Samford 3, Western Carolina 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -The Samford volleyball team secured sole possession of first place in the SoCon North Division with a 3-1 win at home versus Western Carolina on Saturday. It is their third division title in the past four seasons and secures a No. 1 seed in next week’s SoCon Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.
Today’s win is the Bulldogs’ (26-3, 13-2 SoCon) 12th straight and pushes their undefeated home record to 11-0 this season. The Catamounts (12-19, 7-8 SoCon) split the match at 1-1, but ultimately fell short, hitting .178 (42/19/129) as a team. Samford hit .331 (67/16/154) with four in double-digit kills, led by Elizabeth Neisler with 18. Casey Garvey earned a career-best 58 assists as she moves into 10th all-time at Samford in single-season assists with 1,193 this season, passing Collen Donivan’s 1999 total of 1,182.
Samford held the edge in digs, 61-56, led by Alexis Bauer with 19 and out-blocked the Catamounts 7-4. Western Carolina was led in kills by Caitlin Piechota with 15, hitting a .233 clip and adding 16 digs for the double-double.
Samford looked to make a statement right away, winning the first set 25-16. Up 6-5, Chelsi Carter knocked in a kill to pull up 7-5 and give the Bulldogs possession. Carter was at the service line and put up two successful serves in a row, setting up kills by Neisler and Katie Murphy to complete the 3-0 run to go up 9-5. Samford maintained the lead, going up by five thanks to a Murphy kill to force a Catamount timeout up 15-10. The Bulldogs came out of the timeout and quickly scored three in a row to force a frustration timeout by Western Carolina. Samford hit the 20-point mark, up 20-12, and outscored the Catamounts 5-4 to close out the 25-16 win.
Set two was the longest of the match, with the Catamounts earning the edge 29-27. Western Carolina took their first lead of the match on a Murphy attack error to up 7-6 early in set two. The middle portion of the set was tightly contested, with eight ties and three lead changes leading to a 20-20 tie. Tied at 22-22, a Western Carolina service error followed by an attack error gave the Bulldogs a shot at set point, up 24-22, but Western Carolina took a timeout to try and slow the momentum. A Samford service error and an attack error tied the match back up at 24-24 and neither team could capitalize on set point until, up 28-27, Western Carolina’s Carrie Minogue knocked in the final kill to even the match up 1-1.
The Bulldogs came out of the ten-minute break determined to not fall behind, earning a 25-19 win in set three. The Catamounts held a slim edge in the early portion of the set, as Michaela Reesor earned a kill to draw within one, down 11-12, and give the Bulldogs possession. Chao served up three in a row, pulling ahead 14-12 and forcing a Western Carolina timeout. Chao served up two more out of the break to give the Bulldogs their largest lead of the set, up 16-12. The Catamounts threatened, drawing within one but an assisted block by Neisler and Lauren Hutchinson and a kill by Neisler put the Bulldogs up 20-17 to force a late Western Carolina timeout. Samford came out of the break with renewed energy, only allowing the Catamounts to score two in the remainder of the set, earning a solid 25-19 victory.
Samford didn’t waste any time securing their division title, beating the Catamounts in set four 25-18 to secure the four-set victory. The set was tied at three different points early, but after going up 5-4 the Bulldogs would not give up the lead for the rest of the set. Up 5-4, Samford went on a 6-2 run to pull ahead 11-6 forcing yet another Western Carolina timeout. The momentum shifted multiple times during the set, as each team had multiple runs but the Bulldogs were able to maintain the lead, pulling up as much as seven, 21-14, at the final timeout of the match thanks to a 5-1 run with two kills each by Reesor and Murphy and a fifth by Neisler. The teams traded points evenly for the remainder of the set, with Garvey tipping over the final kill of the match to secure the seven-point win.
Samford closes out the regular season tomorrow at home with a 2 p.m. match against Appalachian State.
Furman 3, Davidson 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The senior trio of Carolyn Nicoletti, Kelly Kirby, and Alexis Shaffer recorded 20 kills and 23 digs collectively to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-9) win over Davidson Saturday night in Alley Gymnasium, completing an undefeated home season. Nicoletti posted 14 digs, while Kirby hit .391 with 10 kills and 17 assists. Shaffer paced the Paladins with a .429 attack percentage and tallied 10 kills.
Furman held a slim 9-7 lead early in the first set when the Paladins went on a 9-3 run to push the advantage to 18-10. Davidson trimmed the lead to five points at 23-18 before a kill from junior Caroline Adams gave the Paladins match point. The Wildcats put together three-straight points to slice the lead to 24-21, but a kill by sophomore Christina Dorismond sealed the 25-21 set win for Furman.
The Paladins led 5-4 to open the second set then scored on four-consecutive points to break open the match. Furman built a 16-7 lead and went on to a 25-12 victory to take a 2-0 set lead at the break. In the third set, Furman led 6-3 before the Paladins went on a 9-0 run to build a 15-3 advantage. The team held control of the match, posting a 15-9 win in the final set.
Junior Caroline Adams hit .625 with 10 kills and eight block assists in the match, while junior Natalie Braun paced the Paladins with 20 assists and 23 digs and hit .300 with nine kills. Junior Christina Curry added seven blocks for Furman.
Caroline Brown led Davidson (15-13, 5-10 SoCon) with eight kills, while Ariel Ley added 22 assists. Molly Crenshaw paced the Wildcat defense with 19 digs.
Furman (20-8, 13-3 SoCon) will compete at the Southern Conference Tournament Nov. 19-21 at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. The quarterfinal matches will take place on Nov. 19 beginning at 10 a.m. (#2 South vs. #3 North), match two at 12:30 p.m. (#1 North vs. #4 South), match three at 4:30 p.m. (#1 South vs. #4 North), and match four at 7 p.m. (#2 North vs. #3 South). All game times and matchups may change should Samford elect to play in the 7 p.m. game.
The semifinal matches will be held on Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Southern Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship will conclude on Nov. 21 with the championship match at 6 p.m. The championship match will be featured on ESPN3.
Georgia Southern 3, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern survived the Wofford volleyball team’s bid at an upset as they sneaked out a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) win Saturday night in the Hannah Gym on the campus of Converse College in a Southern Conference match.
The match was moved to Converse because of the GOP Presidential debate being held in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
In the first set, the Terriers jumped out to a 14-9 lead, and held the lead late in the set at 19-13. However, the Eagles went on a 9-3 run to tie the set at 22. Following a Georgia Southern kill and a Wofford attack error that made the score 24-22, Arden Anderson notched a kill to keep the Terriers alive, but the Eagles ended the set on the next point with a kill to take the 25-23 set one win.
Georgia Southern hit .400 in the set, while Wofford hit .297.
Wofford opened the second set with a 12-7 lead, but again saw Georgia Southern rally to force a tie, this time at 14. The two teams traded points, until the Eagles pulled away from a tie at 17 with a 3-0 run. Wofford would pull within one point three times, 22-21, 24-23 and 25-24, but couldn’t even the set or take the lead as they fell 26-24 to the Eagles.
Both teams hit at a high mark in the second set, as Wofford hit at a .438 mark, while Georgia Southern hit at a .444.
The Eagles pulled away early in the third set as they led wire-to-wire to earn the sweep with a 25-20 win.
Amanda Liguori paced the Terrier attack with 12 kills. She also picked up 12 digs to earn the double-double. Wendy Burnett added nine kills, and Anderson and Woodlee chipped in with eight kills. Bekah Dorsey handed out 31 assists, while Reagan Styles collected ten digs.
Wofford will host Davidson Sunday for its final game of the season at 1 p.m.
College of Charleston 3, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - College of Charleston volleyball earned its 11th straight SoCon regular season or conference tournament championship by ending the regular season with a sweep of UNC-Greensboro and winning the SoCon's South Division with a conference record of 14-2.
The Cougars (23-9, 14-2) have earned a number one seed for the SoCon tournament which begins next weekend on Samford's campus in Birmingham, Ala.
The win (25-22, 25-17, 25-13) was the ninth straight for CofC, and the fourth-straight sweep. The Cougars recorded 10 match sweeps this season.
Senior Sarah Havel reached a career milestone in the match as her nine kills helped her eclipse 1,000 for her career. Freshmen Lizzie Theesfeld and Sloane White and senior Elyse Chubb each notched 11 kills on the match. Chubb was the most efficient on the team with an attack percentage of .625, while also making three blocks. Theesfeld also made 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
Sophomore Taeler Davis made 39 assists, her most in a three-set match this season.
The Cougars hit .295 on the match, while holding the Spartans to a .161 hitting mark.
Karrian Chambers led UNCG with 11 kills, while Kellie Orewiler led the Spartans with 22 digs.
College of Charleston jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first set off of Havel's 1,000th kill, but the Spartans reeled off five straight points to tie the set at nine. The Cougars went on a three-point run later in the set to build an 18-13 lead capped by an ace from White. The resilient Spartans battled back yet again, tying the set at 20. A kill from Havel followed by three errors from the Spartans eventually allowed the Cougars to win the first set, 25-22.
The two teams battled in the second set, trading mini-runs before College of Charleston broke open the set and extended a 15-13 lead to 19-13. Chubb had two kills and a block in the four-point run. College of Charleston had no trouble eventually winning the set, 25-17. White led the team with six kills in the set, while Chubb had four kills and two blocks.
College of Charleston used an 11-2 run midway through the third set to go from a 9-8 lead to being up 20-10. Six of those points came on Havel's serve as Theesfeld and Chubb lit up the Spartans defense with attacks from the outside. College of Charleston won the final set, 25-13, on a tip from Havel.
College of Charleston will play in the first round of the SoCon Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Samford. The match time and opponent have not yet been determined.
Appalachian State 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team fell in four sets to Appalachian State on Saturday night, 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 25-14), at Maclellan Gym. Junior middle blocker Christina Teter tied a match-high with 13 kills and hit at a .345 rate.
Distributing the ball on the offensive attack for Chattanooga (5-24, 3-12, SoCon) was Bridget Camacho with 32 assists and earned her fifth double-double of the campaign with 12 digs against Appalachian State (19-10, 11-4 SoCon).
Sophomore outside Jennifer Kuroski posted 10 kills, while freshman middle blocker Kasey Talley notched seven.
The Mocs defense was led by freshman libero Melissa Green with 23 digs. Also registering double-digit digs was junior defensive specialist Paula Passmore and Kuroski.
Pacing the Chattanooga blocking game was Teter with five and Talley, Kuroski and Camacho registered two each.
Appalachian State was led by Allison Blasingame with 13 kills. Two Mountaineers recorded double-doubles with Kasey Sauls posting 39 assists and 11 digs and Anna Wagner with 10 kills and 14 digs. Courtney Rhein tallied 23 digs in the contest.
In the first set, both teams came out fighting for each point before Chattanooga rallied to a 12-8 lead on a kill by Kuroski. The Mountaineers scored a point on eight-straight rallies to take a 18-14 advantage. Chattanooga responded with Kosycarz on the service line with an ace and two kills by Parman to knot the frame up at 19-all.
The lead changed again as Courtney Rhein took service for Appalachian State and guided it to a 24-21 advantage, but the Mocs would continue to fight back tying the set up at 24 on a kill by Kuroski before Appalachian State closed it out, 26-24.
After seeing 10 ties and six lead changes in the first set, Appalachian State took a commanding 13-8 lead that ended a 6-1 rally in the second. Chattanooga continued to challenge the Mountaineers, but was unable to come closer than four points in the 25-20 defeat.
Coming out of the intermission, the Mountaineers came out and earned an 8-3 lead. They would hold a four-point advantage until Chattanooga used kills by Parman to cap a 3-1 run to knot the score at 17-all. A kill by Camacho and service ace from Passmore put the Mocs up 24-21, but the Mountaineers would tie it at 24-all, before Chattanooga clinched the set with a Kuroski kill and a mistake from ASU.
The Mocs played excellent defense towards the end of the third frame providing additional opportunities for its offense.
During the fourth set, Appalachian State controlled the frame by opening it on a 10-1 run. From there, the Mountaineers would go on to close out the match, 25-15.
Chattanooga completes the regular season on Sunday with a 3 p.m. match against Western Carolina at Maclellan Gym.