Appalachian State 3, Akron 0
AKRON, Ohio- Appalachian State University bounced back Friday afternoon, as the Mountaineers handed tournament-host Akron a 3-0 loss in the Black and Gold's first match of the Akron Invitational. After squeaking out a hard-fought first set win 25-20, ASU then went on to pick up second and third set victories by 25-22 and 25-20 margins. The win improves Appalachin to 7-1 on the season, while the Zips drop to 3-4. It also makes ASU a perfect 5-0 when playing away from its home floor.
Making their 2010 home debut, Akron came out on fire in the opening set, taking a 4-0 lead with Paiton Twitty and Alex Cocklin pacing the Zips' offensive attack.
However, Appalachian was able to get things going, as Alison Blasingame tallied two kills and the Apps capitalized on two Akron errors to tie play at 4 apiece.
Action was knotted eight more times, before back-to-back Mountaineer errors gave Akron the lead once more, putting AU up 20-18.
The outcome appeared bleak for the Black and Gold as Akron kept its two-point cushion, clinging to a 23-21 advantage.
Picking up its pace at the right time, Appalachian's offense was productive down the stretch, with Anna Wagner and Blasingame tallied kills to knot the set at 23.
Both teams had opportunities to put the set away, but it was the Apps who came through in the end, as Kelly Rhein drilled a kill and Blasingame recorded an ace to push ASU to the hotly-contested two-point first set win.
Blasingame finished with eight kills, two aces and three block assists. She also recorded the set winning point in both the first and third sets.
ASU carried its momentum into the second set, grabbing a 4-1 lead, as Blasingame was unstoppable on the offensive front.
Despite the early advantage, Appalachian saw its lead dwindle to one point at 11-10, and eventually Akron tied play at 11 all.
The back and forth affair was knotted five more times, before Ohio native Caroline Sedon came through for the Apps tallying a kill.
Sedon's kill was all the push the team needed, as that coupled with a Rhein kill, an Akron attack error and a final Rhein service ace propelled Appalachian to another two point set win.
Rhein ended the match with a team-best 11 kills to go along with 12 digs and two block assists.
Trying to rally a comeback of sorts, the Zips would not back down, as they took the lead early in the third set.
Similar to the first two sets, play was tied five times before reaching the 10-point mark. The Mountaineers then went on a 5-1 run, as sophomore Meghann Forshey recorded a kill and Lauren Brown had a service ace.
The Zips could never recover from the Apps' silencing streak, and the Mountaineers rolled to a third set and 3-0 match win.
With a quick turnaround, Appalachian takes to the court at 5 p.m. to play Saint Francis (Pa.) in their second match of the Appalachian Invitational. The Red Flash were defeated earlier in the day 3-1 by Indiana State.
Appalachian State 3, St. Francis (Pa.) 1
AKRON, Ohio- Fresh off its 3-0 win against Akron, Appalachian State University volleyball picked up where it left off, as the Apps reeled off wins in three straight sets, after dropping the first, to down Saint Francis 3-1 Friday evening at the Akron Invitational.
After suffering a close 26-24 first set defeat, the Apps picked up 25-21, 25-11 and 25-11 second, third and fourth set victories. With the decisive win, ASU is now 8-1 on the 2010 campaign, while Saint Francis falls to 2-7 overall.
Early offensive production by Appalachian enabled the Mountaineers to go on an 8-0 streak taking a controlling 10-2 lead. Offense came from all over as Kelly Rhein, Meghann Forshey and Caroline Sedon all contributed on the offensive front.
Saint Francis however capitalized on several Appalachian miscues and the Red Flash came back from their early deficit to tie action at 12 all.
With the set knotted at 14 apiece the Black and Gold pushed ahead to make the score 19-16 in their favor.
However, the Red Flash continued to chip away, and an Appalachian attack error proved costly tying action once more at 23 all.
Anna Wagner denied Saint Francis its first chance at putting the first set away, as she provided a much-need spark tallying a kill to knot play at 24 all.
Despite Wagner's solid effort, two final Saint Francis kills by Lindsay Malloy and Leanne Haus gave SFU the two-point first set win.
Appalachian rebounded in second set action, and mounted a 6-2 advantage, with four Red Flash attack errors helping ASU earn the lead.
Eerily similar to the first set, the Apps let Saint Francis back into it, as block assists by Haus and Elizabeth Williams gave SFU the edge, up 19-18.
Continuing to battle, the Mountaineers went on a 3-0 run after play was tied at 19 all and hung on to tie the match at 1-1.
Mustering up some energy, the Black and Gold hammered the Red Flash in the third set.
Once Appalachian grabbed a convincing 10-3 advantage the squad never looked back, as it was early SFU attack errors and continued offensive prowess by
Alison Blasingame and Wagner that paced ASU.
ASU's offense was relentless and completely dominating, with back-to-back kills by Maggie Seeds and an ace by Rhein putting the Black and Gold on top 18-7.
Two Red Flash attack errors and a bad set in addition to a Forshey kill earned Appalachian the 14-point third set win.
Almost a mirror image to the third set, four set play saw the same favorable results for the Mountaineers.
Action was close in the early goings of the set, but kills by Wagner and Seeds propelled Appalachian, which continued to click on all cylinders.
Once Malloy tallied a kill to cut into ASU's lead, putting the Apps up just 13-11, the Black and Gold went on a deadly 12-0 run to close out the set.
Forshey and Blasingame continued to dominate, while the Red Flash were self-detrimental totaling five attack errors to help Appalachian notch its advantage.
Seeing her first action of the 2010 campaign, Prescott Lederer recorded two late kills in waning plays of the fourth and final set and the Mountaineers picked up the 3-1 match win.
Appalachian will play its final contest of the Akron Invitational tomorrow, Saturday September 12 at 2 p.m. against Indiana State.
UNCG 3, UNC Asheville 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Senior Caley Redden was one of four Spartans to record at least nine kills as she turned in a team-high 16 kills to help lead the UNCG volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23) win over UNC Asheville on Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Buccaneer Classic.
The Spartans improved to 8-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs fell to an even 4-4.
"Tonight was an all-around good effort from our team," said head coach Patrick Nicholas. "As a team we had a great hitting percentage. We need to keep working as a team, though, to put out a more consistent effort. We have preached all season that we need to work on playing from the neck up and once we do that more consistently we can take our game to the next level."
Redden and her teammates helped UNCG post a season-high .356 hitting percentage for the match. In addition to Redden, Billi Baker also posted double-digit kills with 10. Senior Kayren Finney and freshman Karrian Chambers each chipped in nine kills for UNCG. Ari Lysacek posted a team-high 28 assists and Kellie Orewiler had a team-high 15 digs.
"We really stuck together as a team tonight," said Redden. "We faltered a little bit in the third set, but we bounced back and kept fighting as a team in the fourth set to come out with the win."
Cindi Miller and Kelsey Benorden led the Bulldogs as they each turned in a match-high 18 kills. Benorden added a team-high 11 digs for a double-double and Rachel Guinane posted a match-high 36 assists.
The two sides played to four tight sets in the match as neither team claimed a set by more than five points.
In the opening set, the two teams traded points early as they found themselves knotted at 10 in the early going. UNCG then used a kill by Olivia Humphries and a pair of Bulldog attack errors to take a 13-10 lead it would never relinquish. UNCA battled back to make it 15-14, but the Spartans responded with six-straight points, capped off by a Baker kill, to take a commanding 21-14 lead. UNCG got a kill Redden to give the Spartans the first set, 25-20.
The Bulldogs held a narrow lead in the second set at 9-7, but UNCG went on what has become one of its patented runs, as the Spartans took the next six points to go ahead, 13-9. UNCG would go on the stretch its lead to as many as six points as it took the set, 25-21.
Coming out of the break, the two sides played to their closest set as the teams were tied an astounding 16 different times and saw the lead change eight times. Neither team led by more than two points the entire set until the final few points. A kill by Benorden gave the Bulldogs a 15-13 lead in the set before UNCG battled back to take a 16-15 lead.
That would turn out to be the final lead the Spartans would have in the set, although the two teams found themselves tied once again at 20. UNC Asheville won the next four points, however, en route to winning the set, 25-21.
UNCG led for much of the early going, but the Bulldogs came back to tie the set at 12 and again at 15. UNC Asheville went on to win three-straight points to take an 18-16 lead. The Spartans had a rally of their own though, as they won eight of the next 12 points to have match point at 24-22.
The Bulldogs made one final push to pull within 24-23 after a UNCG error, but the Spartans called a timeout and then received a kill from Finney to win the set, 25-23, and win the match.
The Spartans will conclude their stay at the Buccaneer Classic on Saturday as they face host East Tennessee State at 12:30 p.m. before wrapping up against Austin Peay at 4:30 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, Cincinnati 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - After raising their championship banner from last years Southern Conference Tournament, the College of Charleston volleyball beat the Cincinnati Bearcats 3-1 to start the Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Classic Friday night at Carolina First Arena (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23).
The four-set victory is the first in program history over Cincinnati.
"I can't be happier with what we did tonight," said Head Coach Jason Kepner. "Cincinnati is an outstanding team and we did what we talked about, we touched a lot of balls on the block. I'm very proud of the team for getting the win, and I'm not really sure what to say."
Whitney Russell led the Cougar attack with 23 kills and 13 digs, while on defense four different CofC players had at least four blocks. Freshman Madelyn McGinnis also contributed with 11 kills.
After CofC (7-2) took a 22-16 lead in the first set Cincinnati (7-2) stormed back and went on a 5-0 run to close to within one point. The Bearcats would not score again in the set as back-to-back kills from Russell and junior Sarah Havel and a block from the duo sealed the 25-21 victory.
The Cougars would take a 2-0 lead into the break, but Cincinnati came out strong in the third set and narrowed the match to 2-1. Not wanting to go to five sets, the Cougars scored the first five points of the fourth set with a Havel ace and two of the teams 12 blocks. Cincinnati didn't go away without a fight, but in the end Whitney Russell closed out the game and match with a emphatic kill.
Cincinnati came into the match with a 7-1 record after beating No. 16 Kentucky on Tuesday night.
Kepner said his team is learning how to consistently play at a high level.
"We made a lot of big-time plays tonight to give ourselves a chance to win," he said. "We have the ability to play at a high level, we just have to get this team to consistently play at that high level. Tonight is one step close to this team's goals and to beat Cincinnati here at home is a great start to this weekend."
The Cougars continue play with two matches tomorrow, beginning at 1p.m. against Auburn and then their finale at 7:30p.m. against Oregon State.
Samford 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 2
OXFORD, Miss. ---- The Samford volleyball team came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the University of Louisiana, 3-2, Friday afternoon on the first day of the Magnolia Invitational, hosted by Ole Miss. Samford won the match by scores of 26-28, 23-25, 25-22, 25-12, 15-12. The win was the 51st win of Samford head coach Derek Schroeder's career at the helm of the Bulldog volleyball program.
After hitting .022 and .182 in the first two sets, the Bulldogs upped their game and hit .222 in set three, .458 in set four and .429 in set five.
"We are allowing too many outside factors determine our level of play early in matches," Schroeder said. "A good team with lofty goals like ours can't come out and hit .020 and .180. We are obviously capable of far more."
Samford (6-3) had four Bulldogs in double-digit kills and digs while Lyndsey Holt and Hillary Fountain grabbed their second double-doubles of the season and Casey Garvey posted her first. Holt tallied 11 kills and 10 digs while also grabbing two service aces, a block assist and a solo block. Fountain dished out 17 assists and 10 digs while adding two kills and one block assist. Garvey led her team in assists with 29 while also posted 10 digs and four service aces.
Katie Murphy led the Bulldogs with 15 kills while hitting .438 and grabbing five solo blocks and a block assist along with a dig. Allie Bettinger and Elizabeth Neisler each posted 13 kills while Bettinger also added two aces and eight digs. Neisler also tallied five digs and two block assists.
"Murphy was great after sitting out all week with a sinus infection and Lexi was great at libero in sets three, four and five," Schroeder said.
Alexis Bauer led Samford in digs with 18 while also posting five assists, a kill and an assist. Samantha Bland added an assist and seven digs while Rachel Gadberry tallied four kills, four digs, two set assists and three block assists.
Louisiana was led by Lesley Mrirarchi and Taylor Meade who posted 16 and 12 kills, respectively. Mirarchi also led in blocks along with Caroline Dufrene with five. Mandi Gavin posted a double-double, tallying 46 assists and 15 digs while Lindsay Brown led the Ragin' Cajun back row with 27 digs.
Samford will conclude play in the Magnolia Invitational Saturday as it takes on Southern Miss at 11 a.m. and Ole Miss at 7 p.m. Fans can follow the action via live stats through link on the volleyball schedule page at www.samfordsports.com.
Northern Illinois 3, Elon 1
Elon 3, Stetson 0
ELON, N.C. - After dropping its first match of the day, 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 12-25, 18-25), to Northern Illinois, the Elon University volleyball team rebounded for a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-16) sweep of the Stetson Hatters Friday night in Jordan Gym on the first day of the Elon Classic.
"We had a few unforced errors against Stetson in the first two sets, but managed to clean it up and come back from five down in the final set after a few key blocks to pick up the win," said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. "We didn't serve or pass very well this morning against Northern Illinois, but we progressively improved throughout the day and built momentum going into tomorrow's finale with Liberty."
Elon (7-3) found itself in a back-and-forth battle with the Hatters in the final match of the day, until the Phoenix claimed a two-point lead, 21-19, late in the first set on a Sarah Schermerhorn and Traci Stewart block that forced a Stetson timeout. Elon managed to keep Stetson at arm's length for the remainder of the set to win, 25-22, and take a 1-0 lead.
Down 22-21 late the in the second set, the Phoenix rallied to take a one-point lead, as back-to-back kills on the right side of the net from Stewart and junior Caroline Lemke put Elon ahead, 23-22, forcing the Hatters to regroup and take their second timeout. Elon managed to finish off Stetson with two consecutive points to win the set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 advantage.
The Hatters took an early five-point edge, 11-6, in the third set to force an Elon timeout, as a kill from Kaley Melville gave Stetson its largest lead of the match. But Elon's resilience would again pay dividends, as an Allison Johnson kill on the left side of the net put the finishing touches on a 9-3 run to give the Phoenix a 15-14 lead, forcing another Stetson timeout.
Elon would never look back from that point forward, outscoring the Hatters, 10-2, to secure the sweep and end the day with split. The Phoenix closed the match on a 19-5 run overall, hitting .252 as a team in the win.
Stewart led the way with a match-high 13 kills, while Schermerhorn finished with 11 kills and five blocks for the Phoenix.
After dropping the opening set, 25-21, to the Huskies in its first match of the day, the Phoenix mounted a late comeback in the second set to knot the match at one apiece, turning five-point deficit into a two-point lead. Elon would eventually close out the Huskies down the stretch to secure the 25-23 win.
But the Huskies came out of the locker room after intermission and quickly took a 2-1 lead over Elon, handing the Phoenix a 25-12 setback in the third set of the match after taking an early lead that they never relinquished.
The NIU offensive attack proved to be too much for Elon to overcome in the fourth and final set, as the Huskies took a seven-point lead late in the game and held on to for the win.
Schermerhorn and Lemke both registered a team-high 10 kills, while sophomore Ali Deatsch laid out for a team-high 14 digs for the Phoenix.
Northern Illinois' Lauren Wicinski led all players with a match-high 14 kills, as the Huskies tallied a .298 hit percentage as a team.
The 2010 Elon Classic wraps up tomorrow afternoon, with the Phoenix taking on Liberty at 3 p.m. after Stetson takes on Northern Illinois at noon.
North Florida 3, Chattanooga 2
JACKSONVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team tied the match up at two after dropping the first two sets, but North Florida bounced back to take a 3-2 (26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 15-10) victory. The contest kicked off the Best Western/UNF Invitational for the Lady Mocs, who return to action later today at 5 p.m. against Illinois-Chicago.
Senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes and freshman outside hitter Jennifer Kuroski paced the offense with 10 kills each, while sophomore right side Christina Teter added a career-high seven.
Distributing the ball to the hitters was the duo of senior Bailee Chastain and freshman Tess Kosycarz as they totaled 41, while Kosycarz set a season-high with 21.
Defensively, the Lady Mocs recorded nine total blocks, a season-high, with junior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn and Teter each registering five and Barnes totaling four. Kuhn and Barnes each notched a block solo.
Sophomore Paula Passmore led the team with 15 digs during the contest, but snapped her streak of consecutive matches as the dig leader. As a team, Chattanooga totaled 69 digs as all 13 players that appeared recorded at least two and career-highs were set by Teter (5) and Kosycarz (9).
The match went back and forth as the teams combined for 22 ties and 11 lead changes with the most occurring in the third set with nine and four, respectively. North Florida (1-6) posted 11 more kills than Chattanooga (1-7), which proved to be the difference even though the Ospreys committed 18 more mistakes.
During the first set, North Florida started quickly in its first home match in taking a 10-5 lead. The Lady Mocs fought back to within two at 19-17. Then, an ace by Passmore provided Chattanooga with its first lead of the set, 23-22, but the Ospreys responded with a kill to tie it. North Florida closed out the set with a 26-24 victory. The Ospreys connected for 18 kills during the set, but the Lady Mocs only totaled 11, while hitting .286, and were unable to take advantage of 11 mistakes by the Ospreys.
In the second set, the Ospreys opened up a big lead at 12-7, but the Lady Mocs tied it at 13-all thanks to four mistakes by their opponents. The teams traded points until a service ace gave the Ospreys a 17-14 advantage. The Lady Mocs cut the lead to one, 19-18, but North Florida would go on to take the set, 25-20, and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Coming out of intermission, the Lady Mocs came out firing and took a 3-1 lead on a Teter kill, but the Ospreys knotted the score at five-all. The teams traded points with neither leading by more than one, until a kill by Kursoki and two aces by Kosycarz gave UTC a 17-14 advantage. A kill by Teter capped a Chattanooga run, where it scored on seven-of-eight rallies, 21-15. The Lady Mocs ended the third set with a bang scoring four-straight points, 25-17, highlighted by kills from Parman and Teter and a block assist by Barnes and Teter.
Starting the fourth set, Chattanooga took a 13-8 advantage following kills by Barnes, Kuhn and Kuroski. North Florida responded with three-straight points of its own causing the Lady Mocs to call time and came as close as 15-13.
Then, Chattanooga continued to build its lead on a kill by Kosycarz, 20-15. Two kills by Kuroski and Teter helped the Lady Mocs finish the set at 25-21 and force a decisive fifth set. Chattanooga played its best in the entire match posting 15 kills and forcing eight mistakes by UNF.
The fifth set started as the teams traded the first six rallies before North Florida took a 5-3 lead. The Ospreys extended its lead to 9-5 as Chattanooga called time to regroup. Consecutive kills by Kuhn brought the Lady Mocs to within one, 10-9, but that was as close as UTC would get with North Florida taking the match, 15-10.
Chattanooga concludes the UNF Invitational on Saturday with matches against Troy at 9 a.m. and Charleston Southern at 5 p.m.
The Lady Mocs come home to Maclellan Gym for the Country Inns & Suites Invitational on Sept. 17-19. Chattanooga begins the two-day event against Belmont on Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m., while finishing up with a doubleheader against UCF and James Madison the following day starting at 11:30 a.m.
Chattanooga 3, Illinois Chicago 1
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After a tough five-set loss to open the Best Western/UNF Invitational against the hosts, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team responded with an all-around effort defeating Illinois-Chicago, 3-1 (25-10, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17), at the UNF Arena on Friday. Freshman setter Tess Kosycarz earned the start and recorded her first career double-double with season-highs in assists with 51 and digs with 10, while fellow classmate outside hitter Jennifer Kuroski paced the team with a season-high 19 kills
Also contributing offensively was senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes with 10 kills and junior Ellie Kuhn added eight. Setting new marks were sophomores outside hitter with a season-high nine kills and right side Christina Teter with a career-high eight kills.
Defensively, sophomore libero Paula Passmore registered 20 digs, a match-high, and Earnd added a season-high nine along with Barnes a season-high seven.
Chattanooga blocked down 10 attacks, a season-high, and Barnes led the charge with six total blocks, one off her career mark. Kuroski and Teter also set season-highs with four blocks each, while Kuhn had four as well.
Chattanooga generated 59 kills during the match and had at least 16 in each set it won. The first set was the most impressive as the Lady Mocs converted on 18 kills without an error for a .643 hitting percentage, while holding the Flames to 10 total points.
The Lady Mocs came out firing in the first set taking the first four rallies on kills by Kuhn, Kuroski and Passmore and extended their lead to 9-4 on a kill by Ernd. Chattanooga took control of the set scoring on six straight rallies, 20-6, led by two kills each by Kuroski and Teter.
From there, it was a formality for the Lady Mocs to close out the set, 25-10. UTC did not commit an error in the set, while posting 18 kills and Kuroski led the way with eight. The Lady Mocs defense was 9-of-10 on side outs during the set allowing the offense more opportunities to score.
In the second set, Chattanooga jumped out to another quick lead at 7-4, but the Flames battled back and tied it up at 10-all before taking the lead on the next rally. UIC's advantage stretched to four at 15-11 before the Lady Mocs won their next rally.
After kills from Kuroski and Barnes along with two service aces by Barnes, the Lady Mocs retook the lead at 20-19. A timeout by Illinois-Chicago allowed them to regroup and start a six-point rally of its own that ended in a set victory, 25-20, tying the match at one.
In the third set, Chattanooga began with a 4-2 lead, but the Flames tied it up at six-all. Then, the two squads traded points with neither team leading by more than one. With UIC up 19-18, the Lady Mocs recorded kills by Barnes (2), Ernd, Teter, Kuroski and Kuhn on seven of the next eight rallies to finish the set off at 25-20.
The fourth set saw the Lady Mocs build a 10-4 advantage following a Barnes' ace. After kills by Teter (2) and Kuroski and two opposing errors, Chattanooga extended its lead to 15-7 forcing the Flames to call time. The Lady Mocs did not look back from there in taking the match, 25-17, with kills by Ernd (2), Teter and Barnes closing out the set.
Chattanooga returns to the court at the UNF Arena tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. against Troy. The two-day event concludes later that day with a match up with Charleston Southern at 5 p.m.
After three-straight weeks away from Maclellan Gym, Chattanooga welcomes Belmont, UCF and James Madison to the Scenic City for the Country Inns & Suites Invitational. The first match for the Lady Mocs is Sept. 17 against the Bruins at 7:30 p.m. The tournament concludes the following day for Chattanooga with back-to-back matches against UCF and James Madison beginning at 11:30 a.m
NC State 3, Georgia Southern 1
RALEIGH, N.C. - Junior outside hitter Bethany Sanford notched her fifth double-double of the season and hit .356 for the match but could not lead Georgia Southern past NC State in the opening game of the NC State Tournament Friday night (September 10). The non-conference opponents split the first two sets and the Wolfpack grabbed the third for a 2-1 match lead. NC State then battled back in the fourth frame to secure the match win, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23).
Georgia Southern dropped to 3-5 on the season, while NC State improved to 6-1.
Sanford led the way for the Eagles, racking up 20 kills, 11 digs and one solo block. Kate Van Dyke posted 41 assists, while Moriah Bellissimo posted a match-high 14 digs. Enjoli Johnson collected four blocks, two block assists and two solos, and added for kills. For the Wolfpack, Margaret Salata collected 17 kills followed by Becah Fogle with 16. Kelly Wood recorded 12 digs and Megan Cyr posted a match-high 45 assists.
Georgia Southern got off to a slow start in the opening frame with three Fogle kills jumpstarting the early NC State advantage. Ashley Roe's first service ace of the match drew the score to 4-3 before the Wolfpack went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-3 lead, forcing an Eagle timeout. Lauren Claybaugh, drilling a kill, sparked an 11-2 Georgia Southern run as the Eagles erased a 10-point deficit and returned serve to the Eagles. A service error from Wood moved the score to 20-14 before Sanford picked up a kill and Small and Van Dyke went up for a block assist. Sanford erupted picking up a kill, solo block and another kill consecutively to pull the Eagles to within two, 21-19. Van Dyke put Georgia Southern within striking distance of one point, 21-20, but NC State closed out the set with a 4-1 run for a 25-21 opening set victory.
Knotted at 5-5, a Wolfpack error and two Sanford kills handed Georgia Southern an 8-5 advantage. NC State kept the difference to three points until a Johnson and Small block assist moved the Eagles in front, 12-8. Claybaugh's third kill of the set gave GS a 15-11 lead before a NC State error forced the Wolfpack to burn a timeout. NC State's second timeout came five points later after a Wolfpack error handed the Eagles a 19-13 lead. Georgia Southern took a seven-point lead, 20-13, before NC State went on a 5-1 run closing its disadvantage to 21-18. Sanford's ninth kill of the frame snapped the run. NC State held off two set points in its late comeback attempt that fell short as the Eagles secured the second set, 25-22.
In the set, Sanford hit .571 with nine kills on 14 attempts, committing only one error. As a team, Georgia Southern improved from its first set .143 hitting clip to hitting .314 in the second set.
The two teams battled back-and-forth through four ties to open set three before NC State took a two-point lead, 9-7. But Georgia Southern climbed back and took a 12-10 lead using a 5-1 run. But the Wolfpack held strong and knotted the score at 12-all. Tied at 14, three unanswered Wolfpack points pushed NC State in the lead, 17-14. NC State continued the strong play, rounding out the set, 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead.
NC State and Georgia Southern challenged each other through the start of the fourth set with Georgia Southern claiming a three-point advantage twice through a 19-19 tie. NC State took its first lead of the set, 20-19, following a Georgia Southern ball handling error, but Sanford tied the score at 20-20 with a kill. The Wolfpack erased a two-point deficit of 22-20 with a kill and ace drawing the score to the 13th tie of the frame. NC State took the lead on an Eagle attack error and grabbed match point off a Fogle kill. Brie Merriwether capped the match for the Wolfpack with a kill at 25-23.
Georgia Southern will continue tournament action facing Morehead State and Mercer on Saturday, Sept. 11. The Eagles will face Morehead State at 11 a.m. and close out the tournament against Mercer at 5:30 p.m.
UTSA 3, Davidson 0
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Melissa Toth tallied a match-high 13 kills and five service aces to lead the University of Texas at El Paso Miners to a 3-0 (25-14, 20-25, 25-15) win over the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team in the teams' opening game at the UTSA Classic Friday at the Convocation Center.
Toth was the only player in double figures, while teammate Jaqueline Cason finished with eight kills for UTEP (5-3). Davidson (4-3) was led by junior outside hitter Christine Perzinski and senior outside hitter Sarabeth Peele, who finished with nine and seven kills, respectively.
Patty Jarmoc finished with 23 assists for the Miners, while senior setter Hayley Lawson had 21 for the 'Cats. Jarmoc and Stephanie Figueroa each totaled seven digs in the match for UTEP, while senior Jennifer Chamblee and sophomore Molly Crenshaw both finished with five for Davidson.
The Miners took a 12-8 lead with a 3-1 run, as Cassandra Burruel, Cason and Toth recorded kills. In what started as an evenly matched set, UTEP closed with a 11-5 run to turn a 14-11 lead into a 25-14 win in the opening game.
UTEP took an early 8-3 lead to start the second game, punctuated by a pair of aces from Toth. The Wildcats chipped away at the lead, as a pair of aces from Lawson narrowed the gap to 11-9, and got the score tied at 16 behind a 5-1 run on a pair of kills from Peele and one apiece from senior middle blocker Jorden Benedict and Perzinski. An attack error by UTEP's Bridget Logan gave Davidson a 17-16 edge, but the Miners won the next five points to retake a 21-17 lead. UTEP closed the set with a 4-1 run, completing the comeback 25-20 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Davidson took an early 4-2 lead to open the third set before UTEP answered with a 4-0 spurt to pull ahead two points. The two teams would battle back and forth until, with the score tied at 10, the Miners put together a 7-1 run to take control of the decisive frame, 17-11. The Wildcats won the next three points on a kill from Perzinski and a Madison Benedict ace, but UTEP closed out the match with a 8-4 run in the 25-15 win.
The Wildcats will conclude play at the tournament tomorrow, facing the University of Texas-Pan American at 10 a.m. (CST) and the host University of Texas San Antonio at 5 p.m. (CST). UT-PA lost the earlier match, 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-12) to UTSA.
Lipscomb 3, Furman 0
South Carolina 3, Furman 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sophomore Chandler Ambrester hit .407 with 13 kills to lead the Furman volleyball team in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 26-24) loss at South Carolina in the Gamecock Invitational on Friday night.
Junior Kelly Kirby paced the Paladins with 22 assists and added 12 digs, while freshman Elle Ross tallied a team-high 17 digs for the match. Sophomore Natalie Braun recorded 11 kills, 11 digs, and two service aces in the effort.
Earlier in the day, Lipscomb defeated Furman 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-18) to open the tournament. Braun led the Paladins with nine kills, while freshman Sarah McCarthy and Kirby each posted 13 assists. Kirby paced the team with 13 digs.
Furman (2-6) will face South Carolina State Saturday at 1 p.m. in the final round of the Gamecock Invitational.
Gardner-Webb 3, Wofford 2
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- The Wofford College women's volleyball team started off the Runnin' Bulldog Classic Tournament with a five set loss, 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 17-25, 25-20, 15-7), to host Gardner-Webb University on Friday night.
Wofford (6-4) took an early 3-0 lead in set one on kills from seniors Catelyn Amende and Stacy Byrd, but GWU responded with their on three-point run to tie the match. However, two unforced Gardner-Webb errors, an Amende kill and a Byrd service ace gave the Terriers a 7-3. Wofford held the lead, until the GWU forced a tie at 15. The two squads traded the lead until Wofford broke a 19-19 tie with a 6-3 run to close out the set, 25-22. Wofford used three kills and three attack errors from Gardner-Webb in the final points. Amende finished the match with ten kills, five of which came in first set.
Set two saw Gardner-Webb jump out to a 10-3 lead and push their lead to as high as eight points, 18-11. The Runnin' Bulldogs took set two by nine points, 25-16, which was the largest lead of either team during the match. Gardner-Webb outhit Wofford .244 to .029 in the second set.
Neither team could pull ahead to start set three until Gardner-Webb broke a 7-7 tie with a 4-0 run, before an Amende kill ended the run and made it 11-8. Wofford battled back and tied the match at 16 with back-to-back-to-back kills by Wendy Burnett, Byrd and Bekah Dorsey. However, the Terriers dropped the third set 25-17 as GWU ended the set with a 9-1 run. For the second consecutive set, the Runnin' Bulldogs sported a better hitting percentage than the Terriers, .303-.029.
Wofford took an early lead in set four only to see Gardner-Webb tie the match at eight. Two Amanda Liguori and Byrd kills with two unforced GWU errors gave the Terriers a 14-11 lead. Wofford couldn't pull away in the set as Gardner-Webb would tie it twice before a Byrd kill sparked a 5-0 Terrier run to win the set 25-20. Byrd had her best output in the fourth set with four kills.
In the fifth and final set, Gardner-Webb won the sprint to eight, 8-4, and went on to win the set, 15-7, to seal the match win. GWU hit .500 compared to the Terriers' .091 hitting percentage in the fifth set.
Byrd led the Terriers with 12 kills, 14 digs and 14.5 points. She added two service aces and a block assist in the match. Amende also had 14.5 points with ten kills, a service ace and three total blocks, two block assists and two solo blocks. Liguori was the only other Terrier with double-digit kills. She had 11 kills to go along with 16 digs. Reagan Styles paced Wofford with 22 digs, while Dorsey and Tara Gough handed out 16 assists apiece.
Wofford will play Weber State at 10 a.m. and Kennesaw State at 5 p.m. on day two of the Runnin' Bulldog Classic Saturday.
Coastal Carolina 3, The Citadel 0
CONWAY, S.C. - Seniors Amanda Beal and Jessica Maas finished with five kills each, but it was not enough as the host Chanticleers took the opening match of the Comfort Suites Coastal Carolina Invitational by scores of 25-23, 25-16, 25-13.
The Cadets (1-8) also got a solid performance from sophomore Cassie Uribe, who finished with four kills. Teammates Erin Bucherl and Alexa Dahlstrom shared setter duties, dishing out 10 assists apiece. Kathryn Johnston's eight digs, along with Bucherl's seven digs, led The Citadel's defensive attack.
Coastal Carolina's Chelsy Kimes (14 kills, 11 digs) and Meghan Laffin (7 kills) were instrumental in the team's .245 attack percentage. Joining Kimes on the back row were Erika Lightsey (7 digs) and Lindsay Gill (6 digs). Behind four blocks from Megan Bickford and two each from Lightsey, Laffin and Russell the Chanticleers totaled 13 blocks in the match. CCU improves to 3-5 overall on the season.
The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the opening game before the seventh tie, 15-15, that came on a Maas kill deep in the set. Coastal Carolina regained the lead and maintained at least a four point advantage until a Blaine McAllister kill sparked four straight Bulldog points to cut the lead to 24-22. The Chanticleers finished off the game with a kill by Russel for the win.
Coastal Carolina jumped out to the early advantage in the second set before a kill by Beal cut the lead to 11-8. The Chanticleers capitalized on a service error to score six of the next seven points and stretch the advantage to 17-9. After a service error by Lightsey, which made the score 19-11, the Bulldogs drew within four points of the lead behind a pair of Uribe kills. CCU strung together a series of points to close out the game 25-16.
Opening the third game with a flurry of points, CCU established a 9-2 lead. The Dogs Shannon Frain drove a kill past the defense and forced an attack error on the subsequent serve to cut the margin to five points. After a series of back-and-forth points, and a Citadel timeout, Bickford's service game extended the lead to 16-6. Despite seven Coastal Carolina errors and a pair of kills by Maas, the Chants closed out the game with a 25-14 win.
The Comfort Suites Coastal Carolina Invitational continues on Saturday when The Citadel meets USC Upstate at 10 a.m. and Norfolk State in a match slated for 4 p.m.
Evansville 3, Western Carolina 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Catamount volleyball squad dropped a three-set match (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) with Evansville on Friday night at the Aces Dunn Hospitality Classic.
"We played our best offensive volleyball as a team this year," said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion on the team's outing against Evansville. "However, our service receive just couldn't hold up tonight and we had some bad passing rallies.
"The score tonight doesn't reflect the reality of how close the match was," said Concepcion. "We were in the match the first two sets and played well."
Senior Paloma Alvarez paced the Catamounts (3-5) with nine kills while freshman Kelcie Randazzo added a team-high 18 assists. Both Carrie Minogue and Amanda Chaparro chipped in four kills each.
"Paloma had a monster game in the attacking department," said Concepcion. "I was impressed to see her perform the way she did against such a high caliber team."
Alvarez has a team-best 2.85 kills per set through seven matches in addition to 2.96 digs per set, the second-most on the team.
Randazzo and libero Morgan Cochran both recorded five digs in the contest while Chaparro added four. WCU posted eight blocks, led by freshman Leah Best's three block assists.
The Purple Aces (7-1) used a 16-kill performance by Emily Wandersee and an 11-kill effort by Brooke Maher to power the offense. Setter Ellen Sawin posted a match-high 35 assists.
"We served very well and were strategically effective, but Sawin did an outstanding job forcing their stud middle hitter Emily Wandersee, their senior leader on the court."
The first set saw the Catamounts and the Purple Aces battle back and forth before Evansville took a 17-10 advantage. WCU raced back to get the match within four (18-14) on back-to-back kills by Alvarez and a kill by Rebecca Stoltz. Evansville responded by rattling off seven unanswered points to win the set.
Trailing 7-4 to open the second set, WCU scored five straight points on kills by Alvarez and Minogue and four Evansville errors to take a 9-7 advantage. The Catamounts saw their final lead (14-13) fade away as the Purple Aces went on an 8-1 run to take a 21-15 advantage. Alvarez recorded two kills to bring WCU back, but Evansville scored the final three points of the match on kills by Maher and a service ace to win set two.
WCU had an early 4-2 lead over Evansville to start set three before falling behind 9-4. The Catamounts rallied back to get the match within two (12-10) on a block by Alvarez and Stoltz. The Catamounts limited their errors to only three during the rest of the match, but the Purple Aces used a balanced attack at the net - four different players who recorded a kill - to score eight of the final nine points of the match.
"It was kind of emotional to play against my former team," said Concepcion. "I'm glad we battled them the entire match."
The Catamounts are back in action tomorrow (Sept. 11) against Murray State at 11 a.m. before facing Loyola at 4 p.m.