills was 13 set earlier this year at Georgia Southern on October 10 ... Paige Johnson's 25 digs represents the third time this season she has broken her career-mark.
Georgia Southern 3, Appalachian State 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - Improving to 10-1 inside Hanner Fieldhouse while snapping an overall two-match skid, the Georgia Southern volleyball team handled the Appalachian State Mountaineers Saturday afternoon (October 24) with ease. The three-set sweep pushed the Eagles to 16-8 overall and 6-3 against Southern Conference opponents, while ASU fell to 9-14, 5-4.
Holding the Mountaineers to a dismal .072 attack percentage for the match, the Eagles were led by Lauren Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) and Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.), who posted a combined 19 kills. Sophomore Claybaugh registered 10 kills on only two errors, hitting .333, while freshman Bellissimo added nine kills, striking .227 from the floor.
Pacing the hitters, freshman setter Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) racked up a match-high 30 assists in the three sets, while senior libero Cristin Haines toned the defense with 17 digs. Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) added 14 digs in the winning effort as Van Dyke picked up 11.
Maja Jechorek led ASU with eight kills on 29 attempts, while Kasey Sauls tallied 23 assists. Picking up a team-high 10 digs, Cassie Engelgau led the defensive end for the Mountaineers.
"I thought we played a well-rounded match, limiting our errors and executing our initial game plan for the match," said head coach Chad Calliahn. "I thought Moriah [Bellissimo] did a nice job having just switched positions. It was nice to see the level of consistency she played with coming in to a new position."
A tight battle ensued in the opening set as both teams kept the set score close. ASU quickly capitalized on two attack errors from the Eagles to take a 2-0 advantage, but a pair of Mountaineer errors erased Georgia Southern's deficit. ASU pulled out with the lead, holding a slight advantage until consecutive Eagle kills from Bellissimo and Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) knotted the score at 10-apiece. A service ace on behalf of Haines pushed the Eagles into the lead as Georgia Southern pulled away from ASU. At 19-16, Bellissimo's third kill of the set succeeded by an ASU error forced the Mountaineers to call a timeout at 21-16. ASU closed the gap to within three points at 23-20 before a bad set by Maggie Seeds gave the Eagles match point. The Mountaineers fought off two Georgia Southern match points before Claybaugh closed out the opening set, 25-22, with her fifth kill of the stanza.
A pair of service errors opened the second set before Georgia Southern took control. Both teams exchanged leads before Claybaugh tied the set at 5-all, giving the Eagles their final lead of the stanza. Georgia Southern slowly pulled away from ASU taking advantage of 10 Mountaineer errors, while committing only two itself. Leading by as many as 10 at 20-10, the Eagles closed out the set on a Claybaugh kill, taking a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Neither team held more than a three-point lead to begin the third set as the Mountaineers crawled from behind to tie the score at 8-all. Sanford put the Eagles on top before consecutive Jechorek kills set the score at 10-apiece. Before the Eagles took the final match lead, the teams tied the score twice following 10-all. At 18-16 Georgia Southern, six consecutive Mountaineer errors gave the Eagles match point at 24-16. Becca Norris registered a kill for the Mountaineers before Claybaugh finalized the match for the Eagles at 25-17, securing the win.
The Eagles have a quick turnaround playing host to Western Carolina on Sunday, October 25. Match time is slated for 2 p.m.
Elon 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Elon volleyball team kept its winning-streak in tact with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20) win over The Citadel in Southern Conference volleyball action. With the win, Elon has won its last four matches and tied the Division I record for wins, set last season, at 19. Elon has just four losses this year and owns a 6-3 record in league play. The Citadel dropped to 0-8 in the SoCon and 4-20 overall.
"I thought (Emily) Regan did a nice job of running a balanced offense today," head coach Mary Tendler said. "Our offense played a little better than our defense did today, but hopefully we can pick it up on defense tomorrow."
Traci Stewart led the Phoenix offensive attack with 10 kills in 18 attempts and two errors for an attack percentage of .444. Caroline Lemke totaled nine kills in the win, followed by Lauren Copenhagen with eight. Emily Regan paced the offense, which hit .302 as a team, with 29 assists.
Sarah Schermerhorn led the Elon defense with four total blocks. Copenhagen and Lemke finished with two block assists each.
The Citadel's Tatum Jestila recorded a match-high 12 kills, followed by Blaine McAllister with nine. Five Bulldogs tallied one block.
Elon raced out to a 10-4 lead that forced The Citadel to burn a timeout. Back-to-back blocks allowed the Phoenix to maintain its lead at 14-6. The Citadel fought back to within four at 20-16 following a pair of Bulldog kills. Consecutive kills by The Citadel made it a four-point game at 24-20, but a kill by Schermerhorn on the next play put the first set away 25-20.
On the serve of Regan, Elon opened set two with a 5-1 lead. The Citadel scored five consecutive points to take its first lead of the match at 12-11. Elon answered with kills by Lemke, Stewart and Copenhagen that allowed the Phoenix to take a 15-13 lead. Elon maintained its lead until a kill by The Citadel's McAllister tied the set at 19. The teams tied three times before a Stewart kill and a service ace by West sealed the set for the Phoenix, 25-23.
Elon fell behind at the opening of the third set until a kill by Copenhagen sparked a 9-1 run that allowed the Phoenix to take an 18-13 lead. During the run, Lemke tallied three kills, while Schermerhorn and Regan each recorded a service ace. A kill by The Citadel's Jessica Maxwell made it a four-point set at 21-17. An attack error by Elon brought the score to within two at 23-21, with kills by Schermerhorn and Copenhagen sealed the 25-20 win.
The Phoenix continues its road trip tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m when it takes on the College of Charleston. Full coverage of the match will be available at www.elonphoenix.com.