Georgia Southern 3, Elon 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - Junior outside hitter Bethany Sanford uncorked 15 kills and 13 digs for her 14th double-double of the season leading Georgia Southern to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Elon Sunday afternoon (October 17) in Hanner Fieldhouse. Parker Small and Hannah Nelson each added double-figure kill performances as the Eagles improved to 15-7 overall, 6-1 in Southern Conference action and 9-0 at home. Elon, the No. 1 team in the North Division, dipped to 13-11, 5-3.
Small added 12 kills, while Nelson came up with 10 as the junior trio of Nelson, Sanford and Small combined for 37 of the Eagles' 52 kills. Sophomore Kate Van Dyke registered 39 assists, while Ashley Roe led in the backcourt with 20 digs.
Tallying eight kills in the opening frame, Sanford led the Eagles to a 25-17 first set win over the Phoenix. She hit .667 in the set as Georgia Southern quickly climbed out to a 13-7 lead following Sanford's fourth kill of the set. The Eagles pulled out with a seven-point lead at 19-12 to force Elon's second timeout and closed the set with a Sanford kill.
Georgia Southern took set two by the same margin as set one, 25-17, and posted its highest hitting percentage of the match at .556. Sanford registered five kills, while Nelson and Small each added four. The Eagles jumped out with a 4-1 lead, but the Phoenix pulled back to within one point at 9-8. Georgia Southern led by as many as eight points twice before closing out the set win at 25-17.
The Eagles never trailed in the third and final frame, sealing the match 25-18. Small ripped five kills on just seven swings to hit .714 in the set. A quick 6-1 lead out of the gate for the Eagles secured an early lead that was never relinquished. Sarah Gildersleeve collected the final two Eagle kills for the win.
Georgia Southern hits the road for three matches beginning at Davidson, Oct. 21. The Eagles will visit Western Carolina (Oct. 22) and Appalachian State (Oct. 24) before returning to Statesboro. First serve at Davidson is slated for 6 p.m. The Elon volleyball team will return home next weekend to play in the newly-renovated Alumni Gym. On Friday, Oct. 22 the Phoenix will face The Citadel for the first game back in Alumni Gym.
Appalachian State 3, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball snapped a two match losing skid Sunday afternoon, as the Mountaineers edged Southern Conference South Division foe Wofford in a 3-2 thriller.
The victory improves the Apps to 14-7 on the season, matching their total number of wins from a season ago and 5-3 in SoCon action, while the Terriers drop to 12-13 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
The hard-fought match was closely contested as three of the five sets were decided by a two-point margin.
After Wofford evened the match at two sets apiece, ASU came out strong in fifth set play and took a 10-6 lead off an Anna Wagner kill.
A Lauren Swecker kill and block assist by Caroline Sedon and Alison Blasingameincreased ASU's advantage to five points, its largest of the set.
Wofford tried to make a comeback, pulling within one point off a service ace and Appalachian attack error, but a final slam by Maggie Seeds earned the Black and Gold the exciting 3-2 match and 15-13 fifth set win.
First set play was tied 13 times before it reached the 19 point mark, as the back and forth affair saw both teams battle.
Offensive contributions by Sedon and Wagner paced Appalachian's offense, with Sedon tallying three kills and Wagner registering one.
However, after play was knotted at 19, back-to-back Wofford points by Catelyn Amende and Amanda Liguori gave the Terriers a two-point lead.
Liguori was one of four Terriers to total double-figure kills, finishing with a team-best 13, in addition to having 16 digs.
Continuing to come up big on the offensive end down the stretch, both Sedon and Wagner scored five points for ASU in the final plays, as Sedon had a kill and two aces and Wagner had two kills, including the set-winner to earn the Apps the narrow 26-24 first set win.
Wagner ended the contest with a stout stat line, posting a match-high 14 kills, while also recording 19 digs and four block assists.
Early errors plagued ASU in the opening plays of the second set, as the Apps could never seem to find a rhythm.
Three consecutive attack errors and a Wofford ace pushed the Terriers to a commanding 9-2 lead, one that Appalachian was never quite able to recover from.
Picking up its pace, the Apps did rally to tie action at 14, as Seeds got going offensively and ASU was able to take advantage of Wofford miscues.
A 7-3 run Wofford run however, proved to be the difference maker in the set, as the Terriers went up 21-17 and hung on for the four point second set victory, to tie the match at one all.
An Appalachian hitting error saw Wofford grab a 17-15 lead in the third set, but points by Wagner, Blasingame and Seeds in addition to solid Mountaineer blocking enabled the Apps to regain the lead at the 22-19 mark.
Kills by Swecker and Wagner was all it took to push Appalachian the 25-20 third set win.
Trying to keep the match alive, Wofford did not back down in fourth set play, despite Appalachian coming out on fire, taking the 6-1 early lead, thanks in part to multiple Terrier errors.
The set was knotted for the ninth time at 21 all, before a Wagner slam put Appalachian on top 22-21.
Neither squad could quite shake its opponent until two Wofford kills earned the Terriers the 26-25 lead.
A final point by Liguori enabled Wofford to eke out the 27-25 fourth set win and push the match to five sets.
Appalachian was able to hold on for a challenging fifth set victory, and notch its 14th win of the 2010 campaign.
In addition to Wagner, both Blasingame and Seeds capped off the match with double-digit kills, while Kasey Sauls poured in 34 assists.
Concluding their four-match road trip, Appalachian returns to the High Country for two home matches. ASU first hosts SoCon rival Davidson, Saturday, October 23, with the match set to start at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center. Wofford will take a break from SoCon play as they host East Tennessee State University Wednesday, October 20th in Ben Johnson Arena for their next match.
Samford 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. ---- The Samford volleyball team closed out its road trip in Charleston, S.C., Sunday with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) win over The Citadel. The win marks Samford's ninth of the season and its third in league play.
"This was a solid win today against a much improved Citadel team," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "I feel like we have solidified our serve and serve-receive. We need to start making more plays at the net. We had a solid week of blocking and attacking for our front row and that next level we are looking for may happen!"
Elizabeth Neisler led Samford (9-13, 3-5 SoCon) with 12 kills while hitting .370. She also tallied two digs and three block assists. Katie Murphy and Lauren Hutchinson each posted nine kills and were the top two hitters for the Samford Bulldogs against The Citadel. Murphy posted a team-high and career-high .692 hitting percentage, connecting on nine of 13 attempts with no errors. She also added a dig and three block assists. Hutchinson hit .389 while also adding two digs, two block assists and a career-high four aces.
Taylor Palmer posted six kills and a dig while Samantha Bland added four kills, four digs, a block assist and a set assist. Casey Garvey dished out a career-high 36 assists while also adding two digs and a block assist. Alexis Bauer led the back row with 15 digs and also added an assist. Lyndsey Holt had six digs and two aces while Allie Bettinger had a kill. Hillary Fountain added an assist and four digs.
The Citadel (5-18, 0-8 SoCon) was led by Jessica Maas who posted nine kills, an assist and a dig. Tatum Jestila led the back row with nine digs while also adding eight kills and an ace. Alexa Dahlstrom led in assists with 12 while also tallying two kills and two digs. Meredith Mutispaugh dished out 10 assists and added six digs. Amanda Beal had four block assists while Kaona Mercer had three.
A service error by Garvey gave The Citadel its first point of the match but Samford answered back with a kill of its own by Neisler. The Citadel scored another kill but Samford tacked on five straight points to take a 6-2 lead and force The Citadel to call its first timeout of the match. Samford came out of the break on fire and posted a 9-2 run, sparked by a block by Bland and Murphy, to take a 10-point lead. However, the Citadel slowly began to chip away at the gap until it had been cut down to four points.
Samford called a timeout and came back with a kill by Hutchinson. The Citadel fought to get back in it but could only get within as few as four points. Samford would go on to win set one, 25-19, on a kill by Neisler.
The Citadel scored the first two points of the second set on a kill and an ace but Hutchinson answered with a kill to get Samford on the board. The Citadel came back with five straight points to take a 6-1 lead and Samford called a timeout. Samford came back with a 6-2 run to get within one point, but the Citadel kept fighting to keep the lead. Samford fought back and eventually tied the score at 12 on a block by Hutchinson and Neisler and took over the lead with a 4-1 run.
The Citadel called a timeout but Samford scored three straight points out of the break to force The Citadel to call another timeout. Samford continued to push forward and extended its lead to six. Samford called a timeout with a 23-17 lead and came out of the break with a kill by Neisler to get set-point, but The Citadel held it there with a kill of its own. However, Samford sealed the 25-18 win on another kill by Neisler.
Hutchinson and Neisler opened the third set with a block to get Samford on the board first and a Citadel error added another point to Samford's tally. The Citadel finally got on the board by a service error by Garvey and put together a 3-1 run to tie the score at four. Samford answered back with a kill by Bland and took over, eventually taking a five-point lead on a Citadel error. That error caused The Citadel to call a timeout, but a ball-handling error by The Citadel out of the break gave Samford a 17-11 lead. However, The Citadel tacked on four straight points to cut the lead to two and force Samford to call a timeout.
Samford came out of the break with a kill by Murphy and after a Citadel kill, added two more points with a kill by Bettinger and a block by Neisler and Murphy to go ahead by four. The Citadel called another timeout but Samford held them at bay and would go on to win set three, 25-21.
The Bulldogs return home for a five-match homestand that begins with Furman and Wofford next Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23-24. Samford will then host Chattanooga for the Southern Railroad Rivalry on Wednesday, Oct. 27, before wrapping up the homestand with UNC Greensboro and Elon, Oct. 30-31. The Bulldogs head back to the road for meetings at Elon and UNC Greensboro next weekend. On Friday, The Citadel will face Elon at 7 p.m. followed by a Saturday evening match with UNCG that is also slated to start at 7 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, Chattanooga 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston volleyball team used an aggressive defensive attack to get past the Chattanooga Lady Mocs 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Carolina First Arena (25-16, 25-9, 22-25, 25-11).
Junior Sarah Havel and senior Ginny Phillips had eight rejections apiece and the team totaled 16 blocks, while holding the Lady Mocs to a .058 hitting efficiency. The Cougars (18-5, 7-1) forced Chattanooga (8-16, 3-5) into 33 errors for the match.
On the offensive side of the net three Cougars had double digit kills, led by Phillips with 12 as she hit .417 (12-2-24). Senior Whitney Russell recorded 11 kills, while junior Elyse Chubb totaled 10.
Although she had her consecutive double-double streak end at nine, senior Cole Dawley came away with 39 assists and seven digs, while hitting .667 with four kills on six attempts and no errors.
The match was part of the Cougars Dig Pink event for breast cancer awareness. Many people in the stands sported pink t-shirts and money was collected for the side-out foundation. The College of Charleston has raised over $1,200 for the cause.
The Cougars have now won 11 of their last 12 matches and lead the Southern Conference in the team standings.
CofC will hit the road next weekend as they travel to Greensboro, N.C. on Friday for a match with UNC Greensboro. Saturday the Cougars battle Elon. The Lady Mocs are back in action at Maclellan Gym on Saturday hosting Wofford at 2 p.m. and return to the court the following afternoon against Furman.
UNCG 3, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Billi Baker and Caley Redden had a match-high 14 kills each to help lead UNCG over Davidson, 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20), on Sunday afternoon in Belk Arena. With the win, the Spartans are now tied atop the North Division with Elon and Appalachian State.
The Spartans improved their overall record to 17-6 and 5-3 in the Southern Conference, while the Wildcats fell to 13-11 this year and 4-3 in the SoCon.
In addition to her 14 kills, Redden had a match-high 14 digs to record a double-double. Ari Lysacek also had a double-double for the Spartans as she had 32 assists and 13 digs. Ariel Newman fell just short of a double-double as she finished the match with nine kills and nine digs.
Sarabeth Peele also had a match-high 14 kills to lead the Wildcats offensively. Jordan Benedict recorded double-digit kills as well for Davidson as she had 11. Hayley Lawson had a match-high 39 assists.
The Spartans came storming out of the gate to open the match as they took an early 12-5 lead on a kill by Redden. UNCG led 14-6 before the Wildcats came clawing back to narrow the lead to 14-11. Davidson tied the match at 16 and again at 18, but the Spartans recovered and won the set, 25-20, on a service ace by Lysacek.
The two teams traded points to begin the second set before the Spartans ran off four-straight points, capped off by back-to-back kills from Newman, to take a 16-10 lead. It appeared as if UNCG would cruise to winning the set as it led 19-12, but once again the Wildcats mounted a comeback. Davidson made it a three-point match at 23-20 before the Spartans got a kill from Baker and Olivia Humphries to win the set, 25-21, and take a 2-0 lead into the break.
Coming out of intermission, Davidson took a slim lead before UNCG came back to tie it at 13 on a kill by Humphries. The teams were still tied at 16 later in the set before the Wildcats won the next two points to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish. UNCG still trailed by two at 23-21, but Davidson claimed the next two points to hold on and win the set, 25-21.
The fourth set started off just as tight as UNCG held a narrow 14-13 lead before going on a 7-2 run to go ahead, 21-15 on a kill by Humphries. The Wildcats cut the Spartan lead down to 23-20, but the Spartans used a Wildcat error and a kill by Kayren Finney to take the set, 25-20, and win the match, 3-1.
The Spartans return home this weekend for a special weekend as UNCG will host The Citadel and College of Charleston for Dig Pink weekend. UNCG will play against The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. to kick off the weekend. Davidson will return to action Thursday, hosting Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. for its third straight SoCon match at Belk Arena.