Elon 3, Western Carolina 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Elon University volleyball team won its first Southern Conference road match of the season with a thrilling 3-1 victory at Western Carolina on Sunday. Elon improves to 11-9 on the season (3-1 SoCon), while Western Carolina falls to 6-13 (1-3 SoCon).
Junior Caroline Lemke led the Elon attack with 13 kills, while sophomore Allison Johnson and junior Traci Stewart recorded 11 kills each. Freshman Cali Estes helped the Phoenix offense with an impressive 27 assists, a personal-best for the Indiana native. Junior Nickie Halbert also recorded 21 assists in the 6-2 offense.
The Phoenix defense was a team effort with four players (sophomore Ali Deatsch, senior Lizzie West, senior Lauren Copenhagen and Halbert) all recording 10 digs or more. Lemke finished the match with two solo blocks and four assisted blocks.
In the first set, Elon jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with kills by Lemke and Johnson. Western Carolina rallied and evened the set at eight-all. With the score tied at 10 points each, the Phoenix went on a five-point run with serves by senior Sarah Schermerhorn and kills by Johnson and Stewart. The Catamounts rallied to make the Elon advantage only two points, 17-15. The score remained close when Western Carolina pulled within two points four different times before a kill by Stewart with an assist from Estes gave Elon the win, 25-22.
The second set began with the Phoenix going on a 9-2 run that included kills from Copenhagen, Estes and a solo block from Lemke. With the score at a 15-5 Elon advantage, the Catamounts scored four straight to pull within six, 15-9, and forced the Phoenix to call a timeout. After the short break, Elon scored on three consecutive kills from Schermerhorn and Johnson. The Phoenix continued to hold the lead to take the 25-16 win and the 2-0 lead in the match with another set-point kill from Stewart, her fifth kill of the afternoon.
The third set found the score tied eight times by the time it was nine-all. Western Carolina then went on a 6-1 run to make the score 15-10, Catamounts. With the score at 20-14 in favor of Western Carolina, a kill from Schermerhorn and a block by Lemke and Stewart, pulled Elon to within four, 20-16. Western Carolina continued with its strong play in the set and took its first set of the afternoon, 25-19.
In the fourth set, the Catamounts jumped out to an 8-3 lead and forced the Phoenix to call a timeout. After the timeout, Elon cut the deficit to 14-10 with kills from Cophenhagen and Stewart and two from Lemke. Schermerhorn also contributed to the run with a service ace. Western Carolina scored three straight to move the score to 17-10. Elon then mounted a six point run to bring the set to 17-16. With the score at a 20-17 Western Carolina advantage, the Phoenix tied the score at 20-all. Elon took its first lead of the set at 23-22 with a kill from Stewart. The Catamounts scored the next point to make it 23-all, but the next two points went to Elon and the Phoenix took the set and the match, 25-23.
The Elon volleyball team will return home next weekend to play UNC Greensboro on Friday, Oct. 8 and Furman on Saturday, Oct. 9. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in Jordan Gym. WCU plays its next four matches on the road, facing Samford on Friday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. to open the road swing.
UNCG 3, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, N.C. - Coming off a tough five-set loss on Saturday, the UNCG volleyball team bounced back behind double-digit kill efforts from Caley Redden and Ariel Newman as the Spartans swept Appalachian State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22), on Sunday afternoon in the Holmes Center.
The Spartans improved to 15-4 on the season and 3-1 in the Southern Conference. The Mountaineers are now 12-5 this year and 3-1 in league play. Nine of the Spartans' 15 wins this season have now come by a 3-0 score.
Redden had a double-double to lead UNCG as she recorded 10 kills and 12 digs on the afternoon. Newman nearly had her second double-double in as many days as she tallied 10 kills and nine digs. Ari Lysacek had a match-high 29 assists to go along with eight digs, as well.
Maggie Seeds had a match-high 12 kills for the Mountaineers in the losing effort and Courtney Rhein had a team-high 10 digs.
The Spartans got off to a good start in the first set as they led 7-4 on a kill by Kayren Finney. The Mountaineers rallied though to tie the match at 13 after a kill by Seeds, but UNCG went right back ahead and led 19-16 after an ace by Newman to force a Mountaineer timeout.
After taking a 22-18 lead, Appalachian State used its final timeout after another UNCG ace, this time by Lysacek. The Mountaineers would trim the Spartan lead to 24-22, but UNCG used a timeout and Billi Baker delivered a kill to give the Spartans the set, 25-22.
The second set proved to be even closer as there were 10 ties and four lead changes. UNCG trailed 8-5 early in the set before running off the next five points to go ahead, 10-8. The Mountaineers would tie the match at 11 before taking a 14-11 advantage on a UNCG error.
The Spartans would go on to trail by as many as four points at 20-16, before scoring three kills and an ace to tie the match at 20. The teams were still tied at 23-23, but UNCG got a pair of kills from Olivia Humphries to win the set, 25-23.
It appears UNCG would cruise in the third set as the Spartans never trailed. The Spartans came storming out of the gates as they jumped out to a commanding 17-9 lead. Appalachian State refused to quit though as they took the next five points to pull within 17-14 to get back into the set.
UNCG found itself leading 21-16 on a kill by Redden, but once again the Mountaineers rallied and won the next four points to make it a 21-20 contest. With UNCG holding on to a narrow 23-22 lead, a kill by Newman gave UNCG match point before a block by Finney and Lysacek gave the Spartans the set, 25-22.
The Spartans return to the court on Friday as they make the short trip to Elon to face the Phoenix at 6 p.m. The Apps hit the road for two more important SoCon matches. Appalachian first battles defending SoCon North Division Champion Samford, Saturday, October 9 at 7 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.
Chattanooga 3, Savannah State 0
SAVANNAH, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team gained some confidence going into its crucial Southern Conference match against Samford on Wednesday with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-8, 25-10) victory over Savannah St. on Sunday at Tiger Arena. The Lady Mocs return home to "Pack the Mac" and hold its Dig Pink and camp reunion night at 7 p.m. against the Bulldogs.
"Everybody that came on the road trip had an opportunity to play today," said associate head coach James Onikeku. "We accomplished the one goal that we had going into the match, which was minimizing our mistakes. I could see that the team definitely had fun, which should help us get mentally focused again with an important match against Samford on Wednesday."
In the final non-conference match of the season, sophomore outside Kirsten Beasley paced the Lady Mocs offensively with nine kills, one kill shy of a double-double, as she added 10 digs.
"I think Beasley did a fantastic job on the backrow," said Onikeku. "She passed well and played really solid defense. She also led the team in kills and was very consistently. She contributed all the way around for us."
Also helping the Lady Mocs offense was freshman outside Jennifer Kuroski with six kills, while sophomore outside Heather Parman and junior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn each totaled four. Adding three kills each was seniors middle blocker Courtney Barnes and right side Jessica Scott.
Running the offense against the Tigers was freshman Tess Kosycarz totaling 25 assists and registering six digs.
Sophomore libero Paula Passmore registered 13 digs on the afternoon as Barnes and Chastain recorded five and six, respectively.
"Paula did better today," said Onikeku. "I really liked the way she communicated with her teammates and the presence she had on the court."
Chattanooga (5-14) totaled 25 kills and hit .338 during the contest and racked up 41 digs in the three set match. The Lady Mocs forced 23 Savannah St. (2-15) mistakes.
In the first set, Chattanooga rolled to a 9-1 advantage on a kill by Beasley. Stretching their lead to 17-6 on a kill by Kosycarz, the Lady Mocs never looked back and closed out the set, 25-8.
The second set had a similar start as the Lady Mocs picked up a 12-1 advantage capped by a block from Barnes and Beasley. Chattanooga then continued to pressure the Tigers and rallied to a 20-5 lead on a kill by Parman. The visitors went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-8.
Once again, the Lady Mocs began with a 12-1 lead in the third set on a kill from junior defensive specialist Dakota Davis. Chattanooga would take a 17-4 lead on consecutive service aces by Chastain. Scott finished off the match with a kill as the Lady Mocs won their fifth match of the season, 25-10.
The Southern Rail Rivalry Matchup, a year-long series with Samford, kicks off on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside Maclellan Gym, where the Lady Mocs will be looking to "Pack the Mac" and break the volleyball attendance record on their Dig Pink and Camp Reunion/Youth Night.