Furman 3, Chattanooga 2
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - Sophomore Chandler Ambrester recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 20 kills and 15 digs to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-17, 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 17-15) come-from-behind victory at Chattanooga Sunday afternoon.
Furman used a .426 first-set attack percentage to jump out to an early lead with a 25-17 win. The two teams then battled through 11 ties in the second set. Chattanooga took a 24-21 lead before the Paladins reeled off three-straight points off back-to-back kills by sophomore Caroline Adams and a kill by sophomore Natalie Braun to tie the match at 24-all. The Mocs capitalized off two Furman hitting errors to win the set 26-24 and tie the match at one set apiece at the break.
Chattanooga built a 16-12 lead in the third set before Furman won five-straight points ignited by two kills by Ambrester to take the lead at 17-16. The two teams were tied at 17 and 18 before the Mocs went on a 7-2 run to end the set at 25-20 and take a 2-1 set advantage.
Furman rebounded in the fourth set to build an early 10-5 lead. Junior Alexis Shaffer recorded two kills as the Paladins won five-straight points later in the set to take a 20-13 lead. The Mocs were unable to come within six points the rest of the set as Furman took a 25-19 win to even the match at two sets apiece and force a deciding fifth set.
The two teams were tied four times early in the fifth set before Chattanooga built a 10-7 lead. Shafer and Ambrester each posted kills to bring the Paladins within one point at 10-9, but the Paladins were unable to take the lead. With the Mocs at match point at 14-12, Furman took advantage of a Chattanooga service error and a kill by senior Katherine Hall to tie the match at 14-14. The two teams were again tied at 15-15 before a kill by Shaffer and a hitting error by the Mocs gave Furman the 17-15 fifth-set victory.
Junior Kelly Kirby posted her 15th double-double of the season, leading the Paladins with 51 assists while adding 14 kills, nine digs and three service aces in the contest. Braun had 12 kills and 13 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Shaffer had 16 kills and a team-high four blocks in the Furman win, while Hall and Adams each added 13 kills. Freshman Elle Ross recorded 17 digs for the Paladins.
Megan Ernd led Chattanooga (9-17, 4-6 SoCon) with 20 kills, while Heather Parman added 18 kills for the Mocs. Bailee Chastain recorded 52 assists, and Paula Passmore had 29 digs in the loss.
Furman (13-9, 7-3 SoCon) will continue its four-match road swing Thursday when the Paladins play at Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. Chattanooga returns to Maclellan Gym on Saturday to host Elon at 6 p.m. following the Mocs football game against the Phoenix that begins at 2 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
Georgia Southern 3, Appalachian State 1
BOONE, N.C. - Nicole Jeschelnik unloaded a career-high 16 kills Sunday afternoon (October 24) sending the Georgia Southern Volleyball team past Appalachian State 3-1 (25-17, 27-29, 25-21, 25-17) in the Holmes Center. The Southern Conference win clinched a tournament berth for the Eagles who improved to 18-7 overall and 9-1 in league play. The Mountaineers dropped to 15-8, 6-4.
Three Eagles posted double-figure kill performances in the win led by Jeschelnik's 16. Parker Small followed with 13 and Bethany Sanford added 12. Ashley Roe posted 21 digs, while Sanford picked up a double-double with 18 digs. Kate Van Dyke fueled the Eagle attack with 48 assists and 14 digs.
Georgia Southern took a 1-0 match lead with a 25-17 first set win. Small led the Eagles with five kills, helping hold the Mountaineers to a .059 hitting percentage. Georgia Southern jumped out with a 5-1 lead and led by seven at 19-12 following a Small kill. The Eagles closed out the opening frame with a Hannah Nelson kill for a 25-17 win.
The Mountaineers avenged a first set loss, winning set two 29-27 to even the match at 1-1. Anna Wagner led ASU with six kills in the frame that witnessed 13 ties and five lead changes. Two Mountaineer attack errors gave Georgia Southern an 18-13 lead, but ASU climbed back, knotting the score 18-18 using a 5-0 run. The Mountaineers took a one point lead at 23-22 off a Wagner kill, but Enjoli Johnson (Lilburn, Ga.) evened the set at 23-all. Appalachian State fought off three Eagle set points that followed and took the lead at 27-26. Van Dyke erased ASU's first set point, but the Mountaineers picked up the next two points to take the set.
The Eagles came out strong in the third set, hitting .347 led by Nelson and Jeschelnik with six and five kills, respectively. Georgia Southern raced out to a 14-7 advantage, but the Mountaineers crawled back to within two points at 21-19. The Eagles closed the set on a 4-2 run to take a 2-1 match lead.
Jeschelnik and Sanford both posted four kills in the fourth and final set as Georgia Southern sealed the match with a 25-17 win. ASU kept the set close in the early stages, but a Jeschelnik kill sparked a 4-0 Eagle run handing Georgia Southern an 18-11 lead. Jeschelnik's third kill of the set forced the Mountaineers to call a timeout at 21-13. Georgia Southern closed the set on a Mountaineer attack error.
Georgia Southern returns home to play host to Furman on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. for its annual Dig Pink event. Fans are asked to wear pink to show their support for breast cancer awareness. Donations will be accepted during the match. The Black and Gold head back out on the road, as they travel to Charleston, S.C., Saturday October 30 to battle south division leader College of Charleston. The contest between the Apps and Cougars is set to begin at 2 p.m.
Samford 3, Wofford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team closed out its second Southern Conference home weekend Sunday with a 3-0 sweep of Wofford. With the Bulldogs' upset of Furman on Saturday and the sweep of Wofford today, they are back at .500 in league play and have now won three in a row.
Samford (11-13, 5-5 SoCon) showed great poise and intensity against Wofford (12-16, 2-8 SoCon) as the Terriers battled the Bulldogs hard in sets one and three. However, the Bulldogs made plays when it counted and showed that their maturity was enough to bring them out on top. Samford out-blocked Wofford, 9-5, and hit a match-high .583 in the second set.
The Bulldogs and Terriers fought through 11 tied scores and only two lead changes in the first set, but it came down to the wire much like the first set in Saturday's match with Furman. The Bulldogs played their second extra-point set in two days but managed to come out with the win this time.
Lauren Hutchinson led the Bulldogs against the Terriers, hitting .500 and tallying 12 kills on 18 attempts while also posting three block assists. Casey Garvey dished out a team-high 39 assists and nine digs while also adding two block assists, an ace and a kill. Lyndsey Holt led the back row with 11 digs while also adding three kills, two aces and a block assist.
Allie Bettinger led the left side with a team-high 14 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. Elizabeth Neisler tallied eight kills and hit .286 while also adding a dig and a block assist.
Katie Murphy posted eight kills and hit .250 while also adding four solo blocks, two block assists, a dig and an assist. Samantha Bland finished with 10 digs while Alexis Bauer and Hillary Fountain each had five digs and an ace. Bauer also tallied one assist.
Stacy Byrd led the Terriers with 13 kills and seven digs while also grabbing a block assist. Wendy Burnett, Arden Anderson and Rachel Woodlee posted four kills each while Bekah Dorsey led in assists with 15 followed by Tara Gough with eight. Woodlee also led in blocks with three block assists while Anderson tallied Wofford's only solo block.
Neisler opened set one with a kill to get the Bulldogs quickly on the board but Woodlee answered back for the Terriers with a kill of her own to even the score. The score was tied two more times before Samford took a 10-4 lead on a 7-1 run sparked by a kill from Holt and capped off with a block by Murphy. Wofford called a timeout but Samford came out of the break with a kill by Murphy and kept the momentum going to take a seven-point lead. However, the Terriers eventually cut the lead to five and Samford called a timeout with a 17-12 lead.
Wofford came back after the break with a 6-1 run to get within two and Samford called another timeout. Wofford came back with a kill to get within one but Bettinger answered with a kill of her own to make it a 20-18 game. A kill and an ace by Wofford evened the score at 20, and the Bulldogs and Terriers would trade points again and again until Wofford called a timeout with the score tied at 23.
The Terriers came out of the break and scored a kill to reach set point but the Bulldogs held them there with a kill by Neisler. Wofford gained two more set points but Samford dashed their hopes, tying the score again and again. With a kill, Bettinger tied the score and then she took the lead for the Bulldogs with another kill. A service error by Holt tied the score at 27, but another service error by Wofford's Reagan Styles gave Samford the lead again. Finally, the Bulldogs gained the 29-27 win of the first set on an attack error by Burnett.
Neisler knocked down the first point of the second set with a kill but Wofford answered back to even the score. The score was tied twice before Samford went on a 12-1 run to take an 11-point lead as Holt served for eight straight points and Bettinger and Murphy dominated the first half of the set with kills. Wofford took a timeout with the Bulldogs leading 15-4, but could only score four more points as Samford went on to win set two, 25-8, in an offensive showcase.
Wofford scored the first point of the third set for Samford with an error but quickly came back with a kill to make it 1-1. The Terriers took the lead due to back-to-back errors by Samford, but the Bulldogs quickly got back in the game and took a three-point lead on aces by Holt and Fountain and a block by Murphy. Wofford called a timeout and got right back in it with a 4-1 run to tie the score at 10. Samford moved ahead by two but Wofford caught up again and tied the score at 13 before eventually taking an 18-17 lead and forcing Samford to call a timeout.
A kill by Garvey out of the break tied the score at 18 and the Bulldogs took a two-point lead on an ace by Bauer and a kill by Hutchinson as Wofford called its final timeout of the match. The Terriers tied the score again at 21 but Samford answered back with a kill by Neisler, a block by Holt and Hutchinson and then a kill by Hutchinson to gain match point. Wofford held the Bulldogs at 24 with a kill by Byrd but Hutchinson came back with a kill to earn the 25-22 win for Samford in set three.
The Bulldogs continue their five-match homestand Wednesday, Oct. 29, as they host SoCon rival Chattanooga. Match play begins at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. Wofford will travel to Statesboro, Ga. for their next SoCon match Saturday against Georgia Southern.
Davidson 3, Western Carolina 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - With three hitters in double figures and double-doubles from seniors Sarabeth Peele and Hayley Lawson, the Davidson Wildcats defeated the Western Carolina Catamounts, 3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 27-29, 25-20), Sunday afternoon in SoCon volleyball action at the Ramsey Center.
In her fourth double-double of the season, Peele finished with 17 kills and 20 digs to lead Davidson (14-13, 5-5), while Lawson tallied 46 assists and 10 digs in her third and with nine kills, just missed a triple-double. Senior middle blocker Jorden Benedict recorded 15 kills, while junior opposite Erin Lupfer added 14. Senior libero Jennifer Chamblee led the defense with 23 digs, and sophomore setter Ariel Ley was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 13.
Western Carolina (6-19, 1-9) was led by Paloma Alvarez, who finished with 19 kills and 14 digs, and Kelcie Randazzo, who had 15 kills. Rebecca Stoltz had a team-high 47 assists, while Amanda Chaparro and Morgan Cochran each finished with 18 digs to lead the defense.
The Wildcats turned a one-point deficit into a 13-11 lead with a 4-0 run, including a pair of kills from Benedict, to open the match. Western answered with a 6-0 run of its own to go back ahead, 17-13, but Davidson got the set knotted at 21 with an 8-4 spurt on an ace by Peele, who served out the set as the 'Cats won the last four points in the 25-21 win in the opening frame.
Davidson won the first five points in the second set and opened up a 10-3 lead as Peele recorded back-to-back kills. Trailing 16-11, Western rattled off seven straight to jump out to a 18-16 lead before a Western hitting error gave possession back to the 'Cats. A 3-1 Davidson swing, including a pair of kills from Peele and one by junior outside hitter Christine Perzinski put Davidson back ahead one, 20-19, but the Catamounts put together the next three, as Emily Franklin and Stoltz got kills, to reclaim a 22-20 advantage. Lawson made it 22-21, but a kill from Chaparro and a Wildcat error gave Western a set-point try at 24-21. Lupfer got the point and the ball back for Davidson, and Peele served out her second straight set as the 'Cats completed the 26-24 comeback to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
A kill from Lawson put Davidson ahead, 12-7, in the third set, but Western used an 8-2 run, including six straight, to go ahead 15-14. Peele knotted the set by winning the next point and the teams went back-and-forth with six ties along the way. Western opened a 23-20 lead late in the set, but the Wildcats tied the game with a 3-0 run punctuated by an ace from Benedict to force a Western timeout. A Catamount error out of the break put Davidson in control, 24-23, but Alvarez fought off the match point to tie the score at 24. Peele put away a set from Lawson to give Davidson a second match point, but Randazzo extended play once more. A Lupfer kill gave the Wildcats a 26-25 lead, but Randazzo helped the Catamounts survive a third match point before Minogue's kill put Western ahead, 27-26. Franklin's service error knotted the score for the last time, though, before two straight kills from Minogue delivered the set for the Catamounts, 29-27.
In the fourth and final set, Davidson turned an early 6-2 lead into a 9-4 advantage on a kill from Lawson. The Catamounts ran off four straight, including kills from Stoltz and Randazzo, to close to just a point, 9-8, but Peele won the next point for Davidson, who pushed its lead to 17-11 with a 7-3 run. Western got within four points twice, at 19-15 and again at 24-20, but just before junior middle blocker Madison Benedict punched home the match winner.
The Wildcats return to Belk Arena for four straight matches beginning with Furman Saturday at 7 p.m. and followed by Wofford Sunday at 2 p.m. The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. as they play host to East Tennessee State in the team's final non-conference match of the season.