Furman 3, Wofford 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Sophomore Caroline Adams posted a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs, plus added six blocks to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-21, 25-14) win over Wofford Tuesday night in Alley Gymnasium.
Furman jumped out to a 7-4 lead over Wofford early in the first set, but the Terriers inched back and eventually tied the match at 11-11. Furman again pulled away, taking a 20-15 advantage before Wofford came within one point at 21-20. A service error put the Paladins ahead 22-20, but the Terriers took two straight points to tie the match again at 22-22. The teams were tied at 23 and 24 before two Paladin attack errors gave Wofford a 26-24 win in set one.
The two teams were tied six times early in the second set. With the score 6-6, sophomore Natalie Braun came up to serve for the Paladins. An ace by Braun, plus three kills and two blocks by Adams ignited a 9-0 run by the Paladins, giving Furman a 15-6 advantage. Wofford cut the Furman lead to four points at 17-13, but never got any closer as the Paladins cruised to a 25-17 victory to even the match score at one set apiece at the break.
Wofford took a 7-4 lead in set three and held the lead until Furman tied the score at 13-13. The Paladins built a 20-17 advantage before the Terriers went on a 4-1 run to tie the set at 21-21. Junior Alexis Shaffer posted two blocks and a kill as the Paladins won the final four points of the set, taking a 25-21 victory.
The Paladins and Terriers traded points back and forth to start the fourth set, and the teams were tied at nine points apiece before Furman went on a 7-1 run to push the Paladin lead to 16-10. Furman held the lead 19-14 then won the final six points of the match for a 25-14 win in the final set.
Sophomore Chandler Adams added 15 kills for the Paladins, and junior Alexis Shaffer tallied nine kills and a team-high seven blocks. Junior Kelly Kirby paced Furman with 28 assists, while sophomore Natalie Braun led the Paladins with 15 digs. Braun and senior Katherine Hall each recorded seven kills in the Paladin effort, and freshman Sarah McCarthy notched 24 assists in the victory.
Rachel Woodlee led Wofford (12-19, 2-11 SoCon) with 12 kills, while Bekah Dorsey recorded 24 digs to pace the Terriers. Reagan Styles led the Wofford defense with 13 assists.
Furman (15-10, 9-4 SoCon) will honor its two seniors at the Paladins' final home match of the 2010 season on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when Furman plays host to UNCG. Wofford will play their final home match Saturday at 7 p.m. against Elon in Ben Johnson Arena for Senior Day.
Appalachian State 3, Western Carolina 0
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University volleyball snapped a two-match skid Wednesday evening, as the Mountaineers drilled Western Carolina 3-0, completing the season sweep of the Catamounts. With the win, ASU improves to 16-9 overall and 7-5 in conference action and remains in contention for the north division title, while WCU falls to 6-22 on the season and 1-11 in the SoCon.
After first set play was tied at five apiece, Appalachian began to pull away, going on a 5-0 run to take a commanding 10-5 lead.
It was kills by Maggie Seeds and Caroline Sedon and a WCU hitting error that earned the Black and Gold the five-point cushion.
ASU clung to its two-point advantage the majority of the set, before an ace by Amanda Chaparro cut into the Apps' cushion and the Black and Gold saw their lead dwindle to just one point.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, Appalachian's offense picked up its pace, as kills by Lauren Swecker and Seeds and a Catamount attack error pushed ASU's lead to four points, up 19-15.
Seeds ended the match tied for a team-best 10 kills on 20 attacks, while also recording two block assists.
Despite being up by four points, Western Carolina would not go away quietly, as a block assist by Paloma Alvarez and Carrie Minogue and a kill by Alvarez knotted the set at 19.
Play was tied once more at 20 before another WCU error and an Alison Blasingame kill earned ASU the lead for good up 22-20.
Strong play down the stretch and a final Catamount serving error earned Appalachian the 25-20 first set win.
After Appalachian jumped out to a 4-0 second set lead, Western Carolina scored five straight points to go up 5-4.
It was ASU attack errors and points by Chaparro that enabled WCU to take the lead.
Chaparro finished with a match-high 11 kills, while also totaling 11 digs.
Action was tied three more times in the early part of the set, with the final time being at the seven all mark before strong play by Western Carolina propelled the Catamounts to an 18-12 lead.
Not willing to give up quite yet, three straight block assists by the duo of Kasey Sauls and Sedon pulled ASU within one down just 19-18, and a Kelly Rhein kill tied action yet at 19.
Rhein's kills marked a 4-0 run by the Mountaineers and ASU went on to post a 9-2 streak to close out second set play, and grab the 25-21 second set win.
Along with Sauls, Sedon and Rhein, Blasingame was also a major contributor during the run. The junior had a stellar outing against Western Carolina, finishing the night with 10 kills, six block assists, one solo block and an ace.
Once offensive production by Seeds and Rhein pushed ASU in front 9-5 in third set play, Appalachian continued to click and would not relinquish its advantage.
Strong blocking by Blasingame and Seeds extended the squad's lead to eight points, up 18-10 and WCU could never recover as the Apps cruised to a 25-15 third set and 3-0 match victory.
Continuing with its homestand, the Mountaineers host Chattanooga in another pivotal SoCon North Division tilt, Saturday, November 6. The contest is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center. The Catamounts return to action on Oct. 6-7 when they play host to their final two home contests of the season against Samford on Nov. 6 and Chattanooga on Nov. 7.