Samford 3, Furman 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team kicked off its five-match homestand Saturday afternoon with an upset of Furman in a five-set thriller. The Bulldogs moved to 10-13 on the year and 4-5 in Southern Conference play while Furman falls to 12-9 overall and 6-3 in league play.
The Bulldogs fell in the first set, 30-28, before coming back to win set two, 25-20. They dropped the third set by two, 25-23, but came back with a dominating force to win set four, 25-19, and the fifth set, 15-12. Samford hit under .200 in the first two sets while holding Furman to a .000 hitting percentage in set two. The Bulldogs then hit .267 in set three and continued to improve to .357 in set four and .409 in set five while keeping the Paladins under .300 for the rest of the match. Samford ended the match with a total hitting percentage of .253 while Furman walked away with a .209 percentage.
Alexis Bauer ran the back row, posting a season-high 25 digs, tallying nine digs in both the first set and the fourth set. Lyndsey Holt and Allie Bettinger followed with nine total digs each while Holt also added two kills, an assist and a block assist and Bettinger added 14 kills and a block assist. Casey Garvey posted career highs in assists with 53 and kills with three while also posting seven digs.
Elizabeth Neisler tallied a team-high 19 kills and added two block assists and a solo block while Lauren Hutchinson followed with 16 kills, two digs and three block assists. Hutchinson also led in hitting with a .414 percentage. Katie Murphy posted 11 kills and hit .348 while also adding two digs, three block assists and a solo block.
Hillary Fountain added five digs, two aces and an assist while Alicia Roth had an ace as well. Samantha Bland tallied seven digs, an assist and an ace while Shelby Brandon added three kills, an assist, two block assists and a career-high tying four digs.
Furman was led by Kelly Kirby and Natalie Braun who posted 17 and 16 kills respectively. Kirby also added 36 assists and 11 digs to tally a triple-double on the day while also grabbing two block assists. Braun added seven digs and an assist. Carolyn Nicoletti posted a double-double with 27 assists and 13 digs while Alexis Shaffer added 11 kills. Caroline Adams had five kills, five digs, four block assists and two block solos.
Furman took charge in the first set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead with the help of four straight Samford errors. The Bulldogs finally got on the board after a Furman attack error and a kill by Bettinger but after two more points by the Paladins, Samford called a timeout. A ball-handling error by Furman out of the break got the Bulldogs within four points and after a kill by Kirby, Samford went on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 8-7. Furman pulled back ahead by four but Samford went on a 7-2 run to take a 16-14 lead and force Furman to call a timeout.
The Paladins got within one after the break but Samford refused to give up the lead and fought to keep a 20-19 lead before calling another timeout. It was a back-and-forth game from that point on, with seven tied scores and three lead changes. However, Furman came out on top, 30-28.
Hutchinson grabbed the first point of the second set for the Bulldogs on a kill but returned the favor to the Paladins on the next point with an attack error. Samford and Furman fought through four tied scores before the Bulldogs finally took over the lead by three points on three straight Furman errors. With Samford leading 10-7, Furman called a timeout but Samford continued to press forward, going ahead by as much as six. Furman called another timeout, trailing 20-14, and the Paladins made a comeback on a 5-3 run to get within four points. However, Samford called a timeout and went on to win set two, 25-20, on back-to-back kills by Neisler.
Kirby posted the first point for the Paladins in the third set on a kill but Hutchinson and Brandon answered back with a block to even the score. A Paladin error gave Samford a 2-1 lead but Furman then went on a 5-0 run to take a 6-2 lead. Samford called a timeout and fought back to get within one point before eventually tying the score at 14 and 15. However, Furman forged ahead and maintained their lead. A kill by Murphy cut the Furman lead to 23-22, but after a timeout, the Paladins went on to win, 25-23.
Furman took a quick 4-0 lead in set four on three kills and a Samford error, but the Bulldogs called timeout and came back on a 9-5 run to tie the score at nine. Furman maintained its lead, but only by three points, and the Bulldogs charged back to tie the score at 17 on a kill by Murphy and force Furman to call a timeout. A kill gave Furman the lead again out of the break but another kill by Murphy tied the score at 18. Furman would only score one more point as Samford went on a 7-1 run to win set four, 25-19.
Samford gained the first point of the final set on an error by Furman but a kill by Kirby evened the score. The Bulldogs, however, then took a 7-3 lead on a 6-2 run sparked by a kill by Neisler and capped off by an error by Adams. Furman called a timeout and cut the lead to one point on a kill by Adams, an ace by Brooke Ellison and a Samford error. Bettinger answered back with a kill but Chandler Ambrester tied the score at eight with back-to-back kills. Neisler regained the lead for the Bulldogs with a kill but Braun answered back to tie the score again at nine. Neisler and Braun traded kills again before the Bulldogs took a 12-10 lead on kills by Neisler and Bettinger.
Furman called a timeout and answered back with a kill by Shaffer to get within one, but Neisler maintained the Samford lead with a kill and a Furman error gave Samford match point. A service error by Alicia Roth got the Paladins within two again, but after a Samford timeout, Bettinger downed a kill to win the final set for the Bulldogs, 15-12.
The Bulldogs are back in action Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they host Wofford for the annual Dig Pink match. Furman (12-9, 6-3 SoCon) will play at Chattanooga Sunday at 2 p.m.
Chattanooga 3, Wofford 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team developed confidence as the match progressed in recording a 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-14) victory against Wofford stretching a winning streak at Maclellan Gym to three. Sophomore outside Heather Parman registered 11 kills and opened up the middle for senior Courtney Barnes and junior Ellie Kuhn combined for 22 kills to finish off the Terriers.
With the win, Chattanooga has won four of its past five matches after dropping the first four to being Southern Conference action and has a 9-16 overall mark. Wofford fell to 2-7 in the conference and 12-15 overall.
Senior Bailee Chastain notched 37 assists during the contest and added a season-high six kills keeping the Wofford defense off balance. Assisting on the attack was sophomore outside Meagan Ernd, who recorded six kills and senior right side Jessica Scott had three attacks hit the floor.
Leading the defensive effort was sophomore libero Paula Passmore with 29 digs, while Chastain and Parman added eight each. Barnes and Ernd paced Chattanooga in blocks with three each as the Lady Mocs recorded six total.
Chattanooga was consistent and effective on the afternoon compiling 48 kills, only 11 errors and a .306 attacking percentage and notched at least 15 kills in each frame. The Terriers only committed 14 mistakes, but had 10 less kills than the Lady Mocs.
The first set went back and forth seeing 10 ties and five lead changes as both teams battled it out. Chattanooga grabbed a four-point advantage, 12-8, on a 7-3 run capped by kills from Barnes, Kuhn and Parman forcing a Wofford timeout.
The Terriers responded and cut the deficit to on and then eventually tied the match at 17. From there, the team would tie each other up at 20 through 25-all.The Lady Mocs took the frame on a ball handling error by Wofford and a kill by Chastain , 27-25.
Chattanooga rallied to a 8-4 lead in the second set following three-straight Terrier mistakes, which included a block by Barnes and Scott. The Lady Mocs stretched their lead to four 22-18 on a kill by Parman and then closed the set out scoring on three-striaght rallies capped by a Chastain kill, 25-20.
In the third set, Wofford took a 4-0 lead but the Lady Mocs would end up knotting it at four after kills by Ernd and Chastain and a block by Chastian and Barnes. The Terriers kept with in striking distance at eight-all, but Chattanooga would go up by four at 13-9 on three-straight kills from Kuhn. The Lady Mocs then went on a 7-0 rally with the strong serving by Scott and four kills by Barnes. A block by Chastain closed the match for Chattanooga, 25-14.
On Sunday, the Lady Mocs host Furman at 2 p.m. in side Macellan Gym. Chattanooga then head to Birmingham and the second volleyball installment of the Southern Rail Rivalry Series on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern. Wofford will take the court Sunday on the road at Samford Sunday to complete the weekend.
Appalachian State 3, Furman 0
BOONE, N.C. - Lauren Swecker had a match-high 15 kills to lead the Appalachian State Mountaineers to a 3-0 win (28-30, 16-25, 15-25) over the Davidson Wildcats Saturday night in SoCon volleyball action at Varsity Gym.
Swecker was the lone hitter in double figures for Appalachian State (15-7, 6-3), while Anna Wagner added nine kills and 14 digs. Kasey Sauls and Lauren Brown finished with 22 and 21 assists, respectively, and Courtney Rhein led the defense with 18 digs.
Davidson (13-13, 4-5) got 14 kills from senior outside hitter Sarabeth Peele and eight from junior outside hitter Christine Perzinski. Senior Hayley Lawson and sophomore Ariel Ley split the setting duties, finishing with 16 and 14 assists, respectively, while senior libero Jennifer Chamblee had a team-high 11 digs.
The Wildcats turned a 4-4 tie into a 9-5 lead to open the match, behind a 5-1 run that included a pair of kills from Peele and one each from Perzinski and junior opposite Erin Lupfer. Davidson held the lead as a kill from junior middle blocker Madison Benedict put the 'Cats up 16-12, but the Mountaineers ran off three straight to get within a score, 16-15. Appalachian kept rolling, taking a one-point lead behind a 4-2 swing that included a pair of aces from Kasey Sauls. The teams traded scores until a kill from Peele lifted Davidson to a 23-22 advantage, but the Mountaineers took the next two points on a kill from Meghann Forshey and a Wildcat error. Peele fought off the set point to knot the score at 24 and force the extra time. Appalachian State got the first set-point chance with a 26-25 lead but Perzinski gave Davidson the ball back. A hitting error by Appalachian State gave Davidson a set-point chance, but Alison Blasingame tied the score at 27. An Anna Wagner ace gave Appalachian a second set point, but Lawson's kill tied the set again. A Wildcat service error combined with a kill from Swecker finally ended the set in favor of the Mountaineers, 30-28.
The teams battled to start the second set, tied at every point through seven, when the Mountaineers busted things open behind a 9-1 run to take a 15-8 lead. Two straight kills from Peele were part of a 3-0 run by the Wildcats to cut the lead to 15-11, but Appalachian State opened it back up with a 6-2 lead to pull ahead, 18-13. The Mountaineers closed the set with a 7-3 spurt to go ahead 2-0 in the match with the 25-16 win.
The third set played out similarly, as the Mountaineers opened up a close set with Davidson trailing 7-5, behind a 4-0 run to take a 13-8 lead and force Davidson into a timeout. The Wildcats again cut the lead to 15-11 on a kill from Ley and a pair of Mountaineer attack errors, but Appalachian State would hold on for the 25-15 win, closing with a 10-4 run, to take the match.
Davidson wraps up its weekend play with a 3 p.m. match at Western Carolina (6-18, 1-8) tomorrow.
College of Charleston 3, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. - Junior Sarah Havel broke the Cougar block record with 17 rejections as the College of Charleston volleyball team defeated the Elon Phoenix on Saturday night (29-27, 25-13, 20-25, 25-9).
The Cougars won their 13th match in their last 14 and their sixth straight conference victory.
Havel led a strong defensive effort as the Cougars (20-5, 9-1) set a school record with 23 team blocks. CofC forced Elon (14-12, 6-4) into 38 attack errors for the match. Senior Ginny Phillips totaled nine blocks and fellow senior Paige Johnson registered 18 digs.
On offense junior Elyse Chubb had a strong night, having 20 kills on 34 attempts (.559 hitting percentage). Senior Cole Dawley set up the offensive attack with 42 assists for the match.
With the win the Cougars have recorded 20 or more wins for the ninth time in the last 10 years. Charleston will resume action on Tuesday night at Charleston Southern.
UNCG 3, The Citadel 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG received a career-high 17 kills by junior Ariel Newman to lead the Spartans past The Citadel, 3-1 (30-28, 25-10, 22-25, 25-23), on Saturday night in Fleming Gymnasium. The match marked the final match of Dig Pink weekend for the Spartans, where they raised over $500 that will go towards the fight against breast cancer.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor was in attendance for the match, as well, and addressed the crowd prior to the start of the match.
The Spartans improved their overall record to 18-7 this year and 6-4 in the Southern Conference. The Citadel dropped to 5-20 on the season and 0-10 in the league.
In addition to her 17 kills, Newman posted 13 digs for a double-double. Ari Lysacek posted her 12th double-double this season as she had a match-high 30 assists and 11 digs. Kellie Orewiler also had a match-high 22 digs in the victorious effort.
Kaona Mercer led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, while Jessica Maas added 11 herself and 14 digs for a double-double. Tatum Jestila nearly had a double-double as she had nine kills and a team-high 18 digs.
The first set was extremely close throughout as the teams were tied 19 times. The Spartans had set point at 24-22 on a kill by Kayren Finney, but the Bulldogs came back to win the next three points to have set point at 25-24. UNCG fought that off before having three more set points before Lysacek delivered a kill to give the Spartans the set, 30-28.
Things came much easier for the Spartans in the second set as they used an early 9-0 run to take a 14-3 lead. UNCG continued to cruise the remainder of the set to win it, 25-10.
In the third set, UNCG found itself down 13-10 before winning the next four points to go ahead, 14-13. The Bulldogs immediately answered that run with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 19-14 lead. The Spartans were able to whittle down the Bulldog lead to 23-22, but The Citadel took the final two points to win the set, 25-22.
The fourth and final set was similar to the first set as there was 15 ties and six lead changes. The teams were tied at 14 midway through the set before the Spartans rattled off four-straight points to take an 18-14 lead. After a Bulldog timeout, The Citadel won the next five points to go in front, 19-18. The teams were tied at 23, but UNCG got back-to-back kills from Newman to win the set, 25-23.
The Spartans return to competition on Saturday as they travel to Birmingham, Ala. to face Samford at 2 p.m.