Volleyball 9/17/2011 9:30:00 AM Southern Conference

Friday Volleyball Recaps

College of Charleston 3, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston Cougars took a 3-1 match victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the squad's first game of the Hampton Inn Invitational at TD Arena on Friday afternoon.

The Cougars dominated the opening and closing sets, winning 25-12 and 25-11 in sets one and four. CofC won the second set 25-23, while the Islanders took the third set, 28-26.

Sophomore Madelyn McGinnis posted 22 kills, a new individual career high and the most by a Cougar player this season. McGinnis' bulk scoring was also efficient as she hit .372 to help College of Charleston post a .317 attack percentage, the best team performance this season.

Senior Sarah Havel landed 12 kills and had a hand in five blocks. Classmate Hayley Harrell played well defensively, leading College of Charleston with 15 digs. Elyse Chubb nabbed eight kills in 16 attempts, while Sloane White landed nine kills.

The Islanders were led by Brooke Alverson's 11 kills and three block assists. Ashley Phelps contributed 10 kills.

The Cougars opened the first set strong, building a 5-0 lead and eventually a 12-2 lead. The Islanders never cut the margin to less than nine points and the Cougars went on to win 25-12. College of Charleston hit .212 while holding the Islanders to a -.135 attacking percentage. Four team blocks, including three block assists from Havel, helped stifle Corpus Christi's attack.

Despite falling behind 14-10 and 23-20, College of Charleston rallied for the last five points of the second set to win 25-23. White registered a kill and block while McGinnis landed three kills in the Cougars' 5-0 run to end the game. McGinnis finished the set with a team-high seven kills in 12 attempts for an attack percentage of .583. College of Charleston only committed three attack errors for a team attacking mark of .406.

The third set was tightly contested throughout with both teams trading points on from a 20-20 tie. A kill from Lizzie Theesfeld gave Charleston set point at 24-23, but Shannon Hullum helped the Islanders side out with a kill that tied it at 24. Several points later, a service error from Theesfeld and attack error from McGinnis gave the Islanders a 28-26 set win.

College of Charleston wasted no time building a lead in the fourth and final set. The Cougars led 10-3 after five McGinnis kills. The Islanders were never able to string any serves together and eventually succumbed, 25-11. College of Charleston hit .556 in the final frame with just one attacking error. Blocks from Havel and Elyse Chubb and Chubb and Kerstin Koehler punctuated the Cougar match victory.

Chattanooga 0, Connecticut 3

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell in straight sets to Connecticut, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23), in the opening match of the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational on Friday afternoon. The teams battled to 24 ties and eight lead changes during the match as the Mocs had their opportunities

The Mocs were led by sophomore outside Jennifer Kuroski with 11 kills, while junior right side Christina Teter hit double-figures with 10. It was the seventh-straight match that the Acworth, Ga., native posted double-digit kills.

Adding six kills was junior outside Heather Parman along with sophomore outside Jessi Blackstock,, who found the floor five times.

Sophomore setter Tess Kosycarz ran the Mocs' offense in the first two frames tallying 18 assists. The third set was run by classmate Bridgey Camacho, who notched 10 assists.

Chattanooga out-blocked the Huskies, 9-3, during the contest and were led by sophomore middle Aneisha Christie and Teter with four each. Contributing three blocks each were Parman and Blackstock.

Defensively, junior libero Paula Passmore registered a team-high 19 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Melissa Green notched 11.

Leading UConn was Mattison Quayle with 11 kills, Angela Riodt with 32 assists and Kelsey Maving with a match-high 21 digs.

The first set begin with the Huskies coming out to a 16-11 lead before Teter converted on a kill for a side out and helped the Mocs from the service line to come within one after an ace and kill from Kuroski and Kosycarz. Chattanooga tied the frame at 17, 18 and 18 before UConn posted back-to-back points.

With a solo block from Blackstock, the Mocs knotted the set at 21. A kill from Teter made it 23-all, but the Huskies were able to win the first set, 25-23. Chattanooga out-killed, dug and blocked the Huskies during the frame.

Riding the momentum of coming back in the first, the Mocs raced out to a 4-1 lead before the Huskies battled to a six-all tie. From there, the teams played back and forth as nine ties and five lead changes were witnessed by the crowd at Cassell Coliseum.

After the Mocs built a three-point lead, UConn took advantage a couple of mistakes to score five-straight and take a 22-20 lead. The Huskies did not look back from there taking the set 25-23.

Coming out of a shortened break, the Mocs rallied to a 6-1 lead on kills by Blackstock and Christie along with a block by Teter. UConn would not go down without a fight as it tied up the frame at eight. No team gained a lead larger than three from there until the Huskies pulled ahead 22-19.

Following kills from Camacho and Blackstock on match point for the Huskies, UConn closed it out with a 25-23 victory.

Samford 3, Savannah State 0

Stetson 3. Stetson 0

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- The Samford Bulldogs improved to 11-1 Friday with two 3-0 sweeps on day one of the Bethune-Cookman Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. Samford played two consecutive matches, first defeating Savannah State (0-11) and then Stetson (2-6) immediately afterwards.

Samford dominated both opponents statistically, earning at least twice as many kills (89-42), assists (74-37), aces (14-7) and blocks (8-4). Lauren Hutchinson led the team with 22 kills in the two matches, with Katie Murphy right behind at 21. Digs were spread fairly evenly, with Alexis Bauer earning 15 of the 69 and three others earning at least 10 each. The Bulldogs only had eight blocks on the day, but their defense at the net forced 29 opponent attack errors.

Match One: Samford 3, Savannah State 0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-19)
The Bulldogs won their sixth 3-0 match so far this season, taking on the Savannah State Tigers. Hutchinson and Murphy led the team in kills with 12 and 11, respectively, and both hit at least .600. Neisler had a season-low five kills, but that was no issue as the rest of the Bulldogs picked up the slack, including Chelsi Carter tying a season-high nine kills. Samford's serving was especially strong, tallying nine aces. The team earned their highest attack percentage of the season as well, combining for a .429 performance.

Samford's 5-3 lead early in the first set would be its narrowest point, with the Bulldogs piling on points in bunches afterwards. The Tigers would only gain ball possession six times in the rest of the match, with Samford's offense dominating at the net. A kill by Carter gave the Bulldogs possession up 21-11 and Samford sealed the game thanks to two Savannah State attack errors, a service ace by Hutchinson and a kill by Murphy.

The first half of the second game played out much like the first, with Samford jumping ahead 17-5 thanks in part to Murphy knocking in four kills during that stretch. The Tigers found a bit of momentum at this point, not maintaining possession for extended periods of time but capitalizing off Samford services and drawing within eight points. Down 16-24, however, the odds were against them and Hutchinson slammed down the final kill off a Tiger serve to complete the 25-16 victory.

The third set was very closely contested, with three lead changes before Samford started to pull ahead. Tied at 11-11, the Tigers had an attack error which led to back-to-back points for the Bulldogs. Carter had an attack error but made up for it on the next serve earning a kill and forcing a Savannah State timeout up 15-12. Each team would earn five more points, maintaining a slim three-point lead and forcing yet another Tiger timeout with Samford up 20-17. Here Samford benefitted from Savannah State mistakes, earning three of their final five points off attack errors. Hutchinson knocked home a kill for the 24th point and Carter sealed the match right after, making the final 25-19.

Match Two: Samford 3, Stetson 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18)
The Bulldogs defeated the Hatters in consistent fashion, winning each game by a score of 25-18. The usual trio of Murphy, Neisler and Hutchinson spread the ball evenly, each hitting double-digit kills. Hutchinson played tough defense as well, tallying 3.5 of the team's six blocks.

Neither team could maintain a significant lead early in game one, capitalizing on each other's attack errors. Samford's lead would slowly widen, earning back-to-back points when they could, and they eventually pulled ahead 20-13 and forced a Stetson timeout. The Hatters came out of the timeout to make a 4-1 run and draw within four points. Neisler halted their momentum earning a kill to regain possession, and the Bulldogs eventually won the set 25-18.

Stetson looked to gain the early momentum in game two, jumping ahead to an early 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs responded with four consecutive points, taking a 5-3 lead. Samford would lose the lead briefly afterwards down 6-5, but would take it back 7-6 and never fall behind the rest of the game. Samford's service rotation proved valuable, with each maintaining small rallies to help pad the Bulldogs' lead. Similarly to game one, the Hatters looked to regain some momentum once Samford hit the 20-point mark, drawing within four late in the set. A service error gave the Bulldogs a point and the ball, allowing Neisler and Murphy to nail back-to-back kills to win another 25-18 game.

The Hatters weren't going down quietly and maintained a lead in the early stages of the third game. Four consecutive points from a Alexis Bauer service rally gave Samford the 11-9 lead, which they would not relinquish the rest of the match. Shortly thereafter, the Bulldogs earned four-consecutive points again, including an ace by Casey Garvey, forcing Stetson to take a timeout down 10-15. The teams would battle back and forth from there, but Samford's lead proved strong enough, giving them yet another 25-18 game victory to seal the match at 3-0.

Georgia Southern 3, Ohio 1

STATESBORO, Ga. - Powered by 11 kills from Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) and eight from Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) the Georgia Southern Volleyball team (5-8) defeated Ohio (6-6) 3-0 in front of 552 fans in Friday's Bash in the Boro finale presented by SpringHill Suites. The Eagles posted their best hitting percentage since August and recorded just their third .200 attack percentage in eight games when they connected on .245 of their attempts.

The GSU defense was also on spot, posting 47 digs and holding Ohio to a .111 hitting percentage. The Bobcats were also hampered by 21 attack errors and seven service errors. Katie Post led the team with 10 kills, while Lexie Hartnett posted a .250 hitting percentage.

Georgia Southern won sets one and two without a single tie score or lead change, but following the halftime break Ohio put forth a fierce effort to attempt to deny the Eagles the 3-0 sweep. The Bobcats forced eight ties and three lead changes in the third set, but GSU emerged victorious 25-22 behind six kills from Small.

Georgia Southern opened the match with a 25-17 first set win. The Eagles hit a match-best .310 while the defense held Ohio to a mark of just .051. Sanford posted five kills in eight chances while Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.) and Meredith Paskert (Brecksville, Ohio) added three kills each. GSU's victory in the second set, 25-20, was closer after the offense posted only a .196 attack percentage.

The Citadel 2, Towson 3

Raleigh, N.C. – Despite a record-setting performance by junior outside hitter Kaona Mercer, who finished with 21 kills and eight digs, Towson University earned a five-set win over The Citadel (25-19, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-7) at the N.C. State Tournament on Friday afternoon. Mercer's 21 kills placed her alongside Rachel Sanders and Tara Stephenson for 10th most kills in a match in program history.

Mercer was joined up front by the trio of Rachael Farrell (12 kills), Kathryn Johnston (10 kills) and Cassie Uribe (10 kills). Behind Mercer's performance, the Bulldogs recorded 60 team kills and a .257 hitting percentage. Defensively, the Cadets finished with 40 digs, highlighted by eight each from Mercer and Farrell. Alexa Dahlstrom was the catalyst to the Bulldog offensive, totaling 51 assists, shattering her previous career-high of 28 dishes.

Towson University (11-3) set the tone in the opening set when it jumped out to a 15-9 lead behind five kills from Katy Buck. Johnston kept the Dogs within striking distance, but back-to-back kills from Buck pushed the lead to eight and forced a Citadel timeout. The Tigers lead reach 19-10 with a service ace following the breather, before Johnston's service game forced two errors and again pulled the Bulldogs within five, 20-15. The Bulldogs capitalized on three Towson errors in the final stages of the set, but fell 25-19.

The two teams battled throughout the opening of the second set before Towson benefitted from the service game of Evan Schulz, which resulted in seven straight points and an 11-4 lead. The Bulldogs kept themselves within striking distance behind kills from Farrell, Mercer and Jessica Maxwell, making for an 18-11 score. The Tigers sat five points from a second set victory, 20-12, before a Dahlstrom kill sparked a Citadel rally that resulted in five kills and a 21-21 tie. The set reached a climatic 23-23 tie before a Uribe kill, followed by a Farrell service ace, closed the door on a 25-23 Bulldog win.

The Citadel (5-3) maintained that momentum in the third set as they assumed a 9-3 lead when Maxwell drove a kill past the Towson defense. The Tigers quickly answered by piecing together a 14-8 run, highlighted by three kills from Marta Machos, to draw the set even at 17-17. With the score tied, Johnston responded with a kill on a pass from Dahlstrom to give the Dogs a lead that they would not relinquish. A series of kills down the stretch by Maxwell, Uribe, Farrell and Dahlstrom, combined with an unforced Towson error, gave the Cadets a 25-18 victory.

The back-and-forth match continued into the fourth set as Towson took its seventh two-point lead on a kill by Machos. After a kill and service ace by Johnston drew the set even at 11-11, the game endured four ties eventually reaching an 18-18 score. The Tigers then took advantage of a service error to regain the lead, before a pair of kills by Machos and teammate I'ishah Keliikoa pushed the score to 23-19. Kills by Farrell and Uribe in the waning points of the match were not enough to close the gap as Towson emerged 25-21.

In the fifth and decisive set, Towson's Stacey Niehoff service game provided an early 4-0 lead. Uribe drove a kill past the defense to record the first Citadel point, and despite kills from Mercer and Johnston, the Tigers managed to stretch their lead to 10-4. Towson forced three errors among its final five points as it secured the match by a 15-7 margin.

Davidson 3, Coastal Carolina 0

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Sophomore outside hitter Caroline Brown and senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski touched double figures in kills to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-17) sweep of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the home opener Friday night at Belk Arena.

Brown led Davidson (8-3) with a match-high 12 kills and 13 digs, and Perzinski added 10 kills and six digs as the 'Cats took down Coastal Carolina (4-8) in the second match of the Wildcat Classic. Norfolk State swept N.C. A&T in the opening match.

Lian Bernett finished with seven kills and seven digs to pace the Chanticleers, and Meghan Laffin tallied seven kills as well. Sam Skryd had 25 assists, and Lindsay Gill led the defense with 12 digs.

Davidson won the first four points of the match, but the Chanticleers answered with a 5-0 run to take a one-point lead. The set stayed close throughout with neither team leading by more than a point until the Wildcats rattled off four straight points behind strong serving from junior libero Molly Crenshaw and kills by junior setter Ariel Ley and Perzinski for a set-point chance, 24-20. Coastal responded again, tying the set at 24 with four straight scores, but back-to-back hitting errors delivered the set to the Wildcats, 26-24.

The Wildcats used a 6-2 run midway through the second set to take a 21-15 lead, punctuated by an ace from sophomore Jenna Ptaschinski, and force Coastal into a timeout. Two kills by Brown and one from Perzinski is all that Davidson would need to finish the 25-19 win and go ahead 2-0 in the match.

Davidson was in control from the start of the final set, opening a gaping 12-2 lead en route to the convincing 25-17 win for the match. Brown served eight straight points as a part of the run, and the Wildcats led by as many as 21-8 in the set.

Wofford 3, Charleston Southern 1

Wofford 3, USC Upstate 0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Led by Rachel Woodlee’s 33 kills over two matches Friday, the Wofford volleyball team defeated Charleston Southern 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 25-12) and USC Upstate 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-10) on the opening day of the Spartan Classic.

In the first match of the day, Wofford broke a 10-10 tie with a 3-0 run on a Woodlee kill and a two Buccaneer errors. The Terriers never allowed Charleston Southern back into the set as they won 25-18.

The second saw Wofford jump out to a 4-1 only to have Charleston Southern rally and tie the set at eight. Wofford took an 11-9 lead only to see the set tied again at 11. Neither team could pull away as the set was tied five more times before the Buccaneers broke a 20-20 tie with 2-0 run en route to a 25-21 set two win.

Wofford took another early lead in the third set when they jumped out to a 10-5 lead. Charleston Southern closed the gap to 13-10, but the Terriers surged ahead with a 19-11 lead before ending the third set with a 25-17 win.

With the score tied at eight in the fourth and final set, the Terriers took control with an 11-2 run to take a 19-11 lead. Tara Gough served six points during the run with one ace. Wofford went on to end the match with a 25-12 win.

Woodlee finished the match one off of her career kill mark of 19 with 18 kills. Her 18 kills come on 38 attempts with five errors for a .342 hitting percentage. She did however, set a new career-high with 21.5 total points. She added five block assists and a service ace to earn the mark. Woodlee also had 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Amanda Liguori followed with 11 kills and 17 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the year. Her 17 digs tied a season-high. Wendy Burnett followed 10 kills on 17 attempts with three errors for .412 hitting percentage. Reagan Styles collected 15 digs, while Bekah Dorsey handed out 41 assists. Arden Anderson led the team with six block assists, coming into the week she was ranked 15th in the nation in blocks per set.

In the second match of the day against host USC Upstate, the Terriers opened an 13-7 lead, but the Spartans would rally to tie the set at 15. The two teams traded points until Wofford broke an 18-18 tie with 7-1 run to close out the set with a 25-19 win. Liguori served seven consecutive points with one service ace.

The second set again saw the Terriers jump out to an early lead, 13-8, and again the Spartans rallied to the the set this time at 16. USC Upstate even pushed ahead and held a 20-17 lead, but Wofford would rally with a 6-1 run to win the set 25-21.

The third set was all Wofford as the Terriers only gave up ten points as they took the match with a 25-10 win.

Woodlee again led the Terriers offensively. This time the junior outside hitter had 14 kills on 24 attempts with only two errors for a .500 hitting percentage. Burnett followed with eight kills, while Anderson added seven kills. Styles and Kelsey Bagwell had 16 and 15 digs respectively for Wofford, while Dorsey passed out 30 assists. Woodlee also had a team-high three service aces.

Wofford outhit USC Upstate .235 to .129 in the match.

College of Charleston 3, UNC Wilmington 2

CHARLESTON, S.C. – After going up two games to none, the College of Charleston needed five sets to ultimately knock off UNC-Wilmington (25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12) in Friday night volleyball action at the Hampton Inn Invitational at TD Arena.

Sophomore Madelyn McGinnis capped her record-breaking day by smashing another 26 kills, four more than her career-best performance earlier in the afternoon. McGinnis set a new team season high with 55 attack attempts, hitting .236 for the match. McGinnis’ final kill broke a 12-12 tie in the fifth set that put the College of Charleston up for good.

Sophomore Kallie McKown bested her career high by finishing with 60 assists, along with 14 digs. Redshirt-junior Emily Shelton tied a season high with 29 digs. Seniors Sarah Havel and Elyse Chubb both tallied 11 kills while Lizzie Theesfeld registered 10 kills. Freshman Andi Zbojniewicz had nine digs.

UNC-Wilmington was led by Leah Gagliardi and Christi Laite. Gagliardi finished with 20 kills on 40 swings with just two errors, while Laite landed 15 kills and posted seven total blocks.

In the first set, the Cougars could not pull away from the Seahawks until a McGinnis kill put the Cougars up 20-18. An attack error from UNC-Wilmington followed by kills from Chubb and McGinnis helped seal the 25-19 victory.

The Cougars seemed to take control of the match in the second set after going up 14-4. McGinnis had scored four of the team’s first five points and the College of Charleston was in control. Freshman Catey Warren saw her first playing time of the season midway through the set and she landed her first career kill to give CofC a 15-6 lead. However, the Seahawks rallied to cut the deficit to 19-16. After a College of Charleston timeout, McGinnis came alive again, scoring three of the next four points to help push the Cougars to a 25-17 set victory.

UNC-Wilmington rallied and gained the momentum of the match with solid third set and fourth set victories, leading from the outset of each game. Laite and Gagliardi combined for 10 kills in the third set, while Courtney Porter assisted in all five team blocks of the fourth game as the Seahawks held the Cougars to just .167 hitting.

Despite falling behind 6-3 in the fifth and final set, the Cougars rallied to tie the game at seven, behind a block and kill from Chubb. Both teams traded points in dramatic fashion until an attack error by Laite after a CofC timeout evened the game at 12. McGinnis went up for one final swing from the left side and slammed home the go-ahead kill to the excitement of the crowd. Errors from Gagliardi on the final two points sealed the match for the Cougars.

College of Charleston and Wyoming finished the first day of the Hampton Inn Invitational with identical 2-0 records. Texas A&M Corpus Christi finished 1-1 while North Florida and UNC-Wilmington lost both of the day’s matches.

Appalachian State 0, Georgetown 3

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Appalachian State Volleyball dropped a hard-fought match to Georgetown to open play at the JMU Classic on Friday, Sept. 16.

The Mountaineers (5-6) nearly came from behind late in each set but the Hoyas (6-5) were able to stave off ASU's comeback attempts to take a 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-23) victory.

Both squads would trade blows throughout the first set as neither led by more than one point until the Hoyas snagged a 23-21 lead en route to a first set win.

The second set featured another close battle as the Mountaineers battled back from an early five-point deficit (13-8) with five straight points to tie the set at 13 apiece.

Appalachian would force Georgetown to call a time out after taking a 19-17 lead late in the set. The Hoyas came out of the break with three points in a row to regain the lead at 20-19.

With their backs to the wall late in the match, the Apps would not go quietly as they staved off defeat twice in the closing stages before Georgetown pulled away for a 27-25 set win.

The Mountaineers found themselves in an early hole (7-1) in the third and final set but battled back to tie it at 11-11 before eventually taking a 13-12 lead.

The Hoyas answered with seven of the next eight points to take a 19-14 lead. Appalachian would rally to tie the match at 22-22 before eventually falling by a score of 25-23.

As a team, the Apps hit .240 and held the Hoyas to a .206 attack percentage. Georgetown finished with 21 errors while the Mountaineers committed just 14 but hit only .094 in the third set.

Jessica Eley finished with eight kills and hit .500 while Meghann Forshey also had eight kills while hitting .412.

Kasey Sauls ended the day with 18 assists and Lauren Brown chipped in with 11 of her own.

The Hoyas finished with a 9-8 edge in blocks and were paced by nine kills each from Dani White and Alex Johnson.

Appalachian State Volleyball dropped a hard-fought match to Georgetown to open play at the JMU Classic on Friday, Sept. 16.