Furman 3, Appalachian State 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Sophomore Chandler Ambrester recorded 17 kills and five blocks to push the Furman volleyball team past Appalachian State, 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-15), Saturday afternoon at Alley Gymnasium.
In the first set, the two teams battled through 11 ties as the Mountaineers came back to even the score at 21-21. Ambrester then recorded two blocks and a kill in the final moments of set one to give Furman a 25-22 victory.
Appalachian State jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead in the second set. Furman began to chip away at the Mountaineers lead and eventually tied the match at 21-21. The two teams traded points back and forth to force five additional ties and reach 26-26. A block by senior Katherine Hall and sophomore Caroline Adams, plus a Mountaineer hitting error, sealed the 28-26 win for the Paladins.
After the break, the two teams played a close set and were tied at 10-10 before the Paladins went on a 15-5 run to end the set and secure the match victory. Ambrester tallied four kills and a block during the run, while Adams added two kills and a block in the closing points of the third set.
Sophomore Natalie Braun hit .406 to lead the Paladins and posted her ninth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 12 digs. Junior Kelly Kirby posted a double-double and led the Paladins with 26 assists and 14 digs, while junior Carolyn Nicoletti also had a double-double after tallying 18 assists and 11 digs.
Anna Wagner led Appalachian State (13-7, 4-3 SoCon) with 10 kills, while Courtney Rhein paced the team with 19 digs.
Furman (12-8, 6-2 SoCon) will play at Samford next Saturday at 2 p.m. Appalachian closes out its four-match road trip at Wofford tomorrow. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the Terriers' Benjamin Johnson Arena.
College of Charleston 3, Samford 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior Elyse Chubb recorded 11 kills and senior Cole Dawley registered her ninth consecutive double-double as the College of Charleston volleyball team captured a 3-0 victory over the Samford Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at Carolina First Arena (25-21, 25-17, 25-18).
Senior Whitney Russell joined Chubb in double-digit kills with 10. Dawley, who ranks second in the Southern Conference in assists per set had 29 to go along with 10 digs.
The Cougars (17-5, 6-1) came out with fire in the first set, hitting .346 and holding the Bulldogs (8-13, 2-5) to a .175 hitting efficiency and forcing nine Samford errors.
In the second set CofC continued their strong defensive presence, holding Samford to a .073 hitting percentage and eight more errors. Chubb hit .800 and Russell .556 to carry the Cougars offensive attack.
In the third set the Cougars did not take the lead until an attack error by Samford gave CofC an 8-7 advantage. The Cougars took control of the set with an 11-4 run, capped off by freshman Kallie McKown with a towering serve that fell inside the line for an ace.
Junior Sarah Havel, who totaled six blocks for the contest, ended the match with one of her six kills.
The Cougars resume action tomorrow at 2p.m. with a battle against Chattanooga. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as part of the Dig Pink event in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Donations will be accepted at the match. The Bulldogs will be back in action Sunday when they take on the Bulldogs of The Citadel. Match play begins at 2 p.m. ET.
Chattanooga 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Chattanooga overcame nine kills each by Blaine McAllister, Jessica Maas and Kaona Mercer to emerge with a 25-22, 25-18, 25-21 victory on Saturday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
The front row trio accounted for 27 of the 40 team kills, while Tatum Jestila and Kathryn Johnston led the defensive effort with 14 digs apiece. The Cadets Rachael Farrell also reached double figures with 11 digs. The Bulldogs finished with eight team blocks, led by the four assisted blocks by Mercer and Amanda Beal. Sophomore Meredith Mutispaugh dished out 32 assists to pace The Citadel offense. The Bulldogs slip to 5-17 overall and 0-7 in Southern Conference play.
The Mocs (8-15, 3-4) were led by Courtney Barnes (12 kills) and Ellie Kuhn (10 kills) up front. Defensively, Chattanooga was paced by Paula Passmore (15 digs) and Heather Parman (10 digs) along with Ellie Kuhn who contributed five assisted blocks.
In a back-and-forth opening match, a kill by Kuhn allowed Chattanooga to break an 18- 18 tie and score seven of the final 11 points to win 25-22. The Mocs continued their solid play in the second set, snapping a 7-7 tie on a pair of kills by Parman. The lead reached 18-12 with Paula Passmore serving and despite kills by Maas down the stretch, The Citadel fell 25-18. The Bulldogs lineup was sparked by the trio of McAllister (four kills), Jestila (six digs) and Johnston (six digs) in the third set. Leading midway through the set, Jestila drove a kill past the Mocs defense to widen the lead, 16-8. UTC responded with a 12-4 run to knot the game at 20-20. Despite a pair of Citadel timeouts, Chattanooga's Jessica Scott utilized her service game and closed out the match by a 25-21 margin.
The Bulldogs complete their four match homestand on Sunday afternoon when they welcome Samford University to McAlister Field House at 2 p.m.
Davidson 3, Elon 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson Wildcat volleyball team placed four hitters in double figures and got double-doubles from Sarabeth Peele and Christine Perzinski to defeat the North-division leading Elon Phoenix, 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-23), Saturday afternoon in SoCon action at Belk Arena.
Peele led Davidson (13-10, 4-2 SoCon) with 23 kills, matching her season high, and added 13 digs, while Perzinski tallied 11 kills and 12 digs. Senior middle blocker Jorden Benedict finished with a career-high 17 kills and hit a match-high .600; she had 16 kills against Chattanooga on Nov. 14, 2009. Junior opposite Erin Lupfer was the final Wildcat hitter in double figures, chipping in 10 kills.
Senior setter Hayley Lawson finished with a career-high 60 assists; she had 58 assists against Furman on Oct. 2, 2007. Senior libero Jennifer Chamblee was one of three players in double figures in digs, leading the Wildcat defense with 21 digs.
Elon (13-10, 5-2 SoCon) placed three hitters in double figures, as Sarah Schermerhorn, Lauren Copenhagen and Caroline Lemke each finished with 12 kills. Megan McMahon tallied 43 assists, and Ali Deatsch led the Phoenix defense with 13 digs. Copenhagen also finished with 11 digs.
After trading points to start the match, the Wildcats broke a 4-4 stalemate with a 6-2 run to open a 10-6 lead and force Elon into a timeout. Davidson led by as many as six in the set, including as late as 20-14 when the Phoenix took their second timeout. Elon cut the Wildcats' lead to 22-18 with a 4-2 run, but Davidson won four of the last five points to take the 25-19 win. Peele had seven of her 23 kills in the first set, in which Davidson outhit Elon, .457 to .094.
The Wildcats used a 4-0 run, including kills from Peele, junior middle blocker Madison Benedict and Perzinski, to open a 7-4 lead to take control of the second set. Davidson took a 12-6 lead on a kill from Jorden Benedict to force Elon to call timeout, and the Phoenix responded by winning three of the next five to narrow the gap, 14-9. But the Wildcats stayed in control, and leading 19-14, used a 5-1 run to open a 24-15 lead. A Wildcat service error gave Elon a second set point, but Jorden Benedict put away her third kill of the set to lift Davidson to a 25-16 win and a 2-0 lead at the break.
Elon opened the third frame with a 5-1 run, but the Wildcats fought back within a score, 7-6, on a kill from Lupfer and a Phoenix hitting error. Elon, though, pushed back and opened a 17-12 lead before forcing Davidson into a timeout, 21-15. The Wildcats rattled off six straight points, to knot the set at 22, but back-to-back errors gave Elon a set-point chance and Lemke punched home the winner for a 25-22 Elon victory.
Davidson won the first four points of the fourth set and took a 7-2 lead before Elon took a one-point lead, 9-8, behind a 7-1 run. The teams traded points, until tied at 10, a kill by Jorden Benedict and a hitting error by Elon, lifted Davidson to a slight 12-10 lead. Neither team could get any distance, though, as the Phoenix won the next two, and the teams tied seven times over the last third of the frame. Davidson took a 21-19 lead on two straight Phoenix errors, but Elon kept within a point until a kill from Peele gave Davidson a match-point try at 24-22. The Phoenix fought for one more point, but Peele's 23rd kill delivered the 25-23 set win for the match.
Davidson returns to action tomorrow, when it hosts UNCG (16-6, 4-3), who are coming off a 3-0 loss to Georgia Southern Friday, in a 4 p.m. match. The Elon volleyball team will remain on the road and face Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
Wofford 3, Western Carolina 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Wofford's Amanda Liguori had 13 kills and a .571 hitting percentage to lead the Terriers to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) win over the Western Carolina University Catamounts Saturday night in Ben Johnson Arena in a Southern Conference match.
Liguori's 13 kills came on 21 attempts with only one error for her .571 hitting percentage. She was the only player with double-digit kills.
Wofford broke a 15-15 tie with a 5-2 run to take a 20-17 lead in the opening set. The Terriers won the seven of the final nine points to take the set 25-19. Liguori had three kills and no errors.
In set two, the Terriers snapped a tie at six with a 7-3 run on the Catamounts to take a 13-9 lead. Wofford never let Western Carolina back into the set as they went up 2-0 with a 25-19 win. Liguori tallied six kills in only ten swings in the second set. The Terriers hit .500 compared to WCU's .200 hitting percentage.
Reagan Styles' tough serving gave the Terriers a 6-1 lead to open the third set. Wofford held the lead went wire-to-wire as they never let the Catamounts pull within two points during the set. Wofford claimed the match with a 25-19 set three lead. The Terriers outhit the Catamounts .400 to .000 in the set and held an overall advantage of .390 to .088.
Stacy Byrd followed Liguori with seven kills and three block assists. Bekah Dorsey had 21 assists, while Tara Gough handed out 13 assists. Styles notched a team-high eight digs for Wofford.
Western Carolina's Carrie Minogue had eight kills on 14 attempts with a team-high .500 hitting percentage. Emily Franklin dished out 28 assists, while Morgan Cochran and Amanda Chaparro picked up ten digs.
The win improved Wofford to .500 overall at 12-12 and 2-5 in the SoCon, while WCU falls to 6-17 overall and 1-7 in conference play.
Wofford will return to action Sunday afternoon in another conference match against Appalachian State at 2 p.m.