Samford 3, Mercer 0
ATLANTA, Ga. ---- The Samford Bulldogs (8-0) remain undefeated, continuing the best start in program history with a 3-0 victory Friday in Atlanta, Ga., against the Mercer Bears (1-7). This is their best eight-game start in program history. The previous best came in Head Coach Derek Schroeder's first season, 2008, with a 6-2 start.
With 11 kills in 13 total attempts, Katie Murphy hit an impressive .846 percent, breaking a school record nearly as old as herself. The previous school best of .823 was set by Dana Palmer on October 1, 1991, less than two months after Murphy was born. Lauren Hutchinson led the team in kills with 17 in 32 total attempts (.406), with Elizabeth Neisler close behind with 12. The Bulldogs were out-blocked for only the second time this season, but held the edge in digs, 55-37, with Alexis Bauer (14) and Chelsi Carter (12) both in double-digits.
The first set was the Bulldogs' most decisive one so far this season, with Samford winning 25-10. It was a back-and-forth affair in the beginning until, down 6-7, the Bulldogs started to pull away. Carter maintained an impressive eight-consecutive successful services followed by Bauer with five of her own ultimately putting Samford up 20-8. Neisler regained possession for the Bulldogs, putting them up 23-10 and Carter and Hutchinson put away the final two kills of the set to win game one.
Game two was more tightly contested than the first. Samford never lost the lead, though the Bulldogs never led by more than four points the entire set. Tied 11-11, Hutchinson and Neisler looked to put some distance between the teams, earning three combined kills and teaming up for an assisted block to put the Bulldogs ahead 15-11, forcing a Mercer timeout. The Bears narrowed the defecit to 19-18 at one point, but Samford regained the lead and maintained it until the set ended at 25-22.
In similar fashion to the first set, the third game saw Samford jump to an 11-8 lead, forcing a Mercer timeout. After two Mercer points, Hutchinson regained possession for the Bulldogs to set up a four-point service run by Neisler to give Samford a six-point lead. Back-to-back service errors gave Samford ball possession, allowing them to extend the lead to 20-11. Up 24-14 looking for the decisive point, Mercer refused to go down quietly, drawing as close as 24-18 before Neisler sealed the victory and the 25-18 win.
Furman 3, Morgan State 0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Junior Chandler Ambrester hit .450 with 10 kills as the Furman volleyball team blanked Morgan State, 3-0 (25-9, 25-16, 25-16), Saturday in the Paladins' opening match at the Hilton University 49er Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Furman notched an easy 25-9 victory in set one, but the Bears put up a fierce fight to open the second set. With Morgan State leading 9-8, the Paladins went on a 6-1 run to break open the match and take a 14-10 advantage. The lead remained at four until Furman put together a second 6-1 run later in the match for a 24-15 lead. A kill by Morgan State's Simone Durham gave the Bears one last chance, but a kill from sophomore Amanda Komisarow clinched the 25-16 set victory to give Furman a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Paladins built an early 12-6 lead in the third set. The Bears came within four points at 14-10, but Furman put the match out of reach when an 8-2 run gave the Paladins a 22-11 advantage. Morgan State scored four out of five points to slice the lead to 23-15, but a Bear service error and a Paladin block from senior Kelly Kirby and sophomore Christina Dorismond sealed the 25-15 win.
Kirby paced the team with 14 assists, while junior Natalie Braun led the Paladin defensive attack with nine digs. Senior Alexis Shaffer hit a team-high .643, adding nine kills and no errors in 14 attempts.
Morgan State (2-6) was led by Ashley Johnson, who hit .321 with 12 kills. Jourdan Lemons had 23 assists in the match-up.
Davidson 3, High Point 0
HIGH POINT, N.C. - With three hitters in double figures, the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team swept the defending Big South champion High Point Panthers, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-17) in the team's first match at the High Point Invitational Friday night at the Millis Center.
Sophomore middle hitter Tindall Sewell led Davidson (6-2) with 14 kills and a .478 hitting percentage, while sophomore outside hitter and reigning SoCon Player of the Week Caroline Brown added 13 kills and nine digs. Senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski was the third Wildcat in double figures with 11 kills to go along with a match-high 10 digs. Junior setter Ariel Ley led all players with 35 assists.
High Point (1-6) was led by Courtney Johnk's 12 kills, with 30 assists for Lauren Bell and 10 digs for Molly Barlow. The Panthers also got six kills from Chelsea Davis, Jamie McDonald and Kristin Heldt.
Davidson won the first three points on kills by Ley, Brown and Perzinski to start the match. The Panthers got the set knotted at four, and things went back and forth until the Wildcats put together a 9-3 stretch to open a 17-11 lead behind three kills from Perzinski and one each by junior opposite Erin Lupfer and Brown. High Point closed within three, 19-16, on three straight scores, but Perzinski regained control for the Wildcats, who closed out the first set with a 25-20 win.
After taking a 10-6 lead to start the second set, Davidson would need extra points for the win. The Panthers clawed back from the deficit to take a 13-12 lead with a 7-2 run and scores by Bell and Johnk. A High Point service error tied the score at 13, and the teams were tied at every point until, at 17-17, a kill and ace by Perzinski gave Davidson a slight 19-17 lead. A Panther error pushed it to 20-17, but High Point rattled off three straight to tie the set again. In the back-and-forth contest, High Point had the first set-point chance when Johnk's kill lifted them to a 24-23 advantage, but an error coupled with a kill from Lupfer put Davidson back in control, 25-24. A Wildcat hitting error tied the set at 25, before a kill by Perzinski and a Panther error pushed Davidson to a 2-0 lead in the match behind the 27-25 win.
The Wildcats regrouped and came out firing in the third set, rolling to a 5-0 lead on kills from Brown and Sewell. High Point narrowed the lead to three, 13-10, behind three straight scores and kills by Johnk and Michelle Chakirelis, but the Wildcats responded with a 6-0 swing to take a 19-11 lead and control of the match for good. A pair of kills from Sewell and one each from Brown and Lupfer helped Davidson secure the sweep with the 25-17 victory.
Elon 1, Butler 3
INDIANAPOLIS - After struggling in the first set, the Elon volleyball team rallied to play three more hard-fought sets, but would eventually fall 3-1 (12-15, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23) at Butler inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. Chanelle Smith shined for the Phoenix, finishing with a career and team-season-high 21 kills. The freshman recorded only one error off 42 attempts to hit .476. The Phoenix drops to 6-3 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 3-6.
Junior Allison Johnson recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Smith also recorded a double-double with 15 digs to go along with her match-high 21 kills. Senior Megan McMahon tallied 33 assists with senior Nickie Halbert finishing with 11.
On defense, junior Celia Rose Eddy recorded a career-high six blocks. Johnson also added to the defensive attack with four blocks along with junior Ali Deatsch who finished with 18 digs.
Down 11-3 to the Bulldogs early in the first set, a kill by junior Carly Ledbetter spurred a 3-1 run, which also included a kill from Johnson and an ace from Deatsch, to cut the Butler lead to six. However, the strong start by the Bulldogs was too much to overcome for the Phoenix as it dropped the first set, 25-12.
The Phoenix kept the Bulldog lead to two points, 6-4, at the beginning of the second set, thanks to two kills by Smith. After senior Caroline Lemke and sophomore Cali Estes' strong play at the net caused an attack error at the net by Butler's Rachel Barber, Elon was able to pull within four, 14-10. With the score 19-12 in favor of the Bulldogs, the Phoenix scored three unanswered off a kills from Smith and Johnson and a block by senior Traci Stewart and Eddy to make it a 19-15 set. After a quick Butler point, Elon went on a five-point run with a block by Eddy and Johnson and three aces by Deatsch to tie the set at 20-all. Back-to-back kills by Johnson, followed by an ace from Stewart, helped give the Phoenix its first lead of the game, 23-21. After the Bulldogs came back to tie the set at 24-all, Smith clinched the win for Elon with two straight kills to make it a 26-24 set and even the match at one-all.
With the Bulldogs up 13-5 in the third, the Phoenix put together a five-point run with two kills from Eddy, one from Smith and an ace by McMahon to cut the lead to three. Elon would tie it up at 14-all courtesy of a Johnson kill, a kill and an ace by Smith and a block by Stewart, Eddy and Johnson at the middle of the net. Smith continually kept the maroon and gold in the set towards the end cutting the Butler lead to two three times, but the Bulldogs went on to take the 2-1 match lead after a 25-22 set victory.
Two kills by Smith early in third set put Elon up 7-5 before Butler tied it at seven-all. From there, the Phoenix went on to score six unanswered off four kills by Smith and a solo block by Eddy making it a 13-7 lead. Smith's dominance on the outside helped Elon take as much as a six-point lead before the set became tied at 17-all. A block by Eddy and Johnson would tie the set again at 20-all for the Phoenix. But the Bulldogs ended up with a 25-23 set win and the final match victory. Smith showed little sign of her rookie status after recording nine of her 21 total kills in the fourth set.
Western Carolina 0, Ball State 3
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind, -- Western Carolina (2-6) was fast out of the gates against an undefeated Ball State - leading in each of the three sets - before scoring streaks in each led the Cardinals (8-0) over the Catamounts in its first match of the Active Ankle Challenge on the campus of Purdue University.
Senior Carrie Minogue topped the stats offensively hitting .571 with eight kills. Minogue also added two block assists and two digs. Classmate Rebecca Stoltz finished with five kills and four digs.
The first set went back and forth between both teams with the score becoming tied at nine. Two Catamount errors and an ace by Ball State's Schembra put the Cardinals ahead 13-9. WCU got three points back from BSU by way of a Caitlin Piechota kill, a BSU attack error and an ace by senior setter Brittany Lysik. Ball State would then go on a 6-1 run to make the score 20-14. WCU put together a run of its own, to climb back within two, being down 20-18. Ball State went on to win the first set 25-20.
The Catamounts got on the board first in the second set scoring two points behind the serve of Brittany Lysik. The score would remain close until the Catamounts went up 8-7. Following a WCU service error, the Cardinals would go on an 8-2 run to take a 16-9 lead. The Cardinals ended the second set, taking the set 25-14.
In the third set, WCU again took a 2-0 lead behind kills from freshmen Caitlin Piechota and Jordan Timmermann. Ball State went ahead 9-4, before Western Carolina would score three unanswered points to climb back within two at 9-7. The closest WCU would get to the Cardinals after that point would be a four-point deficit, at 14-10. Ball State took the final set, 25-15. Piechota and Minogue both had three kills in the set.
Freshman Leah Butler made her first career start at the libero position, filling in for Morgan Cochran - who sat out with an illness - who is the team's leader in digs. Butler finished the match with a dig and was one of three freshmen to start for the Catamounts.
Brittany Lysik dished out 21 assists, grabbing five digs, and adding two aces. Junior Abbey Scroggins ended the match with a kill, an assist, two aces and two digs.
Appalachian State 1, Morehead State 3
Appalachian State 1, Western Michigan 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Appalachian State volleyball team dropped its opening two matches of the 2011 Morehead State Invitational on Friday, Sept. 9 at Wetherby Gymnasium.
The Mountaineers (4-5) dropped their first match to the host Eagles (5-4), 3-1, in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 26-24) before suffering a 3-1 loss to Western Michigan (7-1) in four sets (25-22, 20-25, 31-29, 25-20) in their second match. The Apps conclude tournament play tomorrow morning when they face George Mason at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Match 1
Appalachian picked up a second-set win behind thanks to strong efforts by Anna Wagner and Maggie Seeds, but was unable to overcome a first-set loss as it dropped a 3-1 decision to Morehead State in the first match on Friday.
The Eagles trailed 2-0 early in the first set before snagging a 12-7 lead and hanging on for the 25-20 win in the first frame. The Mountaineers rebounded with a 25-23 win in the second set by using two five-point runs en route to their lone set win.
Morehead State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set and never led by fewer than four points in a 25-16 set victory. The Eagles also overcame a late 20-16 deficit in the fourth set to pull out a 26-24 victory and clinch the match.
Seeds and Wagner each finished with 12 kills while Courtney Rhein came up with 18 digs. The Apps hit just .192 in the match but still held the edge over Morehead State (.190), who had 11 attack errors in the second set. The Eagles finished with a slight edge in blocks (8-7) and were held to a negative attack percentage in the second set.
Match 2
In their final match of the day, the Mountaineers rallied to tie the score at 1-1 with a win in the second set, but Western Michigan picked up a hard-fought win in the third set before clinching the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
Appalachian led by as many as three points on three occasions in the first set and led by one (18-17) late in the set before the Broncos rallied back to score seven of the final 11 points on their way to a first-set victory.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set but trailed midway through (13-10) before notching 15 of the final 22 points to tie the match at 1-1.
A back-and-forth battle ensued in a hard-fought third set which saw eight lead changes and 12 tie scores. The Apps trailed by as many as six (21-15) late in the set before reeling off a 10-3 run to take a 25-24 lead. The lead would change hands several times before the Broncos finally prevailed, 31-29.
Appalachian would take a 1-0 lead to begin the fourth set, but Western Michigan used a 3-0 run to take the lead back and did not trail the rest of the way to take a match-clinching win by a final of 25-20.
Wagner led the Mountaineers with 16 kills while Maggie Seeds finished with 14 kills and hit an impressive .444. Wagner also chipped in with 12 digs while sisters Courtney (13) and Kelly Rhein (12) also tallied double-digit digs. The Apps were held to an attack percentage of just .208 while the Broncos hit .259 as a team and had three players with double-digit kill totals.
Georgia Southern 1, Arizona State 3
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team (3-6) fell to Arizona State (4-3) in the 2011 Carolina Classic opener Friday night. The Eagles improved on their blocking, posting a season-high 10 blocks, but a .148 attack percentage hampered the offense in the 3-1 loss.
Arizona State won a tightly contested first set after a pair of Eagle errors erased a 19-19 tie. Georgia Southern rallied in the second set to win 25-19 after holding Arizona State to a .087 attack percentage. The Sun Devils bounced back with their best set yet, hitting .353 en route to winning set three 25-16. They wrapped up the 3-1 match win with a close 25-22 victory in set four.
GSU's defense tallied 70 digs including 19 from Lauren LaRocque (Frisco, Texas) and 16 from Hayli Ketner (Spartanburg, S.C.) to hold the Sun Devils to a .202 hitting percentage.
Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.) worked her way into the Georgia Southern offense and posted a team-high 11 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) added 10 more kills, while Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) tossed in eight. Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) set up the offense with 38 of the team's 41 assists. She also added eight digs on the defensive end.
College of Charleston 2, Winthrop 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston won the first and third set, but could not hold on to put away Winthrop in the first day of the College of Charleston Invitational. The Eagles captured a 25-20 victory in the fourth set, and won the deciding game, 15-10.
College of Charleston (3-4, 0-0) sported four different players in double figures in kills in Sarah Havel (14), Elyse Chubb (14), Madelyn McGinnis (11) and Lizzie Theesfeld (10). Sophomore Kallie McKown picked up a career-high 47 assists and 20 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Winthrop was led by Carolyn Weed who tallied 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .316. Big South Preseason Player of the Year Becca Toor registered 12 kills on 30 swings.
The Cougars jumped out to a quick lead in the first set, extending an 8-7 lead to 15-8 off of three kills by Havel. The Eagles were never closer than five points as College of Charleston ran to a 25-12 set win. The Cougars hit an impressive .536 in the first set with just two attacking errors. The Cougars defense, led by redshirt-junior Emily Shelton, recorded 12 digs and held the Eagles to just a .077 attacking percentage.
The second set remained close the whole way until Winthrop broke open a 17-17 tie, taking advantage of three straight College of Charleston attack errors. Two kills from Brittany Blackman put the game out of reach and Winthrop tied the match with a 25-18 set win.
College of Charleston responded well in the third game, building a 6-2 lead and holding an advantage of six or seven points throughout the set. Winthrop broke set point three times until a kill from freshman Sloane White gave College of Charleston a 25-21 set win and a 2-1 match lead. Shelton recorded nine digs in the set while Havel landed four kills on nine swings.
The fourth game followed the trend of the second as Winthrop did not let Charleston pull away, forcing a tie at 20 apiece. The Eagles then promptly ran off five straight points to shock the home crowd and force a fifth set. Weed notched a game-high six kills in the fourth set as the Eagles hit .265 in attacking percentage. The Cougars were less efficient, registering just a .093 attack percentage with only Chubb getting to three kills.
The Cougars excited the crowd to start the final set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. However, Blackman stepped up big for Winthrop again, recording consecutive kills to tie the game after a McKown service error. Winthrop scored three straight points to break open a slight 7-6 margin to 10-6 and the Cougars were unable to recover. Winthrop won the final set 15-10.
Chattanooga 0, East Tennessee State 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball opened the Country Inns & Suites Invitational at Maclellan Gym on Friday falling to East Tennessee State, 3- 0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-22), in a competitive match that saw 28 ties and 15 lead changes. Pacing the offensive attack was sophomore outside Jennifer Kuroski compiled a .370 hitting percentage with 12 kills.
Adding to the offense was junior outside Heather Parman with seven kills along with senior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn with seven. Combining for 33 assists were sophomores Tess Kosycarz and Bridget Camacho.
Chattanooga did dominate the net in the blocking game coming up with seven total blocks as junior right side Christina Teter tied a career-best with three solo blocks. Freshman middle blocker Kasey Talley recorded a match-high four blocks against the Bucs.
Junior Paula Passmore led the Mocs defensive effort with 12 digs, while freshman Melissa Green added nine. Also contributing to the defense was Parman with seven and Kuhn had four.
The first set began with the teams fighting back and forth with a nine-all tie before ETSU grabbed a 12-9 lead. Chattanooga used a kill by Kuhn and a block by Talley and Kuhn to knot the set at 13. A turning point in the frame was the Bucs winning a long rally to take a 17-14 lead.
From there, ETSU cruised to a 25-19 first set victory. Chattanooga notched nine kills during the frame, but the Bucs were more efficient totaling 14 and hitting at .312.
Chattanooga and ETSU battled point-for-point through the first 14 games of the second set before the Mocs scored three-straight to take a 10-7 lead. A service ace by Kosycarz stretched the advantage to 15-10 before the Bucs rallied to knot the frame.
Once again, the Mocs built a three-point lead, 20-17, but ETSU continued to fight back. A long rally where each team had seven touches ended on a Teter kill putting Chattanooga up, 22-20. The match was then tied at 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 in an action packed set highlighted by kills from Parman and Kuhn.
The Bucs remained on top taking advantage of mistakes to closed out the frame, 28-26. There were 14 ties and seven lead changes between the two squads. Kuhn and Kuroski paced the Mocs with five and four kills, respectively, as the team totaled 14.
Coming out of the intermission, ETSU took control of the frame rolling off five-straight points after the set was tied at four. The Bucs reached set point with a 24-16 advantage, but the Mocs fought till the end keeping rallies alive using two kills by Parman to extend the action.
ETSU closed out the frame on their eighth match point, 25-22. Chattanooga notched a match-high 12 kills during the set as Kuroski and Parman added five each.