Furman 3, Samford 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Senior Kelly Kirby hit .500 and recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 18 assists to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 28-26) win over Samford Saturday afternoon at Alley Gymnasium in the Paladins' 2011 home opener.
The teams were tied at five to open set one before the Paladins reeled off five-straight points to build a 10-5 lead. Samford cut the lead to two at 12-10 then slashed the margin to one at 22-21, before a Furman kill by Kirby and a bad set by the Bulldogs put the Paladins up 24-21. Samford's Chelsi Carter recorded a kill to keep the Bulldogs in the set, but a final kill from Kirby gave Furman a 25-22 set win.
Furman built a quick 10-6 lead in the second set and eventually took a 19-13 advantage in the set. Samford scored four-consecutive points to cut the lead to two at 19-17, then the teams traded points back and forth as the Paladins kept a two-point lead at 22-20. Furman scored three-straight points off a Bulldog service error, coupled with an ace from Furman sophomore Elle Ross, then a Samford hitting error to win the second set 25-20 and take a 2-0 set lead at the break.
The Paladins took a 4-1 advantage early in set three and maintained a three-point margin, eventually leading 17-14, before the Bulldogs put together four-consecutive scores to take an 18-17 lead - the team's first lead since early in set one. Furman knotted the score at 18, then the teams battled through eight ties until a kill from Kirby pushed the score to 26-all. Following a Samford attack error, a kill from junior Chandler Ambrester sealed the 28-26 set victory for the Paladins.
Ambrester posted a team-high 12 kills in the match, while junior Natalie Braun paced the team with 24 assists. Senior Carolyn Nicoletti notched 10 digs to lead the Paladins, and senior Alexis Shaffer hit .385 with seven kills and four blocks.
Samford (14-3, 1-2 SoCon) was led by Elizabeth Neisler, who tallied 18 kills. Casey Garvey recorded 33 assists for the Bulldogs, and Alexis Bauer added 12 digs to pace the Samford defense.
Davidson 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - With 10 kills on 18 swings, sophomore outside hitter Caroline Brown powered the Davidson Wildcats past The Citadel Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-20), Saturday afternoon in SoCon volleyball action at McAlister Fieldhouse.
Davidson (12-4, 2-1 SoCon) also got seven kills from sophomore middle hitter Tindall Sewell and six from both senior middle hitter Madison Benedict and senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski to overpower The Citadel (6-9, 0-4 SoCon). The Wildcats, who leveraged the momentum of a commanding 25-12 win in the first set, also used 31 assists from junior setter Ariel Ley and 12 digs by junior libero Molly Crenshaw to polish off the Bulldogs.
The Citadel was led by Kaona Mercer and Amanda Rudnik, who each tallied 10 kills. Alexa Dahlstrom finished with 30 assists and five digs, one of three Bulldog players with as many digs.
Davidson busted open a close 4-2 set with a 14-0 run behind Perzinski's serving to take an overwhelming 16-6 lead. That lead proved plenty, and the Wildcats won eight of the final 15 points en route to the 25-12 win in the opening set. Davidson hit .385 as a team in the frame, led by Brown who was a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of digs.
The Wildcats never trailed in the second set, but it played out much closer. Davidson took a 5-2 lead on a Perzinski ace, but the Bulldogs battled back with a 4-0 run to knot the score at 10. Davidson won the next two points on a kill by Perzinski and a Citadel error, but the Bulldogs tied the score again, at 12. The Wildcats, though, won the next four to take a pivotal 16-12 lead and force The Citadel into a timeout. Davidson took control of the set from that point, and a kill from freshman outside hitter Madisson Smith ultimately lifted the 'Cats to a 25-19 win and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Bulldogs used an early 6-3 lead to control play through the first two-thirds of the third set. Davidson trailed throughout by a slight margin, and as late as 18-14. The Wildcats responded after a timeout with a 7-0 run to take a critical 21-18 lead, as Benedict and sophomore middle hitter Taylor Pisel combined for the block. The Wildcats closed out the match with a 5-2 swing, including two kills and a block by Benedict for the win behind a 25-20 decision.
College of Charleston 3, Georgia Southern 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston Cougars stayed unbeaten in SoCon play by knocking off the reigning conference tournament champion Georgia Southern Eagles, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at TD Arena.
College of Charleston (12-7, 3-0) rallied from a 16-8 deficit in the fourth set to come back and win 26-24. The Eagles (10-9, 3-1) won set one, 27-25, while College of Charleston took sets two and three, 25-15 and 25-21.
Freshman Sloane White continued to be the driving force of the Cougars offense, besting her career high, which she set on Tuesday at Coastal Carolina, with 18 kills and a .375 attack percentage. Classmate Lizzie Theesfeld recorded her first career double-double, landing 13 kills and making a team-best 16 digs. Senior Elyse Chubb hit 14 kills while Sarah Havel reached double figures with 10 kills to go with a team-best three total blocks.
As a team, the Cougars hit .307 for the match, the third-best hitting percentage for any match this season.
Georgia Southern was led by the 14 kills of Meredith Paskert. Bethany Sanford tallied 11 kills, but hit only .047 as she made nine errors.
College of Charleston jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the first set and led 19-13 behind kills from Theesfeld and White. However, the Eagles put forth a furious rally to tie the set at 21 after a Sanford service ace. Georgia Southern staved off a Cougar set point to tie the game at 24 and eventually won 27-25.
The Cougars once again came out strong in the second set, leading 13-9 before winning five of the next six points to lead 18-10. The Cougars took advantage of Eagle attack errors late to win the set, 25-15. Chubb made five kills on seven attempts in the set for an attacking mark of .714. Sophomore Taeler Davis started the set and made seven assists and four digs. Davis upped her season-best mark again with 31 assists on the match.
Both teams clawed back and forth all the way through the third set before Charleston opened up a 21-16 lead, forcing a Georgia Southern timeout. The Eagles made five of the next seven points to pull to 23-21, but CofC ended the set with a kill from White and a bad set from GSU's Kate Van Dyke.
Georgia Southern seemed to determine to take the match to five sets by racing to a 16-8 lead in the fourth game. However, the Cougars were able to pick up small runs and made a big push after going down 22-16. A service error from Van Dyke followed by a Sanford attack error prompted a GSU timeout. Theesfeld made a kill and long hit from Hannah Nelson forced the Eagles to burn their last timeout, only leading 22-20. CofC scored three of the next four points to tie the set at 23. Theesfeld gave the Cougars set point, but a service error tied it at 24. However, Chubb stepped up in the final moments and made a dramatic kill and block to end the set, 26-24, and give College of Charleston the match victory.
Elon 3, Appalachian State 1
ELON, N.C. - After dropping the first set, the Elon volleyball team came back to win the next three to earn an exciting 3-1 (20-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-20) win over division rival Appalachian State. The Phoenix pulled even in conference play with the win to improve to 13-6 on the season (2-2 SoCon), while the Mountaineers fall to 10-7 (2-1 SoCon).
Senior Caroline Lemke hit .552 after recording 17 kills off 29 attempts with only one error. Freshman Kris Harris also had a great night with a career-high 13 kills for a .440 attack percentage. Seniors Megan McMahon and Nickie Halbert split the passing duties to finish with 29 and 24 assists, respectively.
The Elon middle blockers also controlled the net on defense as Harris tallied six blocks and Lemke recorded four.
In the first set, the Mountaineers took an early 6-2 lead before the Phoenix used two kills by Lemke and one by freshman Danielle Smith to pull within one, 8-7. Trailing by seven, 20-13, Elon scored three straight to cut the deficit to four and force ASU to call its first timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mountaineers scored five of the next nine points to take the win, 25-20.
With the second set tied at nine-all, Elon used a kill by Harris and several ASU miscues to score three unanswered for a 12-9 lead. A kill by Lemke moved the score to 14-12, in favor of the maroon and gold, but the Mountaineers were able to pull ahead, 17-15. The Phoenix then knotted the set at 17-all with an ace from junior Ali Deatsch, who ranks sixth in the country in aces per set, and a kill from D. Smith. With the score at a 24-23 Elon advantage, ASU managed to hold the Phoenix at set point three times before a kill by junior Allison Johnson and a block by Harris and Johnson gave Elon the 28-26 set win to tie the match.
The third set remained very tight with nine ties and neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Elon grabbed a three-point advantage, 18-15, with the help of two kills by freshman Chanelle Smith. The Phoenix then went on a 4-2 run off several Mountaineer mistakes and a kill from Johnson to take a 20-18 lead. After ASU pulled within one, 21-20, the maroon and gold earned four of the next six points to win the set, 25-22, off a block by Lemke and C. Smith.
The fourth set took on the tone of the rest of the match with the score remaining close before a three-point run by Elon, capped by a block by Harris and Johnson, put the Phoenix up four, 13-9. Kills by Harris and Lemke kept the maroon and gold up by three to four points before ASU pulled within two, 21-19, forcing Elon to call its first timeout of the set. Out of the break, the Phoenix went on a 4-1 run to end the set, 25-20, and take its second straight win over the Mountaineers.
Wofford 3, Chattanooga 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford volleyball team picked up their first Southern Conference win of the 2011 season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 26-24) win over Chattanooga Saturday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford opened the match with nine straight serves by Bekah Dorsey as they jumped out to an 8-1 lead. The Terriers pushed the lead to as high as 17-11 before the Mocs started to creep back into the set. Chattanooga pulled the set to 21-18 and 24-22, but the Terriers would win the set 25-22.
The Mocs broke an 8-8 tie with a 3-0 run to take an 11-8 lead early in the second set. Wofford used two kills from Arden Anderson and Bekah Dorsey tie the set at 12. The two team would stay deadlocked until the Terriers broke pulled away with a 3-0 run of their own to take a 17-14 lead. Wofford never relented the lead as they went on to take the second set 25-23. Anderson, who had four kills in the first set, followed with five kills in the second second.
With the third set tied at four, the Terriers went on a 9-2 run to take a 13-5 lead. Wofford would remain in control until the Mocs turned an 18-11 deficit into a tie a 22 with an 11-3 streak. Chattanooga fought off two match points, before the Wofford ended the match and the set on a block by Rachel Woodlee and Arden Anderson.
Anderson led the Terriers with 12 kills on 23 swings with and a .348 hitting percentage. Amanda Liguori followed with nine kills. Anderson and Wendy Burnett paced the team with four total blocks. Burnett had two solo blocks and two block assists, while Anderson had four block assists. Bekah Dorsey handed out 33 assists and tallied three service aces. Reagan Styles collected 18 digs to lead the Wofford defense.