Samford 3, Western Carolina 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team clinched a share of the Southern Conference North Division title Sunday in a 3-1 (25-11, 17-25, 25-19, 25-22) win over Western Carolina on Senior Day. The Bulldogs go into the final weekend of regular-season play with a 17-12 overall record, 11-4 in league play. The Catamounts fall to 3-25 overall, 0-14 in the SoCon.
"I am very happy that a rebuilding year has lead us to at least a share of a division championship," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We have a long road trip ahead of us next weekend. Let's see what we can do to win the North Division outright."
The seniors shined Sunday in their final match at the Pete Hanna Center. After a pre-match ceremony to honor their hard work from the past four years, the trio led their team to clinch a share of the North Division title.
Sheriden Stangohr just missed matching a career-best in kills with 18, but led the Bulldogs in hitting with a .469 average while also grabbing four block assists, one solo block, two aces and one dig. Sarah Gardner notched a career-high seven aces, contributing almost half of Samford's 15 aces served on the day, falling just five short of a team record. She also added seven kills and one assist while Katie Luckman posted a career-high .385 hitting percentage along with six kills on 13 attempts with only one error, two digs, and one block assist. She also sealed the deal for the Bulldogs, knocking down the final kill in set three to win the match for Samford.
Freshmen Allie Bettinger and Elizabeth Neisler were the other two Bulldogs to post double digits in kills against the Catamounts. Bettinger knocked down 13, hitting .214 while adding six digs, two block assists, two aces and one assist. Neisler posted 11 kills while hitting a career-high .350. She also added one dig and one block assist. Sophomore Rachel Gadberry posted six kills along with three block assists and one dig.
Freshman Casey Garvey and junior Hillary Fountain shared time at the setter position, dishing out 25 and 24 assists, respectively. Garvey also added one kill, two aces and four digs while Fountain grabbed three kills, one ace, five digs and three block assists. Freshman Alexis Bauer led the back row with 13 digs which brings her season total to 382, just 30 shy of matching Gardner's 2006 record of 412. Samantha Bland grabbed two digs while Alicia Roth added one dig.
Western Carolina was led by Amanda Kerr who posted nine kills and hit .318. Katie Hennessey dished out a team-high 23 assists for the Catamounts while Liz Rondone led the back row with eight digs. Abbey Scroggins led in blocks with six block assists while Carrie Minogue added five block assists and Rebecca Stoltz had four block assists.
The Bulldogs will take to the road next weekend to wrap up regular-season play in Statesboro, Ga. Samford will take on Georgia Southern Saturday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m., to see if it can capture the North Division for its own for the second year in a row.
Samford 3, Western Carolina 1
Stangohr opened up the match with a kill to get Samford on the board first but Western Carolina's Hennessey knocked down a kill to even the score. Hennessey came back with another kill to put the Catamounts up by one but a WCU service error evened the score again. After a kill by Kara Lynzee Brooks, the Bulldogs posted four straight points to grab a 6-3 lead on a block by Fountain and Stangohr, back-to-back aces by Gardner and a kill by Fountain. The Catamounts called for a timeout but Samford continued to pile on the points, going ahead by 10 on a 10-3 run. After another Western Carolina timeout, Samford forged ahead with a 9-5 run to win the first set, 25-11.
Neisler opened up the second set with a kill to get the Bulldogs on the board first but Stoltz answered back with a kill to tie the score at one. The Catamounts then put together a 13-6 run to take a seven-point lead and force Samford to take its first timeout of the match. WCU came out of the break and tacked on three more points to go ahead by 10 before Samford found a way to cut it to eight on kills by Stangohr and Bettinger. However, the Catamounts pushed the lead back out to 11, forcing Samford to take another timeout. Samford came back with a 5-1 run to get within seven again. The Catamounts called another timeout and the Bulldogs came back with an ace by Bauer to get within three. Yet with a 23-17 lead, WCU gained match point on a serve error by Bauer, and a kill by Stoltz clinched the 25-17 for the Catamounts in the second set.
An ace by Garvey and a solo block by Stangohr put the Bulldogs up by two early in the third set. A WCU block and a Samford error tied the score at two, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-5 run to take a10-7 lead before the Catamounts called a timeout. Fountain served up an ace out of the break and although WCU got within two points briefly, Samford forced another timeout after taking a 20-14 lead on kills by Stangohr and Gadberry. WCU got within five on a Samford error after the break but Samford held the lead as each team went back and forth scoring two points each twice over. However, with match point at 24-19, Stangohr knocked down a kill to win set three, 25-19.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair until Samford tied the score at seven on a kill by Fountain. A service error by Bettinger gave the Catamounts the lead and WCU scored two more points to go ahead by three. However, Samford answered back and grabbed three straight points on a kill by Neisler, a block by Stangohr and Neisler and a kill by Luckman to tie the score at 10. That sparked a 4-1 run to take a three-point lead before WCU called a timeout. A 5-1 run out of the break moved Samford ahead by seven and after another Catamount timeout, the Bulldogs went ahead by 10 on kills by Bettinger and Fountain, a block by Gadberry and Bettinger and a couple of WCU errors. However, two straight Samford errors followed by three blocks by the Catamounts got WCU back within five. Though after a Samford timeout, the Bulldogs managed to hold off the Catamounts and Luckman fired off the final kill, winning the set 25-22.
Appalachian State 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Appalachian State University volleyball posted a solid effort Sunday afternoon, and came away with a 3-1 win over SoCon North Division foe Chattanooga. With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 12-16 on the season and 8-6 in SoCon action, while UTC drops to 12-16 overall and 4-11 in league play. The victory also gives the Apps a season sweep of the Lady Mocs. It is ASU's first season sweep of Chattanooga since 2004.
ASU grabbed a commanding 5-1 lead in the early part of first set play, with two kills by Caroline Sedon leading the Apps attack. Despite the four point advantage, UTC knotted the set at six all, and then went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 advantage with Laura Brock pacing the UTC attack.
Appalachian pulled within just one point at 13-12, thanks to a block assist by Kasey Sauls and Becca Norris.
The Mountaineers continued to stick around, and tied the set once more at 21 all, with Lauren Swecker and Meghann Forshey chipping in on the offensive front.
Unfortunately for ASU, two errors proved to be costly and Chattanooga knotched the 25-22 first set win.
It was all Appalachian in second set play, as the Black and Gold took an 8-4 lead and never looked back. The narrowest margin of advantage was three points for the Mountaineers, but an 8-3 ASU run increased the Apps lead to 18-9.
Sedon tallied three kills during the streak, while Kelsey Kuehner added two.
A 10 point cushion at the 20-10 mark was all the Apps needed to roll to a 25-11 second set win and tie the set at one apiece.
Chattanooga earned a 5-1 lead in third set action before Appalachian picked up its play, tying the set at 10 all off of kills by senior Maja Jechorek and Sauls.
ASU knotted the match once again at the 16 all mark and for the final time at 22 apiece, before a Sauls service ace, Jechorek kill and block assist by Jechorek and Sedon pushed Appalachian to a 25-22 third set victory.
The two squads continued to battle back and forth during the fourth set, but after the set was tied at five, ASU never relinquished its advantage.
Offensive production came from all over, with Jechorek, Swecker and Meghann Forshey pushing the Black and Gold to a 13-9 lead.
UTC came within as close as one point at 15-14, but that was the narrowest of margins, with the Mountaineers going up five points at the 23-19 mark, as Swecker and Forshey slammed home kills.
It was all ASU from there on out, grabbing a 25-20 fourth set win and 3-1 match victory.
Four Apps finished the contest with double-figures kills, as Swecker posted a match-high 17 and Sauls had an impressive 49 assists. At the net, it was all Sedon who recorded two solo blocks and six block assists.
As for the Lady Mocs, Courtney Barnes had 14 kills, while five Ellie Kuhn's five block assists gave her 101 on the season, making her Chattanooga's all-time single season leader in the category.
Appalachian now returns back to the comfy confines of the Holmes Center after a three-match hiatus for their final two regular-season matches of 2009. ASU first takes on UNCG, Wednesday November 11 at 7 p.m. and then hosts Elon on Senior Night, Saturday November 14 at 7 p.m.
Davidson 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sarabeth Peele posted 20 kills and hit a team-high .356 to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to a 3-1 win (25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 25-18) over The Citadel Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
Peele was joined in double figures by sophomore Christine Perzinski, who added 13 kills for Davidson (8-22, 5-9). Junior Anna Bradbury had 38 assists, and freshman Molly Crenshaw and junior Jennifer Chamblee had 11 and 10 digs, respectively, to lead the Davidson defense. Madison and Jorden Benedict each finished with six blocks.
Tatum Jestila led The Citadel (7-22, 2-11) with 11 kills, and Jessica Maas added 10. Alyssa Holum finished with 32 assists, and Kathryn Johnston paced the defense with 21 digs. Tatum and Blaine McAllister also tallied 12 digs.
The Wildcats will wrap up the 2009 season with a pair of home matches this week. Davidson hosts Georgia Southern at Belk Arena Tuesday night at 6 p.m. and plays its finale against Chattanooga at 4 p.m. Saturday.