Elon 3, High Point 0

HIGH POINT, N.C. - For a fourth straight year, the Elon volleyball team has defeated High Point with this year's win coming in the form of a sweep, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-16), on the Panthers' home court. The Phoenix is now 9-3 on the season, while the Panthers fell to 1-9.

Senior Caroline Lemke led all players in the match with 12 kills, while freshman Kris Harris recorded a new career-best 10 kills. Senior Megan McMahon made a big impact on both sides of the court with 34 assists and 12 digs.

On defense, junior Ali Deatsch finished with 19 digs, while both Lemke and Harris recorded three blocks.

With the score tied at 11-all, the Phoenix went on a 5-2 run to put Elon up 17-13 and forced High Point to call a timeout. Out of the short break, kills by Lemke and freshman Chanelle Smith kept the score in the Phoenix's favor, but the Panthers were able to pull within one, 19-18. With the lead still at a one-point advantage for the maroon and gold, 22-21, back-to-back kills by junior Allison Johnson and Lemke moved the Phoenix to a set-point opportunity, 24-21. Elon would hold on to win the set, 25-22, and take the match lead.

After trading points back and forth to start the second set, the Phoenix scored five unanswered with the help of a kill by Smith and two block assists by Smith and Harris to take an 11-6 lead. The Panthers rallied back to cut its deficit to one, 12-11, but kills by Harris, junior Carly Ledbetter and Lemke kept the Phoenix rolling, moving to a 19-15 lead. Up by five, 21-17, Elon used a four-point run with kills by Harris and Lemke to close out the set with a 25-18 win.

Up by only one, 4-3, early in the third set, Elon scored four straight, capped by an ace from Deatsch, to extend the lead to five, 8-3. Still holding a five-point advantage, several Panther miscues helped the Phoenix start a 4-1 run that ended with kills from Johnson and Lemke to go up 17-10. After a kill by Ledbetter moved the score to 19-12, still in favor of the maroon and gold, High Point attempted a comeback scoring the next two, but another kill by Harris kept Elon in the lead, 20-14. The Phoenix would score the final three points off kills by Harris and senior Traci Stewart and an ace by Deatsch to win the set, 25-16, and the match sweep.

Wofford 3, North Carolina A&T 0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford College women's volleyball team earned their sixth sweep of the season 3-0 (25-5, 25-11, 25-12) over the North Carolina A&T Aggies in a match that saw all 13 Terriers on the roster earn a point.

Wofford opened the match with a 25-5 set one win and followed it up with a 25-11 set two win.  They sealed the match with a 25-12 set three win to improve to 8-3 overall.

Rachel Woodlee led the team with eight kills on 14 swings with only one error for a .500 hitting percentage.  Amanda Liguori tallied seven kills and a .417 hitting percentage.  Taylor Baird finished with five kills and an .833 hitting percentage.  Reagan Styles led the team with four service aces and ten digs, while Bekah Dorsey handed out 17 assists and had three service aces.  Tara Gough had 11 assists.  Lucy Reser and Arden Anderson had two block assists in the match.

College of Charleston 3, Presbyterian 1

CLINTON, S.C. - College of Charleston won a 3-1 non-conference decision over Presbyterian in volleyball action on Tuesday night. After taking the first set 25-20, the Cougars and Blue Hose played to tight game decisions with CofC winning sets two (25-23) and four (26-24), and Presbyterian taking the third set, 30-28.

Sophomore Madelyn McGinnis tied a season high with 17 kills on 36 attempts for a .306 hitting percentage. Seniors Sarah Havel and Elyse Chubb each registered 11 kills. Defensively, redshirt-junior Emily Shelton and freshman Andi Zbojniewicz played well on the back line, notching 19 and 17 digs, respectively.

Presley Mabrey led Presbyterian with 16 kills and 14 digs while Allison Brown picked up 12 kills. Setter Ashtin Frank contributed 45 assists and 13 digs.

In the first set, the Cougars pulled ahead from a stalemate at 15 with seven of the next eight points to build a 22-16 advantage. McGinnis contributed three kills in the run while Kallie McKown added a service ace. Charleston went on to win the set, 25-20.

After falling behind 11-4 in the second set, College of Charleston used a ferocious rally to tie the game at 13 and again at 20. College of Charleston traded points with Presbyterian in the final points of the set before a kill from McGinnis secured the Cougar victory, 25-23.

The Cougars and Blue Hose were locked in a back-and-forth battle in the third game as neither team could hold a significant lead. A service ace from Sloane White tied the game at 24, and two kills from sophomore Emily Neideffer helped hold off a Blue Hose game victory. However, a kill from Presbyterian's Caroline Cann followed by a Havel attacking error gave Presbyterian a 30-28 set win.

College of Charleston opened the fourth set strong, running out to a 10-4 lead early on, taking advantage of Presbyterian miscues. However, the Blue Hose battled back, eventually tying the game at 20. Presbyterian nearly forced a fifth set, leading 24-22 before consecutive attack errors and an ace from McKown gave the Cougars a 26-24 set win, securing the match victory. Zbojniewicz tallied a team-best nine digs in the final frame, keeping the Cougars alive on long rallies.

Western Carolina 3, UNC Asheville 1

CULLOWHEE, N.C. -Western Carolina defeated mountain-rival UNC-Asheville, 3-1, Wednesday night in exciting fashion, winning its first home match of the season. With the win, WCU improves to 3-8 while UNCA falls to 5-6 on the season.

Four Catamounts finished the match with double-doubles, two of which came from freshman. Caitlin Piechota led the way for the Catamounts offensively with 18 kills, also adding 12 digs. Both are career highs for the freshman. Classmate Jordan Timmermann had 11 kills and 11 digs.

The match was very close throughout, with both teams battling back and forth for the lead. In the opening set, UNCA jumped out to a 9-3 lead before the Catamounts came back and tied the set at 19-19. A block solo and a block assist by Rebecca Stoltz, along with some timely kills by WCU, allowed the Catamounts to get back in the set before eventually dropping the first set, 25-22.

In the second set, Western Carolina overcame a six-point deficit to take the second set. Abbey Scroggins and Stoltz both came up with two points apiece to bring back the Catamounts.

The third set - the most exciting set of the night - needed 28 points to decide a winner. Neither team took more than a three point lead throughout. Piechota picked up six of her 18 kills in the third. After a UNCA attack error put the Catamounts ahead 25-24, the Bulldogs evened things up with a kill by Anna Moore. Another Piechota kill off of a Brittany Lysik set gave WCU a one-point lead. The Catamounts couldn't hold the advantage as UNCA would once again even the set at 26. A service error by UNCA followed by a forceful block by Rebecca Blotz and Abbey Scroggins would end the set.

Western Carolina saw its largest lead of the evening in the final set, streaking to an 18-10 advantage. A run behind the serve of UNCA's Alex Stewart would give the Bulldogs the spark they needed to, again, bring a tie to the match at 23-23. The final set ended nearly the same way as the fourth, with a UNCA service error and another big block from Rebecca Stoltz, this time with the assistance of fellow senior Brittany Lysik.

Veteran returners Abbey Scroggins played a very complete match for the Purple and Gold, finishing the match with 12 kills, 20 digs and two block assists, while setter Brittany Lysik dished 39 assists, a career high, and 16 digs.

Freshman libero Paige McConlogue, playing the libero position for the second week in a row, also added 22 digs.

The Citadel 1, Charleston Southern 3

Charleston, S.C. - Junior outside hitter Cassie Uribe accounted for 19 of The Citadel's 49 team kills, however it was not enough offensively to overcome a tough Charleston Southern squad who emerged victorious by scores of 25-18, 25-23, 22-25 and 25-10 on Tuesday evening. In her first home match of the season since Aug. 26, Uribe shattered her previous match-high in kills (13), connecting on 19 kills in 35 attempts to finish with a .343 attack percentage.

Fellow outside hitter, Kathryn Johnston, tallied nine kills to go along with nine digs, while Rachael Farrell completed the match with eight kills. Alexa Dahlstrom handed out 40 assists to go along with four kills and a pair of assisted blocks, however The Citadel slipped to 4-2 with the loss. Defensively, the Bulldogs finished with 11 assisted blocks, anchored by Jessica Maxwell's four.

Charleston Southern (2-9) was paced up front by the combination of Amy Nokes (12 kills), Ashley Johnston (eight kills) and Wynter Davis (eight kills). The Buccaneers converted 44 kills as a team to finish with a .223 attack percentage. CSU held a significant edge in assisted blocks (33-11), behind six players with four or more assisted blocks.

The Bulldogs and Buccaneers battled throughout the early portion of the first set, reaching a 4-4 tie, before CSU cushioned its lead with an 11-4 run. The service game of Sydney Tracy forced the Bulldogs into three straight attack errors, making for the 15-9 advantage. Consecutive points by Johnston and Farrell sliced the Charleston Southern lead to 17-14, but two kills each by Tracy and teammate Wynter Davis made for the 25-18 final.

The Citadel responded with a run of their own in the second set behind three straight points with Dahlstrom in serve, to make for the early 5-2 lead. CSU's Kirsten Struksnes quickly answered with a solid service performance of her own, allowing the Bucs to regain the lead 7-6. After falling behind by as many as six points, Uribe drove a pair of kills past the Charleston Southern defense to pull the set within one point, 14-13. The set reached a climatic 18-18 tie on a Johnston kill, before CSU scored four of the next five points and took a 22-19 lead. A series of kills by Uribe and Kaona Mercer kept the Bulldogs within striking distance, but Amy Nokes drove home the decisive kill in a 25-23 set two win.

The third set began with the same back-and-forth battle that ended the second. The two teams endured four ties and eventually reached a 14-14 deadlock. Back-to-back kills by Uribe gave the Bulldogs a two-point advantage as they eventually took a 19-15 lead. Charleston Southern mounted a 7-3 run to draw the score even at 22-22, before kills by Johnston and Uribe in the final stages of the set completed the 25-22 Cadet victory.

Holding a 2-1 advantage in the match, Charleston Southern jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the fourth set, behind the service game of Ashley Higgenbothem, and never looked back. Higgenbothem forced five Citadel errors in that span as the Buccaneers controlled the tone of the decisive set. A pair of assisted blocks by Maxwell and kills by Johnston, Mercer and Amanda Rudnik in the latter stages of the match was not enough to overcome the early deficit. CSU completed the victory with a 25-10 win.