Furman 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Terriers battled against Furman in Southern Conference volleyball action on Wednesday night, but fell in four sets (25-22, 16-25, 20-25, 19-25). Despite earning a win in the first set, Wofford could not overcome the current SoCon South Division leaders.
Wofford came out strong, controlling most of the first set. The Terriers took an early 9-4 lead, capitalizing on several Furman attack errors. Wofford was able to maintain the advantage, keeping the Paladins in a three to four-point deficit until a Wofford attack error put Furman within two points at 17-15. The Terriers earned the side out immediately, pushing their lead to 18-15, but a 4-1 run by the Paladins tied the score at 19. The Terriers held on, however to take the first set 25-22.
The tables turned in the second set, with Furman claiming an early lead at 5-2. Wofford regrouped to tie the score at five, but the Paladins responded with a quick kill to take the advantage again. The Paladins would not fall behind for the remainder of the set, steadily building their lead to a 25-16 victory.
Furman continued to carry the momentum into the third set, jumping out to an early 6-0 advantage behind strong serving from freshman Natalie Braun. A Paladin error gave the Terriers their first point of the set, but Furman responded with a kill to claim the serve and a 7-1 lead. The Paladins led by as many as 11 at 15-4, but the Terriers continued to fight, bring the score to a more manageable four-point deficit at 16-20. The Paladin advantage proved too large to overcome, however, and the Paladins took a 2-1 match lead by a score of 25-20 in the third set.
The fourth set was the closest of the match, with eight tied scores, all eight occurring in the first half of the set. The teams notched their last tie at 11, and Furman took advantage of a few Terrier miscues to record a 4-0 run and take the largest lead of the set thus far at 15-11. Wofford battled, but was not able to overcome the deficit, falling 25-19 in the fourth set.
Freshman Chandler Ambrester led the Paladins with 21 kills. Fellow freshman Caroline Adams added 10 kills and seven total blocks for Furman, while sophomore Carolyn Nicoletti anchored the floor defense with 28 digs. Three other Paladins notched double-digit digs with Natalie Braun contributing 19 and setter Kelsey Salava and defensive specialist Brooke Ellison adding 15 each. Salava recorded a double-double with 41 assists.
The Terriers were led by senior Shanna Hughes' 10 kills and 14 digs, her eighth double-double of the season. Setter Joanna Suddath also recorded a double-double with 26 assists and 14 digs. Libero Sarah Palmer paced the team with 25 defensive saves, one shy of her career high, while junior Stacy Byrd added 18 and notched seven total blocks. Freshman Arden Anderson led the team with eight total blocks, setting a career high and tying for third in the Wofford four-set match records.
With the loss, Wofford falls to 17-13 overall and 4-10 in the Southern Conference. Furman improves to 23-3 on the season and 14-0 in league play, while also claiming the SoCon regular season championship and the right to host the 2009 Southern Conference tournament. The Terriers will face College of Charleston on Friday, November 13. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Appalachian State 3, UNC Greensboro 2
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball continued with its impressive play Wednesday evening as the Mountaineers rallied after falling behind one set and after facing a three point deficit in the fifth set, to earn a thrilling 3-2 win over SoCon North Division foe UNCG at the Holmes Center. The win avenged a 3-0 loss to the Spartans from earlier in the season and moved the Apps one step closer to qualifying for the SoCon Tournament. The victory also improved the Black and Gold to 13-16 on the season and 9-6 in league play, while UNCG fell to 16-14 overall and 8-7 in the SoCon.
After the match was knotted at two sets apiece, Appalachian found itself behind 8-5 in a must-win fifth set. Despite the three point deficit, the Apps did not panic, as a Becca Norris solo block, a Norris kill and a Kasey Sauls kill tied the set at eight all.
The set was tied on six more occassions, before a Kelly Rhein kill earned ASU the 16-15 advantage. To put the icing on the cake for senior Maja Jechorek, she slammed home the set and match-winning kill to give the Mountaineers the 17-15 fifth set and 3-2 match win.
Jechorek totaled a career and match-high 28 kills on the season along with tying a career-high 17 digs. The 28 kills tied the Poland native for ninth on the individual match records list in the category.
Appalachian began the match on a strong note, jumping out to a commanding 6-2 first set lead with freshman Meghann Forshey pacing the Apps attack. Forshey tallied three of ASU's first seven points.
Despite the lead for ASU, the two teams battled back and forth, and the set was tied for the final time at the 14 all mark before the Spartans began to pull away.
A 6-1 UNCG run put the Spartans up 20-15.
Jechorek and Forshey continued their offensive assault and tried to even the set once more, but their efforts were not enough as the Apps dropped the first set 25-21.
It was all ASU in second set play, as the Mountaineers came out on fire, jumping out to a 12-3 advantage. Forshey scored six of ASU's first 12 points and Jechorek, Kelly Rhein and Caroline Sedon got in on the action as well.
Forshey finished the night with a career-high 18 kills, hitting a stout .371 on the evening.
UNCG tried to comeback, but never pulled within closer than seven points and Appalachian rolled to a 25-15 second set victory.
Forshey continued her dominance in the third set action, as she helped the Black and Gold earn a 6-2 lead. A Kayren Finney kill pulled the Spartans within one point at the 8-7 mark but that would be as close as the score would get for UNCG.
A Sedon and Jechorek block assist along with a Sedon solo block earned ASU a 22-16 advantage. Appalachian would not relinquish its lead as both Jechorek and Forshey recorded two more kills to lead ASU to a 25-19 third set victory.
Sedon also had a record night, posting a career-high seven solo blocks to go along with four block assists. The seven solo blocks moves Sedon into tied for fifth on the solo blocks individual match records list.
Fourth set action was highly contested as well as it saw the scored tied eight times and four lead changes.
Unfortunately for the Black and Gold the final lead change was in UNCG's favor, as a Kimiko Naito kill and ASU blocking error earned UNCG the 22-20 advantage. UNCG would score three more points to knotch a 25-20 fourth set win, pushing the match to a fifth set.
After knotting the fifth set at 15 all, ASU was able to eek out the nail-biting 17-15 fifth set victory.
Appalachian looks to carry its momentum into another must-win match, Saturday November 14, as the Mountaineers host Elon at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center. The winner earns a coveted spot into the 2009 Southern Conference tournament. The contest will also serve as Senior Night, for seniors Cassie Engelgau, Maja Jechorek and Becca Norris. The three seniors will be honored in a senior night presentation before the match.
The Citadel 3, South Carolina State 1
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team completed the home portion of their 2009 schedule win a 3-1 victory over South Carolina State by scores of 25-17, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-13. The tandem of Tatum Jestila and Blaine McAllister proved to be the deciding factor, finishing with 17 and 11 kills respectfully, giving the Bulldogs a 55-40 advantage in kills.
"This was a great ending to the home portion of the schedule," said head coach Carolyn Geiger. "We had trouble with them earlier in the season, due mainly to their team athleticism. Tonight we served well and took them out of their system. Individually, Tatum showed came through with her usual consistency. I was most impressed with Shannon (Frain), who stepped up in critical points and did a tremendous job terminating their attacks. Hopefully we can take this momentum into this weekend for our last two conference matches."
Jestila, who added 21 digs to her performance, now has 13 double-doubles on the season. She also finished with a .333 hitting percentage. Teammate Shannon Frain, who converted seven kills in 16 attacks, finished with a .375 hitting percentage against the in-state rival Bulldogs. McAllister was a key contributor in the service game, served for five of the last six decisive points in the match. She forced two attack errors that stretched the lead to 24-13. Kathryn Johnston gave the team a defensive lift with 12 digs, helping The Citadel to improve to 8-23 on the season. As a unit, the Bulldogs finished with a .215 hitting percentage, including edges in digs (56-44) and service aces (6-3).
The bright spot for South Carolina State (13-18) was Jarne Gleaton. Gleaton finished the match with 17 kills and six digs. She was the only player to reach double-figures up front for the Bulldogs. Teammate Lauren Harris anchored the back row with 11 digs, while Bria Brimmer added nine and Brendell Studnicka chipped in eight. For the 10th time this season, and second in as many games, The Citadel held an opponent under .200 in hitting percentage. South Carolina State finished with a .142 hitting percentage in the contest.
The Citadel finishes the 2009 season with a pair of road contests at Wofford and Furman. The Bulldogs meet Wofford on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., followed by a match with the Paladins at 2 p.m. on the following afternoon.