Samford 3, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ---- Samford (14-2, 1-1 SoCon) bounced back from Saturday's loss, sweeping Western Carolina (6-11, 1-1 SoCon) on Sunday to earn their first conference win of the season.
Neisler continued a strong weekend earning 19 kills today, 39 total, and had 44 of the team's 119 attempts. Hutchinson hit .524, earning 12 kills on 21 attempts. Alexis Bauer, Chelsi Carter and Casey Garvey split defensive duties, each earning double-digit digs to out-dig Western Carolina 58-42.
Samford set a strong pace in game one, pulling ahead to an 11-6 lead, ending with three consecutive kills by Neisler off of jump-serves by Carter, forcing a Catamount timeout. Bauer, Garvey and Neisler all earned turns serving in the next stretch, advancing Samford's lead to 18-11. Western Carolina took three in a row and then each team traded points back and forth for the remainder of the set, with Samford eventually winning 25-19.
The second set was evenly matched, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Neisler slammed home a kill off a Carter serve to pull ahead 17-14 and force a Western Carolina timeout. Carter earned a service ace, followed by a service error, but earned back possession in spectacular fashion, taking a ball off the foot that bounced over the net in play for Samford's 19th point. Samford maintained the momentum for the remainder of the game, with Neisler serving up three in a row to end the set 25-18.
In the third and final set, Western Carolina jumped ahead to a 7-3 lead, but Samford came back to tie it at 9-9 and force a Catamount timeout. Western Carolina maintained a slim lead in the middle of the set, building up to a three-point lead to force Samford to take a timeout down 18-21. Samford had their backs against the wall and Western Carolina was poised to win the set, up 24-21. The Catamounts had a service error on the set point however, which allowed Carter to serve up three in a row to move up 25-24. Each team earned one more point and then a Western Carolina attack error off a Bauer serve gave Samford the 27-25 victory and secured the 3-0 match sweep.
The Citadel 0, UNCG 3
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel fell in its Southern Conference home opener to UNC Greensboro by scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-22 on Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field House. The Bulldogs were led statistically by Kaona Mercer, who finished with 10 kills, as well as Kathryn Johnston and Emily Dalton, with nine digs apiece.
Mercer connected on 10 kills in 23 total attacks, her third straight match with double-digit kills, to finish with a .348 attack percentage. Also with a solid front row performance was Rachael Farrell (seven kills). The defensive performances of Johnston and Dalton were integral in giving The Citadel a 41-39 edge in digs. The Bulldogs slipped to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play.
The sweep allowed UNC Greensboro to earn their second straight SoCon victory of the weekend, following a win over Elon on Friday evening. The tandem of Ariel Newman and Holland Hoefnagel, who finished with a match-high 11 kills respectively, allowed the Spartans to finish with 42 team kills. Hoefnagel notched a .588 attack percentage by converting 11 kills on 17 total attacks. Teammate Kellie Orewiler led the defensive effort with 17 digs, while Ari Lysacek handed out 28 assists.
An early kill by Mercer gave The Citadel its fifth point of the opening set, before three Orewiler service aces combined with kills by Newman and Lysacek sparked a quick gave UNCG a 9-5 advantage. The Bulldogs answered with five kills of their own, including two from Mercer, over the next 10 points to draw within one, 13-12. UNCG capitalized on four kills and two errors to stretch its lead to 19-15, forcing a Citadel timeout. After a Bulldogs point cut the margin to three, the Spartans converted three kills in the next six points to secure the 25-20 win.
The Citadel established the early lead again in the second set, taking advantage of kills by Johnston and teammate Cassie Uribe to jump ahead 11-6. Back-to-back kills by Hoefnagel, along with a service ace by Chelsea Evans shifted the momentum back to UNCG, who eventually drew the game even at 14-14. The set reached a final 18-18 tie on a Orewiler servce ace, before the Spartans took advantage of three Hoefnagel kills in the final six points to prevail, 25-20.
The two teams traded points to open the third set, reaching a 4-4 tie, before a series of UNCG points with Lysacek in serve stretched the lead to 7-4. Kills by Mercer and fellow outside hitter Amanda Rudnik kept the Bulldogs within striking distance, 14-11, before a pair of errors provided the Spartans with an 18-11 edge. Rudnik drove two kills past the UNC Greensboro defense to spark a Citadel rally that narrowed the lead to 23-17, but the Spartans closed with a decisive 25-22 victory.
College of Charleston 3, Elon 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston finished the opening weekend of Southern Conference volleyball with a 2-0 record after the Cougars swept Elon, 3-0, at TD Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Cougars (10-7, 2-0) recorded their third sweep of the season by defeating the visiting Phoenix (11-6, 0-2), 25-15, 25-11, 25-19. College of Charleston was extremely efficient in the attack, notching a season-best percentage of .366.
Senior Elyse Chubb led the Cougars with 10 kills on 17 attempts with no errors for a season-best attack percentage of .588. Chubb also recorded a match-high five total blocks. Both Madelyn McGinnis and Sloane White landed nine kills and Lizzie Theesfeld had seven.
Sophomore Kallie McKown notched another double-double with 11 digs and 26 assists while Emily Shelton led the team with 14 digs. Senior Hayley Harrell made nine digs.
The Phoenix were led by Carly Ledbetter who notched eight kills. Traci Stewart had seven kills and Caroline Lemke had six.
The Phoenix took an early 4-2 lead in the first set before College of Charleston came back to tie it at eight apiece. The Cougars then went on an eight-point run during Theesfeld's serve, carried by four kills from Chubb, as CofC opened a 16-8 advantage. The Phoenix never got closer than seven points as College of Charleston finished the set with a .414 hitting percentage and a 25-15 set win.
Efficient College of Charleston hitting continued in the second set as the Cougars opened up a 13-9 lead. After a block and kill from Elon cut the margin to 17-11, the Cougars won the next eight points to win the set 25-11. Theesfeld, Chubb, McGinnis and White all had multiple kills and the CofC defense held Elon to a -.027 hitting percentage.
The Phoenix played tough all the way through the third set as neither team could build a significant lead until the very end. The Cougars broke open an 18-17 margin with three straight points to hold a 21-17 lead that Elon could not overcome. Sophomore Taeler Davis made eight assists in the final set, and White managed five kills, as the Cougars won 25-19.
Appalachian State 3, Chattanooga 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State volleyball remained perfect in SoCon play after picking up a 3-0 victory over a scrappy Chattanooga squad on Sunday, Sept. 25 at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (10-6, 2-0) picked up their fifth-straight win and improved their home record to an impressive 6-1 on the season. The Mocs (2-13, 0-2) dropped their second-straight match after falling to Western Carolina on Saturday.
UTC jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead in the first set on Sunday thanks to four attack errors by ASU in the early going, but the Apps would mount an impressive comeback with a 14-6 run to take a 17-16 lead.
Kelly Rhein and Anna Wagner each recorded four kills in the first to lead Appalachian to a 25-20 set win.
The second set featured eight ties and three lead changes in a back-and-forth battle that saw the Mocs grab a 21-20 lead late in the action. The Mountaineers were able to score five of the final seven points, including Wagner's set-clinching block, to pick up a hard-fought 25-22 win.
Appalachian dominated the third and final set for the second match in a row as it never trailed after jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. The Apps would lead by as many as 13 points on two occasions in the final set and cruised to a 25-13 win.
Wagner led the way with 10 kills on the day and chipped in 12 digs. Rhein finished with eight kills and 11 digs while sister Courtney Rhein notched match-high 14 digs and contributed five assists. Kasey Sauls led all players with 27 assists while Alison Blasingame and Meghann Forshey each tallied seven kills.
As a team, Appalachian hit .236 while holding Chattanooga to .093 hitting percentage, the second lowest total for an ASU opponent this season. The Mocs finished with 23 attack errors to the Mountaineers' 16 and committed four service errors to Appalachian's two.