Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team was stout on defense today giving the offense plenty of opportunities in a sweep over Western Carolina, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 28-26). Three Lady Mocs junior Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) and sophomores Ellie Kuhn (San Antonio, Texas) and Laura Brock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recorded at least 10 kills improving the squad to 12-15, 4-10 SoCon, while the Catamounts fell to 3-24, 0-13.
"Cassie (Conner) was very strong on defense," said head coach Lisa Rhodes. "I think that was huge. Paula (Passmore) had a nice match for us. Then, Meagan (Ernd) on the outside came up with some great digs and swings. It was important to win in three as we will have a lot of time to rest and prepare for Appalachian State."
The Lady Mocs dug up 75 attacks with freshman libero Paula Passmore (Merritt Island, Fla.) leading the match with 28. Freshman outside hitter Meagan Ernd (Munster, Ind.) registered a season-high 18 digs, while senior Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill.) added 11 to the defensive effort.
Middle blockers Barnes and Kuhn dominated the net recording 13 and 11 kills, respectively, and the two combined for only a single error. Kuhn recorded three block assists, which jumps her to third in block assists with 96 this season. The record is an even 100 set by Heather Gibson in 1991.
With 10 kills, Brock led the outside hitters and added six digs, while Ernd generated eight kills with many of them coming at opportune times.
Not only was Conner tremendous defensively, but she paced the Lady Mocs with 20 assists. Chastain helped to anchor the team's 6-2 offense adding 19 assists.
"We served tough. We had more aces then them, which was nice to see," said Rhodes. "Even when we did not get aces, I think we took them out of their system. It created more opportunities for our defense."
In the first set, Chattanooga hit an impressive .366 with 17 kills and two errors. The Lady Mocs used 11 kills by middle blockers, while Kuhn had seven of them. The first 21 points were split between the two squad, but Chattanooga took a commanding 19-13 lead after a 6-1 run and finished with a 25-20 victory.
Carrying the momentum from the first, the Lady Mocs continued hitting smartly at .303. The squad totaled 13 kills on only three errors and took advantage of seven Catamount mistakes. Already leading 12-8, Chattanooga went on a 7-0 run and eventually took the set, 25-15.
Coming out of the break, the team played through a couple of rough stretches and pulled out a 28-26 victory, where it seemed Western Carolina would not go down without a fight. The Lady Mocs committed 11 errors, but were able to overcome them by totaling 17 kills.
Chattanooga welcomes Appalachian State Sunday for Senior Day at 2 p.m. Before the match, the squads only senior Cassie Conner will be honored. The Lady Mocs close the regular season on Nov. 14 at Davidson.
Elon 3, Wofford 0
ELON, N.C. - Jessica Barrow and Mandy Wilson finished with seven and four kills, respectively, while fellow senior Emily Regan paced the Elon offense with a match-high 23 assists as the Elon volleyball team defeated Wofford 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-21) on Senior Day. The win moves Phoenix into sole possession of second-place in the Southern Conference North Division with a 9-5 conference record. The team improves to 22-6 on the season, while Wofford drops to 17-11 overall and 4-8 in the SoCon.
"It was good to play well and get a win on Senior Day," head coach Mary Tendler said. "The great thing about our team is that we have different players step up in each match. We had success with a new lineup today because we are such a balanced team."
Caroline Lemke led the team with 11 kills, while Sarah Schermerhorn went seven-for-10 with two errors for an attack percentage of .500. Defensively, Wilson led the charge with four block assists. Lemke added one solo and two assisted blocks in the win.
Wofford's Shanna Hughes led the Terriers with eight kills followed by Stacy Byrd with seven. Arden Anderson finished with three block assists, while Joanna Suddath earned two.
Elon opened the first set with a 7-3 lead before a pair of kills by Hughes allowed the Terriers to come to within one at 7-6. Lemke and Wilson notched consecutive kills for the Phoenix to give Elon a 9-6 lead. Elon made it a five-point advantage at 15-10 on a kill by Barrow. Elon scored the next four points, including three on consecutive aces by Wilson, to extend its lead to 23-13. Two errors by Wofford allowed Elon to win set one, 25-15.
The Phoenix used the serve of Regan to take a 7-1 lead in the opening possessions of the second set. Wofford made it a three-point set at 7-3 before a Schermerhorn kill ended the Terrier run. A kill by Lemke sparked a 4-0 run that put the Phoenix up 12-5. Wofford cut the lead to five, but back-to-back kills by Schermerhorn allowed the Phoenix an 18-10 lead. Two kills and a block by Wofford forced Elon to use a timeout at the 23-18 mark. Out of the huddle, Elon scored two of the final three points, including a set-winning kill by Lemke, to take set two, 25-19.
Elon fell behind early in the third set, but a Wofford error knotted the score at five. The teams kept the set close and tied seven times before Elon took a two-point lead at 16-14 on two Wofford errors. A kill by Wofford's Catelyn Amende made it a one-point game at 17-16, but a kill by Schermerhorn allowed the Phoenix a two-point lead. The Terriers cut the lead back to one at 21-20 but the Phoenix outscored Wofford 4-1 and closed the set and the match on a kill by Schermerhorn.
The Phoenix will step out of conference on Tuesday, Nov. 10 when it plays North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m., in Greensboro, N.C. The team will close out the regular season next weekend as it travels to face SoCon North Division foes Appalachian State and Western Carolina.
College of Charleston 3, Davidson 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) flirted with her second straight triple double with 25 assists, 11 digs and five kills as the College of Charleston (15-11, 11-3) swept Davidson (7-22, 4-9) 3-0 in a Southern Conference volleyball match at the Carolina First Arena on Saturday, November 7. The Cougars took the Senior Day match by scores of 25-14, 29-27 and 25-19.
The College of Charleston wasted little time as they raced out an 11-3 lead before six kills helped push it to 20-6. The Wildcats pulled to within 22-12 before the Cougars closed out the set with a 25-14 victory and took a 1-0 lead in the match.
It was a completely different story in Game 2 as the two teams battled throug nine ties before deadlocking at 11-11. Davidson then put together a 6-0 run to pull ahead 17-11 before the Cougars rallied to ties the score at 19-19 with an 8-2 run. From there, the clubs fought through eight more ties and six lead changes before knotting at 27-27. A Wildcats' error followed by a kill from junior right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) then put the set away at 29-27 and gave CofC a 2-0 advantage.
For most of the third set, it was much like the first as the College of Charleston took command early in the frame. Leading 9-7, the Cougars mounted an 11-3 run to extend their lead to 20-10. CofC then withstood a late rally by the Wildcats as they claimed a 25-19 decision in the set and 3-0 victory in the match.
Junior outside hitter Sarabeth Peele led all hitters with 12 kills for Davidson and sophomore middle blocker Madison Benedict finished with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Junior setter Anna Bradbury posted 34 assists to fuel the offense while freshman libero Molly Crenshaw and sophomore outside hitter Christine Perzinski led the defense with nine and seven digs, respectively. Junior middle blocker Jorden Benedict added nine kills and three blocks.
Cole Dawley's 25 assists, 11 digs, five kills and four blocks led the way for the College of Charleston while Ginny Phillips posted nine kills, four blocks and a .467 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) drilled seven kills at a .417 percentage and senior middle blocker Jennifer Darty (Orlando, Fla.) finished with eight kills. Senior defensive specialist Brooke Truxillo (Roswell, Ga.) posted a well rounded match with season-highs of four assists and four digs and a career-high two kills.
The Cougars will take to the road for their final two regular season contests prior to the Southern Conference Tournament. CofC travels to Wofford on Friday, November 13 for a 7 p.m. match before a showdown with South Division leading Furman at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 14. The top two teams in each division will then advance to the Southern Conference Tournament at the site of the highest seed from November 20-22. Currently the Cougars are in second place of the South Division.
NOTES
The College of Charleston's 3-0 victory marks the 20th straight win over the Wildcats and the 13th sweep over that same time frame ... prior to the match, seniors Emily Sawin, Brooke Truxillo and Jennifer Darty were honored before playing in one of their final home contests.
Furman 3, Belmont 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior setter Kelsey Salava recorded 33 assists to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Belmont Saturday afternoon in Alley Gymnasium. The match featured the two Salava sisters as the starting setters for each team. Channing, a sophomore for the Bruins, tallied 35 assists in the match-up. With the win, the Paladins extend their winning streak to 15-straight matches, the longest in Furman volleyball history.
The Paladins won set one 25-21 and set two 25-14 to hold a 2-0 lead at the break. Belmont regrouped for a 25-22 win in set three, then Furman held on for a 27-25 victory in set four.
Freshman Natalie Braun led the Paladins with 12 kills and four service aces, while adding 14 digs. Sophomore Alexis Shaffer posted a team-high .261 attack percentage and 10 kills. Senior Stephanie Smith had 23 digs, and freshman Christina Curry led the team with four blocks.
Furman (22-3, 13-0 SoCon) will play at Wofford on Wednesday. The Paladins need one additional conference win to secure home court advantage in the Southern Conference Tournament.
Samford 3, Appalachian State 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team closed out the Homecoming Day festivities Saturday night with a 3-0 sweep of Appalachian State. With the win, the Bulldogs maintain first place in the Southern Conference standings with a 16-12 record overall and a 10-4 record in the league. The Mountaineers fall to 11-16 overall, 7-6 in conference play.
"This was a very solid team effort tonight," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Elizabeth Neisler hitting .368 with 10 kills and Shelby Brandon hitting .500 with six kills spreads out their defense and makes life easier for us."
Sheriden Stangohr led the Bulldogs in kills with 11 while Neisler notched a team-high and a career-high hitting percentage. Stangohr also hit .364 while grabbing two block assists, one solo block and one ace. Neisler added one assist, one dig and one block assist.
Brandon and Rachel Gadberry both notched six kills against the Mountaineers. Brandon hit .500 on 10 attacks and only one error. She also added one dig and one block assist. Gadberry hit .308 while adding two block assists, one solo block and one dig. Allie Bettinger knocked down seven kills and grabbed two aces, eight digs and one solo block.
Hillary Fountain dished out a team-high 21 assists with two kills, one ace, five digs and one block assist. Casey Garvey was right behind with 18 assists along with one kill and one ace. Sarah Gardner grabbed four aces, four digs and one assist while Alexis Bauer led the back row with 14 digs and Alicia Roth served up one ace.
Appalachian State was led by Maja Jechorek who posted 10 kills, three digs, one ace and one block assists. Cassie Engelgau led the back row with 10 digs while Kasey Sauls dished out 26 assists. Becca Norris led in blocks, grabbing five of the Mountaineers' eight while Caroline Sedon and Lauren Swecker each added three block assists.
The Bulldogs will close out home play Sunday when they host Western Carolina at 2 p.m. The Catamounts were swept by Chattanooga earlier on Saturday bringing their record to 3-24 overall and 0-13 in conference play.
Samford will honor its seniors in a ceremony before Sunday's match. Live streaming of the match will be available for free on www.samfordsports.com and a full recap and results will be posted upon the completion of the match.
Samford 3, Appalachian State 0
Samford took an early four-point lead in the first set with a 6-2 run which started with a kill by Stangohr. After two errors, Appalachian State called its first timeout. The Mountaineers came out of the break and put together a 5-1 run to tie the score at seven but the Bulldogs answered back with an 8-2 run of their own to push the lead back out to six. After another Mountaineer timeout, Samford pushed the lead out to eight on a block by Brandon and Stangohr and a kill by Brandon. ASU cut the lead to six but Samford tacked on four straight points to take a 10-point lead. The Bulldogs would go on to win set one, 25-15.
Appalachian State grabbed the first point of the second set on a kill by Sedon but Neisler answered back with a kill of her own to even things up. Samford then added three more points to take a three-point lead but the Mountaineers rallied back with a 3-0 run to tie the score at four. The score would be tied five more times before Samford took another three-point lead, forcing the Mountaineers to take a timeout.
Samford maintained that lead for while before ASU got within two causing the Bulldogs to call a timeout with the score at 23-21. Out of the break, Stangohr knocked down a kill to lock in set point but the Mountaineers would score three straight points to tie the score at 24. Stangohr blasted another kill to put the Bulldogs ahead but followed with an error to even the score at 25. ASU's Swecker put down a kill to put the Mountaineers ahead by one but Sedon followed with a service error to tie the score at 26. Then Maggie Seeds committed two hitting errors to lock in the 28-26 second set win for the Bulldogs.
In the third set, ASU grabbed a quick 2-0 lead on a blocking error by Brandon and a block by Jechorek and Sedon. Samford evened things up quick though with a kill by Neisler and an ace by Garvey. The Bulldogs then went on an 8-3 run to go ahead by five causing the Mountaineers to call their first timeout of the set. ASU scored three straight points out of the break to get within two but Samford forged ahead and pushed its lead out to six, forcing another Mountaineer timeout. With the score at 18-12, ASU came out of the break and put together an 8-3 run to get within one, causing Samford to call its second timeout of the entire match. ASU's Engelgau served up an ace out of the break to tie the score at 21, but Samford would go on a 4-2 run to lock in the 25-22 win.
Georgia Southern 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Three Eagles posted double-figure kill performances as the Georgia Southern volleyball team swept The Citadel, 3-0, Saturday night (November 7) in McAllister Field House. With the Southern Conference nod, Georgia Southern improved to 19-10 overall and 9-5 in league play. The Bulldogs dropped to 7-22, 2-10.
The Eagles hit .315 for the match led by Lauren Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) and Kirby Monson (Houston, Tex.) who each posted 11 kills in the match. Both Eagles hit over .400 combining for only two errors in three sets. Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) was the third Eagle in double figures adding 10 kills. Freshman Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) tallied 36 assists on the evening as Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) led the defense with 17 digs.
The Citadel was led by Kaona Mercer with 12 kills and Alyssa Holum with 27 assists. Tatum Jestila posted a team-high 17 digs as the Bulldogs hit .183 for the match.
"I was proud of the way our team came in and competed after a disappointing match last night," said head coach Chad Callihan. "We maintained our poise throughout the evening and kept our focus. Anytime you pull out a road win is great for the team."
Taking early command of the opening set, Georgia Southern grabbed a 4-2 lead off a Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) kill only to gain a five-point lead, 9-4, off three consecutive Claybaugh kills. The Eagles continued their run which culminated into nine unanswered points for a 15-4 advantage. The Bulldogs picked up a point with a Jessica Maas kill before Gildersleeve recorded a pair of kills intermixed with an Eagle error, giving the Eagles a 17-6 lead. Small's fourth kill of the set put the Eagles up 20-9 before a Bulldog service error gave set point, 24-12, to the Eagles. Monson sealed the opening set win for Georgia Southern at 25-13.
Georgia Southern opened set two posting seven unanswered points before Blaine McAllister ended the Bulldog scoring drought with a kill pushing the score to 7-1. McAllister's kill sparked a 5-0 Bulldog run. The Citadel came within two points at 8-6 as Georgia Southern widened its lead back to four at 10-6 following consecutive Bulldog errors from Rachel Farrell. Maintaining a consistent lead, The Citadel took its final timeout of the set as Georgia Southern gathered an 18-14 margin.
Sanford's second kill of the set pushed the Eagles to 23-18 before a block assist from Mercer and Maas closed The Citadel to within three at 23-20. Van Dyke gave Georgia Southern set point, 24-21, before the Eagle gave Georgia Southern a dominating 2-0 lead at intermission with a service ace.
The Citadel kept the third set close in the opening points as Mercer tied the score at 3-all with a Bulldog kill. A Bulldog error put the Eagles in the lead, 4-3, as Claybaugh and Monson kills widened the Georgia Southern's lead to 6-3. Claybaugh's third kill of the stanza witnessed a 10-7 Eagle score as a Sanford and Small block assist put Georgia Southern on top, 12-8. A trio of Eagle kills from Sanford and Small forced a 15-9 point difference before the Bulldogs put together a 4-0 run that was broken by a Monson kill for a 16-13 score. Monson's sixth kill of the third set, preceded by a Haines kill, forced a Citadel timeout at 18-14. A pair of Claybaugh kills sandwiched around a Mass Bulldog kill set the score at 23-16 as Sanford gave Georgia Southern match point, 24-16. Sanford secured the Southern Conference win for Georgia Southern with her sixth kill of the set at 25-16.
The Eagles return to the court and conclude their final road swing Tuesday, November 10 at Davidson. First serve is slated for 6:00 p.m.