Georgia Southern 3, Davidson 0

STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind an 11-kill performance by Enjoli Johnson the Georgia Southern Volleyball team (12-10, 4-2) rebounded from their first home loss since August 26th with a 3-0 victory over Davidson Tuesday night. The victory wrapped up a three-game homestand which saw the return of the Eagles to Hanner Fieldhouse's main gym on Saturday.

Johnson posted a season-high 11 kills in just 18 attempts while committing just one error in the 25-19, 25-14, 25-18 victory over the Wildcats. The sophomore middle hitter posted the second best hitting percentage in her career with a .556 mark to help GSU hit nearly .300 on the night.

The Eagles posted a .290 hitting percentage and responded from a first set percentage of .229 with marks of .375 and .293 in sets two and three. Georgia Southern tallied just 12 attack errors as a team and posted four service aces, while Kate Van Dyke dished out 34 assists and recorded six digs in the win.

The defense held Davidson to a hitting percentage of .111 and held the Wildcats below .100 in the first two sets. Lauren LaRocque led the team with 13 digs. Moriah Bellissimo also tallied double figures with 11 digs, while Hayli Ketner fell just short with nine digs. Tindall Sewell recorded 10 kills in 17 attempts to lead Davidson's offense.

 

The Citadel 2, UNCW 3

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Kaona Mercer finished with a match-high 19 kills, but it was a Citadel attack error that provided visiting UNC Wilmington with a 25-15, 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 17-15 five-set victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday evening at McAlister Field House. The 19-kill effort marks the fifth time this season that Mercer has had double-digit kills in consecutive matches, following a 17-kill performance at Furman on Saturday, Oct. 8.

The Bulldogs (7-12) also got solid offensive performances from Amanda Rudnik (nine kills) and Alexa Dahlstrom (seven kills). Rudnik missed her first career double-double by the narrowest of margins, after totaling 16 digs. Teammate Kathryn Johnston added 13 digs, while Rachael Farrell finished with 11 digs. Farrell (four assisted blocks) and Jessica Maxwell (three assisted blocks) proved to be an impenetrable force on the front row, as The Citadel finished with 18 assisted blocks.

Christi Laite tallied a team-high 14 kills to highlight a balanced UNC Wilmington offensive attack. Joining Laite on the Seahawk front row were Courtney Porter and Jennifer Mallard, who finished with eight kills apiece. The defense was anchored by the trio of Haley Collins (13 kills), Kelsey Bendig and Mallard, who totaled 10 digs respectively.  UNCW converted 18 assisted blocks and three solo blocks, including a team-high five assisted off the hand of Sarah Fitzgerald. The Seahawks move to 9-13 overall.

UNCW opened the set with a 5-1 run, capitalizing on kills from Laite and Keightly. The Seahawks maintained that advantage throughout, with The Citadel pulling within three on only one occasion, 8-5. Laite and teammate Katie Gratale were instrumental in sustaining the lead, accounting for seven points while in serve, including two Laite aces. Laite closed the set with six kills on 11 attacks for a .364 attack percentage.

The Citadel retaliated in the second set as the two teams battled to an early 5-5 tie. Sarah Fitzgerald used her service game, which included three aces, to help UNC Wilmington build an 11-5 advantage, before an error ended the run. With the Seahawks leading 14-7, d'Angelo drove a kill past the defense to slice the lead to six. The team's traded points until a Mallard service error opened the door for a pair of Bulldog strikes, knotting the game at 17-17. The set reached a 20-20 tie before a kill by Farrell provided the Dogs with a one-point edge they would not surrender. The Citadel capitalized on three UNCW attack errors and a Farrell kill down the stretch to secure the 25-22 win.

The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the third set, reaching a 5-5 tie on a Mercer service ace. Despite falling behind 10-6, UNCW scored five of the next six points to draw the game even at 11-11. The Citadel battled through four ties to take advantage of a Bendig ball handling error and regain the lead, 15-14. Successive points by Rudnik and Dahlstrom stretched the advantage to three points, and the Dogs did not look back. The Citadel used a pair of Maxwell kills down the stretch to complete the 25-22 victory.

The back-and-forth clash continued in opening stages of the fourth set with UNCW jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. The Citadel quickly responded with a series of kills by Mercer to knot the game at seven all. The Seahawks regained the momentum and behind the service game of Collins, grabbed a 13-9 lead. The Dogs scratched back and drew even, 13-13, and eventually took a two-point lead on consecutive kills by Mercer and Uribe. Trailing by three, 18-15, UNCW regained its composure during a timeout to outscore The Citadel 10-4 down the stretch and complete the 25-22 comeback.

The climatic fifth set endured three early ties, including a 5-5 score, which was broken by an assisted block by Mercer and Farrell. The Bulldogs quickly added to their lead on a kill by Rudnik, stretching the advantage to two points. That lead remained intact until a kill by Laite followed by a Citadel attack error drew the game even at 13-13. The two squads split each of the next four points, reaching a 15-15 tie, before a Morgan kill followed by a Citadel error ended the match by a 17-15 margin.

 

Wofford 2, East Tennessee State 3

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Reagan Styles collected her 1,000th career dig in the third set against East Tennessee State, but the Terriers dropped a closely contested five-set match, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 16-14), Tuesday night in Brooks Gym in  to the Bucs.

Styles finished the match with a team-high 23 digs.  She is now ninth all-time on the Wofford career digs list with 1,009 digs. 

ETSU opened the match with a 3-0 run, only to have Wofford take a 4-3 lead with a 4-0 run.  Wofford broke a tie at four with a kill from Kelsey Bagwell and a block my Bekah Dorsey and Wendy Burnett to take a 7-5 lead.  The Terriers would push the lead to 11-8 and hold the three-point until they pulled ahead 23-18.  Wofford closed out the set with the 25-21 win.  Styles collected five digs, and Amanda Liguori had five kills in the opening set.

The Bucs again took the early, 4-1, and would push the lead to seven, 10-3.  Wofford battled back to pull within 12-8 with a kill by Liguori and a Rachel Woodlee solo block.  ETSU extended the lead to six, 14-8, and to seven, 19-12.  The Terriers cut a 20-14 lead to one point, 21-20 with a 6-1 run to comeback in the set.  Liguori had two kills during the run. However, the Bucs held on to win the set 25-22 to tie the match at one set apiece. Styles had six digs during the second set.

With the score tied at two in the third set, Wofford received back-to-back blocks from Woodlee and Burnett and Burnett and Dorsey to spark a 5-0 run as the Terriers took an early 7-2 lead.  With Wofford up 14-10, ETSU mounted a 3-0 run to cu the lead to one, 14-13.  Following a Terrier timeout, a 3-0 run by Wofford on a kill by Liguori, a Buc attack error and a block by Woodlee and Burnett extended the lead to 17-13.   ETSU made a 3-0 run, to cut the lead to 17-16, and would tie the set at 19 on a Wofford attack error.  The two teams traded points as Wofford fought off a set point at 24-23, but would come up short in the set as they fell 26-24. Styles picked up 1,000th career dig in the third set as she collected six digs. 

Wofford opened the fourth set with a 7-1 run, only to have the Bucs trim the lead to 8-6 on 5-1 run.  The Terriers pushed the lead to 14-7 highlighted by a solo blocks by Burnett and Woodlee.   ETSU would rally and cut the lead to 17-15 and would pull even at 18.  With the score tied a 20, the Bucs pulled ahead 22-20 on a Terrier attack error and an ETSU block.  Trailing 24-22, Wofford fought off set points with a kill from Burnett and a block by Burnett and Taylor Baird to tie the score at 24. Wofford took a 25-24 lead on a Woodlee kill and ended the set on an Anderson and Baird block to take the set 26-24. Styles had four digs in the fourth set.

In the fifth set, the two teams traded the first four points, before Wofford won back-to-back points on kills from Ligouri and Anderson.  ETSU mounted a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead before a Baird kill and a Buc attack error tied the set at six.  The Bucs broke a tie at seven with a 2-0 run, only to see Wofford tie the set at nine.  ETSU pulled ahead 11-9 on kill and a Wofford attack error.  The Terriers took a 13-11 lead on kills for Dorsey and Anderson, a Buc attack error and ball handling error. Wofford couldn’t pull away, as ETSU tied the match at 13 on a kill and a Wofford set error.  After a Buc block to make it 14-13, Wofford fought off match point with a kill by Anderson only to see ETSU go up 15-14 on a kill and clinch the match on a kill to earn the 16-14 set five win and the match.  Styles added four more digs in the set.

Wofford was led offensively by Liguori, who had 13 kills.  She also added 14 digs to earn her seventh career double-double.  Burnett tied a career-high with eight total blocks, one solo block and seven block assists.  Dorsey handed out 34 assists and picked up 14 digs to earn her fifth double-double of the season.  Woodlee picked up 17 digs. Anderson added ten kills and six total blocks.

Wofford outhit ETSU .135 to .123 and held a 14.0 to 10.0 block advantage.  The Bucs had 69 kills compared to only 45 for Wofford, and collected ten more digs than the Terriers, 89-79.