Georgia Southern 3, Furman 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Georgia Southern handed Furman a 3-2 loss in volleyball action at Alley Gymnasium on Saturday night, snapping the Paladins 19-match conference regular season winning streak. The loss also marked Furman's first home regular season loss in 11 matches.
Georgia Southern won set one 25-22, before Furman returned with a 25-19 win in set two to tie the score at 1-1 at the break. In a close set three, the Eagles topped the Paladins 29-27. Furman battled back from the 2-1 deficit to tie the match a second time with a 25-18 win in set four. Georgia Southern won set five 15-11 to take the match.
Sophomores Chandler Ambrester and Natalie Braun each recorded 16 kills to lead the Paladins, while freshman Sarah McCarthy posted a team-high 43 assists. Rookie Elle Ross paced the Paladins with 14 digs.
Georgia Southern's Bethany Sanford tallied 18 kills to lead the Eagles, while Kate Van Dyke paced the team with 50 assists. Ashley Roe recorded a team-high 26 digs in the victory.
Furman (6-7, 0-1 SoCon) will play host to The Citadel Friday at 6 p.m. in Alley Gymnasium. Georgia Southern returns to Hanner Fieldhouse to play host to South Carolina State, Tuesday, Sept. 28. Match time is slated for 6 p.m.
Elon 3, Samford 1
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University volleyball team opened up Southern Conference play with a 3-1 victory over Samford (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-14) at home in Jordan Gym on Saturday night.
Senior Sarah Schermerhorn and junior Caroline Lemke tallied 10 kills a piece to lead the Phoenix past the Bulldogs.
Elon now pulls to 8-8 on the season and 1-0 in SoCon play, while Samford drops their second match in as many days and moves to 6-10 (0-2 SoCon).
In the first set, Elon took an early 3-2 advantage and never trailed again in the set en route to a 25-23 victory. After the Bulldogs won the second set 23-25, the Phoenix fell behind once again in third set with a 10-4. Elon rallied back with consistent multi-point runs to pull within two points at 23-21. The Phoenix went on to score the last four points with three consecutive attack errors by the Bulldogs and a kill from Schermerhorn to clinch the set, 25-23.
With a 2-1 match lead, Elon went into the potentially deciding fourth set with its first conference victory in sight. Samford once again took the early advantage, 4-1, but with a kill from senior Lauren Copenhagen the Phoenix quickly tied the set at 5-all. Elon dominated the rest of the night winning the fourth set, 25-14, with another game-point kill from Schermerhorn.
Elon held Samford to a .030 hitting percentage in the fourth set, while tallying a match-total 12 team blocks to the Bulldogs seven.
Schermerhorn and Lemke each had five total blocks with Lemke recording four solo on the night.
The Elon volleyball team returns to action tomorrow for another home conference match-up against Chattanooga at 2 p.m. in Jordan Gym. Samford is back on the road next Saturday as it travels to Davidson to continue SoCon play. The Bulldogs and the Wildcats will face off at 2 p.m. in Belk Arena.
Appalachian State 3, The Citadel 0
BOONE, N.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team struggled to find its rhythm in a match at
Southern Conference foe Appalachian State by scores of 13-25, 20-25 and 16-25.
Sophomore Cassie Uribe led the Cadets with seven kills while teammate Rachael Farrell
topped the defensive unit with 11 digs.
Jessica Maas, who finished with nine digs and six kills, teamed with Farrell (11 digs, five
kills) and Uribe to lead the Bulldogs statistically. Senior outside hitter Blaine McAllister
posted six digs along with her four kills. The Citadel slips to 5-11 overall and 0-2 in
SoCon action.
The Mountaineers (10-4, 1-0 SoCon) were led by match-high performances by Meghann
Forshey (10 kills) and Courtney Rhein (13 digs).
The Citadel was unable to generate early offensive rhythm in the third set after
Appalachian State again opened with a 10-4 run. The Mountaineers, who had faltered in
the third set against Ball State, seemed determined to close the match with a sweep.
Behind a run deep in the game, ASU stretched its lead to 18-9 and despite kills by Maas,
Uribe and Farrell down the stretch completed the sweep by a score of 25-16.
The Black and Gold carried over their strong play into the second set by mounting a 15-7
advantage. Following their second timeout, The Citadel responded with five of the
game's next nine points, making for a 19-11 game, capped off by a kill from Erin
Bucherl. Behind McAllister's service game the Dogs forced a pair of attack errors and
following a kill by Maas the lead was cut to 20-16. Appalachian State closed the second
set with three kills and a pair of errors for the 25-20 final.
Appalachian State grabbed an early 10-4 advantage in the opening set and never looked
back. The Mountaineers rattled off seven consecutive points, assuming a 17-5 lead
before Maas took advantage of a pass from Alexa Dahlstrom to end the scoring drought.
Leading 22-9, four points by The Citadel made for a 10-point ASU advantage, before the
match closed with a kill and service ace for the 25-13 Mountaineers win.
The Citadel completes the weekend on Sunday afternoon they head to the University of
South Carolina for a 4 p.m. meeting with the Gamecocks.
Appalachian's next match is Wednesday, September 29 at Western Carolina. The showdown between the SoCon North Division rivals is set to begin at 7 p.m. in WCU's Ramsey Athletic Center.
UNCG 3, Chattanooga 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Coming off a sweep of Samford on Friday night, UNCG carried that momentum into its match against Chattanooga as the Spartans also swept the Mocs, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 27-25), on Saturday night in Fleming Gymnasium.
The Spartans improved their record to 14-3 on the year and 2-0 in Southern Conference play. The Mocs fell to 4-12 with the loss and 0-1 in the SoCon.
The 14-3 start is the best for a UNCG team since 1995 when that team went 24-3 to start the year. The win also marked the eighth time this year that the Spartans have swept their opponent.
Ariel Newman led UNCG on the offensive end as she had a match-high 11 kills and added nine digs. Kayren Finney also had a nice match as she finished with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage. Caley Redden had a team-high 11 digs and Kellie Orewiler added 10 digs from her libero position.
The Mocs were paced by Jennifer Kuroski who had nine kills, while Paula Passmore had a match-high 14 kills.
In the opening set, the Spartans held a narrow lead for much of the set. UNCG never trailed during the set, but its biggest lead was just four. UNCG held a 10-6 lead in the set before the Mocs had a kill from Ellie Kuhn and a pair of service errors to shave the Spartan lead to 10-9. The Spartans once again went up by four at 20-16 and went on to hold on and win the set, 25-22.
The Spartans took control early in the second set as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Chattanooga cut the Spartan lead to 15-12 on a kill by Courtney Barnes, but UNCG won the next six points to take a 21-12 lead on a kill by Finney. The Spartans would go on to take the second set, 25-15, to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
It appeared as if UNCG would cruise to winning the third set as the Spartans led 14-10 midway through the set, but the Mocs rallied to make things interesting. Chattanooga fought back to tie the set at 17 before eventually taking a 20-19 lead. That was the first lead for the Mocs in the entire match.
UNCG trailed the Mocs 23-21 late in the third set before winning the next three points on a Mocs service error and kills from Kimiko Naito and Newman to give the Spartans match point at 24-23. Chattanooga rallied though to win the next two points to have set point, but UNCG tallied the final three points to win the set, 27-25.
The Spartans will return to action on Friday as they travel to Western Carolina on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest. Chattanooga returns to the court looking for its first conference victory on Sunday at Elon with the first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. The Lady Mocs next home match is Oct. 6 against Samford inside Maclellan Gym at 7 p.m.
Davidson 3, Norfolk State 1
Delaware State 3, Davidson 1
NORFOLK, Va. - The Davidson Wildcat volleyball team defeated Norfolk State, 3-1 (10-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21) before dropping the final match of the day to Delaware State, 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 18-25, 25-22), at the Spartan Invitational Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.
Senior outside hitter Sarabeth Peele and junior right-side Erin Lupfer led the Davidson (8-8) against the Spartans, finishing with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior setter Hayley Lawson tallied 37 assists and four blocks, and senior Jennifer Chamblee and junior Christine Perzinski finished with 14 and 12 digs to pace the defense. Senior middle blocker Jorden Benedict was also a key player in the 'Cats' win, finishing with eight kills and a match-high six blocks.
Charlotte Armstead finished with 11 kills to lead Norfolk State (5-10), and Ellica Morris added seven. Nicole Kessner had 22 assists, and Arielle Knafel led the defense with 16 digs. Paige Gary-Canty and Noelle Eagles each had 10 digs.
Norfolk State won the first three points to set the tone for the opening set, though Davidson battled back to knot the game at 6-6. The Spartans rattled off seven straight points to open a 13-6 lead, and rolled to the 25-10 win.
The Wildcats regrouped, winning a tough second set 25-23 before taking care of business in the third in the 25-14 favorable decision. Davidson finished off the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth, coming back from a 13-16 deficit to take a 20-18 lead with a 7-2 run. Perzinski got possession back for Davidson with her fifth kill of the match and served the final two points, acing the match winner.
Davidson was not as lucky in the final match of the day, dropping a 3-1 decision to Delaware State, behind a double-double from Sarah Wheatcroft, who finished with 14 kills and 11 digs. Elisa Hermann tacked on 12 kills for the Hornets (6-8), who also got 36 assists and 10 digs from Martina Ferrari. Sonja Banicevic led the defense with 26 digs, and Erica Tajchman was the fourth Hornet in double figures with 10 digs.
For the Wildcats, junior middle blocker Madison Benedict and Perzinski finished with nine kills each to lead the Wildcats. Benedict also had a match-high five blocks, while Jorden Benedict finished with eight kills. Lawson tallied 42 assists, and Chamblee paced the defense with 28 digs.
The Hornets took control of the first set, turning an 8-8 tie into a 14-11 lead. The Wildcats got within one, 18-17, on a Lawson ace, and again on a kill from Peele, 19-18, but Delaware State won the next two points and held on for the 25-21 win. Despite an early 4-4 tie, the Hornets controlled the second set, using a 12-7 lead to a 25-16 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Davidson took a 6-3 lead to start the third set, but the Hornets knotted the score at nine on a pair of kills by Hermann. Delaware State won the next three straight, but the 'Cats tied the game at 15 on a ball handling error by Ferrari. The Wildcats' 4-0 run, including a kill from freshman Caroline Brown, gave the 'Cats an 18-15 lead, and they extended the match with the 25-18 win.
After an early 8-5 Davidson lead in the fourth set, the two teams battled back and forth. Brown gave the Wildcats a 16-15 advantage, but the Hornets won the next three to open an 18-16 lead. A couple of kills from Peele helped the Wildcats tie the set at 21, but Delaware State closed out the 25-22 win with a 4-1 run to take the match.
Davidson will play its fourth straight match on the road when it opens SoCon play at Wofford Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.