Western Carolina 3, Appalachian State 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C.--Western Carolina (12-18, 7-7 SoCon) defeated arch-rival Appalachian State (18-10, 10-4 SoCon) in a thrilling, four set match in Cullowhee at the Ramsey Center Tuesday evening, defeating the Mountaineers 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22). Over 200 fans were on hand to say goodbye to Catamount seniors Brittany Lysik, Carrie Minogue and Rebecca Stoltz.
Senior Rebecca Stoltz led the Catamount offensive attack, finishing with 12 kills and finished seven total blocks, one shy of her career-high eight, which Stoltz logged against Appalachian State in 2008. The Catamounts outblocked the Mountaineers 14-7 in the match, one shy of the team’s season-high of 15. Classmate Brittany Lysik picked up her team-leading fourteenth double-double of the season on 39 assists and 17 digs.
Western Carolina got on the board first with a 25-19 win in the first set. The set remained close until the Catamounts, behind the serve of Abbey Scroggins, went on a 6-0 run to take a 24-18 lead. The six-point WCU lead would be the largest by either team in the match. Senior Minogue would add a kill to give the Catamounts an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Appalachian State answered in the second set, with a key 3-0 stretch that would open up the set for the first time for the Mountaineers, taking a 17-13 lead before the Catamounts would call timeout to try to reel the Mountaineers back in. The Catamounts fought back to within one of ASU with the Apps serving for set point, but the Mountaineers finally took the set 25-23.
Western Carolina would come out of the intermission with enthusiasm in the third set and would not trail by more than three for the rest of the match. WCU would take sets three and four, defeating its rival in Cullowhee for the first time since Oct. 15, 2008.
Steady senior Carrie Minogue finished the match with eight kills. Freshman Jordan Timmermann finished in double-digit kills, 10, for the fifth straight match. Sophomore libero Morgan Cochran added a team-high 23 digs to the winning effort.
Western Carolina now wraps up its regular season play with a two-match road swing, first at Samford on Saturday afternoon followed by a visit to Chattanooga for an afternoon tilt against the Mocs. Another WCU win or an Elon loss will give the Catamounts their first SoCon Tournament bid since 2006.
College of Charleston 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston put together one of the best all-around matches of the season, dominating The Citadel in three straight sets, 25-14, 25-9, and 25-10, in SoCon volleyball action on Tuesday night.
The Cougars (21-9, 13-2) hit a season-best .458 in the match, making 43 kills with just five errors, as CofC won its third straight sweep. The Citadel (8-21, 1-14), could not counter the CofC attack, making 20 errors and hitting only .011, the lowest hitting percentage by a Charleston opponent this season.
Seniors Elyse Chubb and Sarah Havel led the charge for College of Charleston up front. Both set new career highs in hitting percentage as they combined to make 22 kills on 28 attempts with no errors. Chubb hit a staggering .800 as she landed 12 kills, while Havel hit .769, making 10 kills to go with three blocks.
Freshmen Sloane White and Lizzie Theesfeld contributed eight and seven kills, respectively. Fellow freshman Andi Zbojniewicz led the team with 11 digs, while redshirt-junior Emily Shelton made 10. Sophomore Taeler Davis made 31 assists, her second-most for a three-set match this year.
College of Charleston jumped all over the Bulldogs early in the match, opening up a 16-5 lead off a 9-0 run in the first set. The Bulldogs could not handle the pinpoint Cougar attack as CofC hit .484 in the first set with only one error. Five kills apiece from Chubb and Havel gave the Cougars a 25-14 set one win.
The Cougars started the second set with the same momentum, jumping out to a 10-1 lead. Throughout the set, the Bulldogs only managed consecutive points on two occasions as the Cougars cruised to a 25-9 set victory. CofC made five service aces in the second set, including two from Kallie McKown, while Emily Schultz entered the match in the final points, making her second appearance this season.
After surrendering the first two points of the third set to the Bulldogs, the Cougars reeled off the next six to go up 6-2 on Havel's serve. However, The Citadel showed moxie in rallying to pull the set to 11-7, but the Cougars scored 14 of the next 17 points to win the set, 25-10. Chubb made her mark in the third with numerous kills from the middle of the court, as she finished with six in the set. Zbojniewicz also made six of her 11 digs in the final set.