Greensboro, N.C. - For the third time in the 2011 season The Citadel Volleyball team earned a victory by virtue of a sweep, this defeating North Carolina A&T by scores of 25-13, 25-15, 27-25. Behind junior outside hitter Kaona Mercer, who finished with match-high performances in kills (13) and digs (eight), the Bulldogs improved to 5-2 on the season.

Mercer was joined in kills by teammates Amanda Rudnik, who posted five kills to go along with four digs, and Ise d'Angelo who notched four kills and four digs. The tandem of Alexa Dahlstrom and Erin Bucheri combined for 30 assists, while freshmen Haley Corson proved to be a solid defensive presence with six digs. 

The Citadel limited N.C. A&T (0-11) to 18 team kills, led by five each from Andrea Evans and Jenea Daniels. The Aggies struggled to find offensive rhythm throughout the match, as they were limited to a (-0.67) attack percentage in 89 total attempts.

An early 7-3 Bulldog run, highlighted by three Mercer kills set the tone for the opening set. The two squads exchanged points, maintaining the four-point difference, before a series of kills by Mercer, Caseei Uribe and Kathryn Johnston extended The Citadel lead to nine, 18-9. The Cadets took advantage of three Aggie attack errors, along with kills down by Johnston and Uribe to secure the 25-13 victory.

The second set was a mirror image of the first with the Dogs grabbing an early lead, thid time in large part due to Rudnik's service game. With Rudnik in serve, The Citadel accounted for two kills, forced two errors and added a service ace to establish a 6-1 advantage. The Bulldogs lead ballooned to 12 points, due in large part to eight kills from five different players, to provide a 22-10 edge. A d'Angelo kills, along with a pair of attack errors closed out the second game 25-15 win for The Citadel.

North Carolina A&T responded to the challenge in the third set, battling back-and-forth with the Bulldogs, to force an 11-11 tie. A Citadel service error opened the door for a quick 5-1 run by the Aggies, who established a 16-11 advantage. The Citadel responded behind a pair of kills by Mallory Moore, and unforced errors by N.C. A&T, to reach a 19-19 tie. The two teams battled through five more ties, the final at 25-25, before Bucherl's service ace made for the 27-25 final.

Georgia Southern 3, Presbyterian 1

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Presbyterian (2-8) in the Bash in the Boro presented by SpringHill Suites to improve to 4-8 on the year. The Eagles continue the three-day tournament with a 7 p.m. contest against Ohio tomorrow.

Despite a .167 attack percentage in the first set GSU jumped ahead 2-0 at the break, winning sets one and two 25-18, 25-22. The Eagles rebounded in the second set posting their best mark of .429 behind a six kill performance by Meredit Paskert . Paskert finished the match with 10 kills and was tied with Parker Small who also had 10 kills. The team posted a .237 hitting percentage for the match.

Presbyterian rallied in the third set to win 25-22 before the Eagles bounced back for the match win with a fourth set 25-18 victory. Bethany Sanford, who lead GSU with 14 kills, tallied a team-high four kills in the fourth set to help the Eagles to the set win. Katie Van Dyke recorded 38 of the team's 44 assists.

The Blue Hose were hampered by 28 attack errors and 11 service errors but posted eight blocks including three in the final four points of the match. Presley Mabrey posted a game high 16 kills but committed 18 errors on 46 attempts. Allison Brown was second on the team with 11 kills and picked up four assists in the process.

Furman 1, Georgia Tech 3

CLEMSON, S.C. - Monique Mead notched 29 kills to lead the Georgia Tech volleyball team to a 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-22, 29-27) win over Furman Thursday night at Jervey Gymnasium in Clemson, S.C.

The teams battled through a close beginning to the first set.  With the score tied at ten, the Paladins reeled off four-straight points, but the Yellow Jackets answered with three points of their own.  The score remained within two at 17-15 until Furman put together a 6-1 to lead 23-16.  The Paladins capitalized off a Georgia Tech attack error, then a service ace by junior Natalie Braun sealed the 25-17 set victory for Furman.

Georgia Tech came out strong to open set two, quickly building a 10-3 lead.  With the Yellow Jackets leading 20-11, the Paladins put together a 7-2 run to cut the lead to four points at 22-18.  Georgia Tech then forced two Paladin hitting errors to lead 24-18.  Senior Alexis Shaffer scored a kill to keep Furman in the set, but a final kill from Mead gave the Yellow Jackets the 25-19 set win to even the match score.

Following the break, the Yellow Jackets again jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead.  The Paladins battled back to trim the Georgia Tech lead to 15-10, and the teams traded points back and forth, as the Yellow Jackets held a six-point lead at 23-17.  Furman then scored three straight to pull within three, but another kill from Mead pushed the Georgia Tech advantage to 24-20.  The Paladins answered with a kill from senior Kelly Kirby, and a Yellow Jacket hitting error put Furman back in the match, down 24-22.  Mead again came through for Georgia Tech, placing the match out of reach with a kill to give her team the 25-22 win.

Set four opened with the teams battling to a 9-9 tie.  Furman scored three-straight points to lead 12-9.  With the Paladins up 17-13, Georgia Tech answered with a 5-1 run to tie the match at 18.  The teams traded points, forcing a 20-all tie.  The Paladins scored three-consecutive points to lead 23-20 then led 24-21 following a kill from Kirby.  The Yellow Jackets took advantage of a Furman attack error, then kills from Mead and Jennifer Percy tied the match at 24.  Georgia Tech went ahead off a kill by Alexis Woodson, but Kirby notched another kill to tie the match at 25-all.  The teams again traded points and remained tied at 27-27, before a final kill from Mead, followed by a kill from Asia Stawicka gave the Yellow Jackets a 29-27 set four victory to end the match.

Kirby recorded a triple-double in the match, notching 13 kills, a team-high 34 assists, and 12 digs.  Braun had a double-double and led the Paladins with 15 kills and 23 digs.  Junior Chandler Ambrester also posted a double-double for the Paladins, tallying 12 kills and 19 digs, while Shaffer had five blocks in the match-up.

Asia Stawicka hit .500 with nine kills for Georgia Tech (7-3), while Ali Santi added a team-high 47 assists plus 17 digs.  Nicki Meyer led the Yellow Jackets with 18 digs.