The
Citadel 0, Coastal Carolina 3
CHARLESTON,
S.C. – Outside hitter Kaona Mercer finished with a team-high 11 kills, but it was Coastal Carolina that emerged
with a three-game sweep of The Citadel Volleyball team on Tuesday night by
scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-17 at McAlister Field House. Joining Mercer among
the team's statistical leaders was Ise d'Angelo,
who notched a team-high 13 digs.
While Mercer led the way in kills, teammate Rachael Farrell added nine strikes along with four digs, in the final
non-conference match of the season for the Cadets. Meanwhile, the combination
of d'Angelo (13 digs), Erin Bucherl (seven digs) and Emily Dalton (seven digs) were instrumental in giving The Citadel a 50-45 edge in digs over
the Chanticleers. The Citadel slipped to 7-17 overall in the loss.
The trio of Erika Lightsey (12 kills), Kindra Bailey (11
kills) and Lian Bernett (10 kills) provided Coastal Carolina with a distinct
41-30 advantage in front row kills. The Chants (10-16) finished with a team
hitting percentage of .255, highlighted by Bailey (.500) and Bernett (.308).
Coastal Carolina also had three players record double-digit dig performances,
including Lindsay Gill (13), Sam Skryd (12) and Jamie DiMaggio (12). Skyrd
piloted the Chanticleers offense with 35 assists, as CCU became the eighth
different in-state opponent for the Dogs this season.
Coastal Carolina ran out to a quick 4-0 lead in the
opening set, before a kill by Mercer recorded the first Bulldog point. The
Chanticleers extended their lead to 8-3 before kills by Farrell and Amanda Rudnik resulted in a four-point swing for the Dogs, slicing the score to 8-7. A series
of kills by d'Angelo, Mercer and Alexa Dahlstrom applied pressure to the Chanticleers defense, as The
Citadel assumed a 14-12 lead. Two points later, with the score knotted at
14-14, a pair of kills by Lightsey gave the Chants a lead that they would not
relinquish, 17-15. Coastal Carolina allowed just four Bulldog points down the
stretch to earn the 25-19 victory.
The Chanticleers again opened with a flurry of points
early, grabbing a 6-1 lead behind three kills from Bailey in early stages of
game two. Farrell retaliated with three kills and keyed a Bulldogs rally that
made for a 9-7 score. The trio of Lightsey, Bailey and Bennett accounted for
six of the next nine Coastal Carolina points, as they took an 18-10 lead. The
Citadel responded with consecutive kills by Mercer, d'Angelo and Farrell,
keeping themselves within striking distance, 18-13. Despite a series of kills
by Mercer and Rudnik in the waning stages of the set, which cut the lead to
23-20, the Bulldogs fell in the second set 25-20.
The two teams split the first 12 points of the third set,
reaching a 6-6 tie on a kill by Farrell. Coastal Carolina quickly regained the
lead after a kill by Bailey, rattling off the next seven straight points to
assume the 14-6 lead. The Dogs responded with kills by Farrell, d'Angelo and
Mercer, but CCU held the eight-point lead, 18-10. Skryd used her service game
to extend the lead to 11 points before Bucherl forced three attack errors in
four points to cut the Chanticleer lead to 21-15. Coastal Carolina outscored
the Cadets 4-2 in the final stages to complete the 25-17 win.
Wofford 1,
Gardner-Webb 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball opened each
set with an early advantage, but fell to the visiting Gardner-Webb Runnin’
Bulldogs 3-1 (25-18, 11-25, 25-19, 25-20) Tuesday night in a nonconference
match inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Prior to the match, the Terriers honored Reagan Styles
for collecting her 1,000th career dig against ETSU on October 11. With her 26 digs Tuesday night, she now moves
into seventh place all-time on the Wofford career dig list with 1,102 and is
one dig shy of sixth all-time.
Wofford got off to a fast start in the opening set with a
10-4 lead, only to see Gardner-Webb climb back into the set with a 6-2 run to
pull within two points, 12-10. After the
Terriers went ahead 14-11, the Runnin’ Bulldogs mounted an 8-1 run to take a
19-15 lead. Wofford was never able to
get back into the set as they fell 25-18.
The Terriers opened the set second again with a long run,
9-4, however, Wofford wouldn’t let up as they jumped out to a 17-5 lead. The Terriers went on to take the lopsided
set, 25-11.
For the third straight time, the Terriers got off to a
quick start with a 9-6 lead, only to see it evaporate when the Runnin’ Bulldogs
tied the set at 12. Neither team could
get the upper hand until Gardner-Webb broke open a tie at 17 with an 8-2 run to
close out the set 25-19 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, Wofford again took an early lead, 9-5,
and again saw Gardner-Webb reel them back in as they cut the margin to
11-10. Wofford held onto the lead until
the Runnin’ Bulldogs tied the set at 16, after rallying from down 14-11. With the score knotted at 20, Gardner-Webb
ended the set and the match with a 5-0 run for the 3-1 win.
Wofford was led by Amanda Liguori, who had 13 kills, and
by Rachel Woodlee, who had 11 kills.
Woodlee picked her fourth double-double of the season as she collected
15 digs to go along with her 11 kills.
Beakah Dorsey earned her seventh double-double of the season with 35
assists and 13 digs. Styles continued
her consecutive double-digit dig streak as she picked up a match-high 26 digs
to push the streak to 19 matches. She
has collected 20 or more digs in four of the last seven matches.
Wofford outhit Gardner-Webb .201 to .153, but lost the
battle at the net as Runnin’ Bulldogs had ten blocks compared to nine for the
Terriers. Gardner-Webb had 13 aces
compared to five for Wofford, as the Terriers have been out-served in their
last seven matches and are 2-13 on the season when the opponent has more aces.