The Citadel 3, Clafin 0
Charleston. S.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team completed this weekend's matches at the S.C. Tournament with a 25-10, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of Claflin on Saturday afternoon. The combination of Rachael Farrell (10 kills, five digs) and Amanda Rudnik (nine digs, eight kills) were instrumental in victory. The Bulldogs improve to 4-1 on the season and in the process set the mark for the best five-match start in program history.
Junior Kaona Mercer, who brought home all-tournament honors, was also key for The Citadel's offensive attack with five kills. She teammed with Ise d'Angelo (six kills) to give the Cadets a 38-24 edge in team kills. Defensive specialist Emily Dalton continued her solid play this season, finishing with eight digs. Alexa Dahlstrom handed out a match-high 34 kills, as the Dogs earned their second sweep in as many weekends.
Khaledi's team opened the match strong, jumping out to a 10-5 lead behind a pair of kills from Kathryn Johnston. A kill by Johnston stretched The Citadel lead to eight, before three straight service aces by Dalton put the game out of reach, 20-8. Back-to-back kills by Farrell and Cassie Uribe, along with a Dahlstrom service ace, completed the opening set win, 25-10.
Led by Rudnik's five kills, The Citadel continued its dominance in the second set. The two teams battled through five ties over the first 20 points before a service error by Claflin's Courtney Person opened the door for three straight Bulldog points. Leading by three, kills by Rudnik and Mercer, along with a service ace by d'Angelo, allowed the Dogs to maintain their edge. With a second set win in the balance, a series of kills by d'Angelo and Farrell helped complete the 25-19 victory.
The third set was witness to the same back-and-forth battle as that of the second, as the two teams endured six ties to reach an 11-11 score. Rudnik forced an Claflin attack error and following a kill by d'Angelo The Citadel was again in the lead. With the game knotted at 13-13, the Dogs responded with two kills each from d'Angelo, Farrell and Rudnik down the stretch to complete the sweep, 25-19.
College of Charleston 3, Jacksonville State 0
College of Charleston 3, Georgia State 1
ATLANTA, Ga. - The College of Charleston captured the team's first sweep of the season, defeating Jacksonville State, 3-0, in morning action at the Georgia State Invitational. All three games were close as the Cougars picked up wins of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-20.
Senior Elyse Chubb powered College of Charleston (2-3, 0-0) with 12 kills, while sophomore Kallie McKown tallied 27 assists and 11 digs for her first career double-double. Freshman Lizzie Theesfeld picked up nine kills, 10 digs and three block assists, and senior Sarah Havel compiled seven kills. Redshirt-junior Emily Shelton notched 11 digs and two aces.
Jacksonville State (1-5, 0-0) used nine kills and six digs from Stephanie Koontz in a losing effort.
After falling behind early in the first game, an ace from freshman Sloane White and several kills from Havel brought the Cougars back to even at 11. White finished with three aces in the match. College of Charleston broke a deadlock at 16 by taking advantage of Gamecock hitting and passing errors and an exciting block from Chubb and White. The Cougars went on to win the set, 25-20. Theesfeld led the team with four kills on seven attempts, while White and Chubb each had three apiece.
After trailing 5-2 in the second game, the Cougars rallied to take a 6-5 lead off of two service aces and several good swings from McGinnis, Chubb and Havel. However, the Gamecocks responded and kept the match close and both teams traded points to a 17-17 tie. After JSU went up 22-21, a Chubb kill and an ace from Shelton to give the Cougars the lead for good as kills from Chubb and Havel gave CofC a 25-23 set win.
Chubb finished with seven kills in the second set, hitting .462. Shelton tallied seven digs and two service aces.
Jacksonville State opened the third game on a tear, running out to a 9-5 lead. However, the Cougars came back to tie the game at 11, seizing on several Gamecock service errors. The Cougars broke a tie at 18 and went on to win the deciding set, 25-20.
ATLANTA, Ga. - The College of Charleston captured the Georgia State Invitational championship with a win over the host Georgia State Panthers, 3-1, in action on Saturday evening at GSU Sports Arena.
College of Charleston (3-3, 0-0) could not pull away from Georgia State (4-3, 0-0) at any point as each match sported tense moments at the end (25-20, 25-21, 29-31, 25-21).
Senior Elyse Chubb was named the tournament MVP after she tallied 13 kills in the final match. A native of nearby Peachtree City, Ga., Chubb finished with 34 kills and a hitting percentage of .235 for the weekend.
Senior Sarah Havel and sophomore Madelyn McGinnis joined Chubb on the All-Tournament team. McGinnis led the Cougars against Georgia State with 17 kills, while Havel had nine kills and seven total blocks against the Panthers. McGinnis and Havel tied Chubb for kills on the weekend with 34.
Freshman Lizzie Theesfeld notched season highs in kills (13) and attempts (47) against GSU, and classmate Sloane White tallied 11 kills and eight block assists. Sophomore Kallie McKown set a new career high with 55 assists to go along with 11 digs, her third double-double of the weekend. Freshman Andi Zbojniewicz registered 21 digs, while redshirt-junior Emily Shelton posted 29 digs.
Georgia State's Muki Kangwa led the way with 20 kills on 69 attempts, while Jamie Freeman posted a double-double with 14 kills and 21 digs.
The Panthers and Cougars played close through the first part of the first game, reaching a 10-10 tie. The Cougars were able to open a 16-13 lead, but Georgia State rallied to tie it at 17 and again at 19 after a GSU ace. A block from Chubb and Havel followed by an ace from Shelton gave the Cougars a 22-19 lead, and College of Charleston went on to win the game 25-20. The Cougars notched four total aces in the set, including two from Zbojniewicz.
College of Charleston opened the second game on a 5-0 run off the serve of McKown who notched an ace in the run. The Cougars never trailed as Chubb powered College of Charleston to a 25-21 set victory with six kills on nine attempts for a .667 hitting percentage. The Cougars defense proved stout as six different players had multiple digs and Georgia Southern registered just a .050 hitting percentage.
Georgia State kept it close in the third game, not allowing the Cougars to lead by more than three points and tying the game at 14. The Panthers took their first lead of the game at 18-17 and forced a tie at 24. Both teams battled back and forth before Georgia State pulled out the third game, 31-29. Kangwa tallied 10 kills on 26 attempts for the Panthers, seeing the ball on nearly every play.
The Cougars took an 11-7 lead in the fourth game after a White kill punctuated a long rally. McGinnis pushed the lead to 15-10 with kills from the left side, but the Panthers rallied to take a 19-17 lead. College of Charleston battled back, winning five of the next six points and taking the set 25-21.
Appalachian State 3, Kansas 0
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Appalachian State University volleyball closed out the Kansas Jayhawk Invitational with a 3-0 sweep over Belmont on Saturday, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23. The Mountaineers improved to 4-3 on the season with the win.
The squads opened the first set in a tight fashion before the Mountaineers extended an 11-9 lead into an insurmountable 19-13 advantage. Redshirt freshman Lindsey Sauls finished off the 25-17 win with a kill and an ace.
The second set started just as closely as the first, as the squads found themselves knotted up as late as 14-14. ASU then repeated their first set run to open a 22-15 behind a pair of blocks. From there, the Apps were content to trade points to cruise to a second 25-17 win.
Set three was easily the closest of the day, featuring 10 ties and five lead changes. The Bruins led as late as 20-19 before a late surge gave Appalachian its second three-set sweep of the young season at 25-23.
Meghann Forshey led the Mountainers with 12 kills and a .579 hitting percentage. The junior earned all-tournament honors for her efforts on the weekend.
Anna Wagner added nine kills with seven digs and a block, while fellow senior Maggie Seeds chipped in six kills and a pair of blocks.
ASU hit .391 on the day while holding Belmont to .190. The Apps also held a 6-3 advantage in blocks.
Courtney Rhein led the team with 15 digs while Kasey Sauls accounted for 21 of ASU's 40 assists.
Samford 3, Louisiana Tech 0
Samford 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
MOBILE, Ala. ---- The Samford Bulldogs (7-0) continue to impress, staying undefeated so far this season with wins against Louisiana Tech (3-3) and Southeastern Louisiana (1-7) Saturday. Samford took Louisiana Tech in straight sets, their fourth such victory so far this season, and won 3-1 against the Lions in the second match.
Neisler led the team with 29 kills today while Hutchinson and Katie Murphy also had double-digit kills in each match. The Bulldogs held each team under a .170 hitting percentage, while earning a .316 and .256 clip against Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana, respectively. Defensively, Alexis Bauer and Chelsi Carter earned 24 and 18 digs, respectively, each making double-digit efforts in the Southeastern Louisiana game.
Game One: Samford 3, Louisiana Tech 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-23)
Samford held the edge in nearly every statistical category in a 3-0 victory over Louisiana Tech. Their hitting percentage was at least .280 every set, .316 for the match, and they out-blocked Tech 13-7. Alexis Bauer led the team in digs (7) but Garvey, Chao, Carter and Reesor all came up big defensively, earning at least four digs each.
After a 7-7 tie in the first set, Samford never lost the lead, eventually winning game one 25-15. With Samford up 13-9, Louisiana Tech took a timeout and Samford answered with an 8-3 run, including kills by Carter and Reesor and service aces by Hutchinson and Alicia Roth. One point away from the win, Neisler had an attack error but answered on the next possession with a kill to win it for Samford.
In the first half of the second set, there were five lead changes as the squads battled back and forth. Up 12-9, Samford looked to put distance between them and Tech, jumping ahead to a 22-13 lead thanks to service rallies by Bauer and Taylor Chao. Louisiana Tech found their footing for a bit, narrowing the gap to four points before Samford earned back-to-back points to seal the 25-19 win.
Set three was the closest of the match, with neither team taking more than a three-point lead for the first half. Down four, Samford took a timeout and came back to bring the game within one point at 19-18, forcing Louisiana Tech to take a timeout. The teams traded points and were tied at 23 when Hutchinso and Reesor slammed back-to-back kills giving Samford their fourth 3-0 victory of the season.
Game Two: Samford 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1 (25-15, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18)
Samford again set a fast pace out of the gate, jumping ahead to a 14-5 lead in the first game, including back-to-back service aces by Hutchinson. The Bulldogs continued to maintain a significant lead, spreading the ball around and capitalizing on the Lions' errors. The Bulldogs won 25-15, their sixth set victory by at least 10 points so far this season.
Southeastern Louisiana took the early lead, but Samford quickly bounced back tying the game at 4-4 and then taking the lead 11-8 and forcing a Lion timeout. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 22-14 forcing yet another Lion timeout with Neisler earning three kills and Hutchinson and Murphy earning two each in that stretch. Three errors by Southeastern Louisiana gave Samford the final three points needed to earn the 25-16 win.
The Lions jumped to an early 11-4 lead in the third set, but Samford regained their composure and tied the game at 13-13. The teams traded points back and forth and again found themselves tied at 20-20 late in the third set. The Lions refused to give up the 3-0 sweep and eventually won the third game 25-21, forcing at least one more set.
Samford took care of business in the fourth set, earning the 3-1 win with a 25-18 edge in the fourth game. At the start, however, the Lions maintained a four-point lead until followed up a kill with a service ace to draw the Bulldogs within one. Tied at 17-17, the Bulldogs' offense found their momentum with Neisler earning a kill to gain possession and primary server Casey Garvey rattling off four consecutive successful services including an ace to put Samford ahead 17-22. The Lions scored on the next service but Samford came back with three unanswered points to seal the victory.
Fuman 3, Florida Gulf Coast 1
FT. MEYERS, FLA. - Junior Natalie Braun notched her third triple-double of the season to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-14, 25-20) win over Florida Gulf Coast Saturday in the Paladins' final match at the FGCU Homewood Suites Invitational in Ft. Meyers, Fla. Braun tallied 11 kills, 28 assist, and 13 digs in the victory.
Furman led 14-11 in the first set before the Paladins went on a 6-1 run to open up the lead to 20-12. The Eagles cut the lead to 21-14, but Furman capitalized off two FGCU errors and two kills from senior Kelly Kirby for the 25-14 win.
The Paladins built an early 8-4 lead in the second set, but Florida Gulf Coast scored four consecutive points to tie the set. The teams remained tied at 12 apiece before the Eagles scored five-straight for a 17-12 advantage. Furman could cut the lead to no less than four points throughout the last half of the set, as FGCU took a 25-20 win to tie the set score at 1-1 going into the break.
The teams battled through a close beginning to the third set. Furman won six out of seven points to amass a 9-5 lead, but FGCU scored three points to slash the lead to one point. The Paladins then broke open the set, winning nine out of ten points for an 18-9 advantage and never looked back, winning set three 25-14 for a 2-1 set lead.
Furman led 9-8 in the fourth set, then the Paladins won nine out of 12 points to take an 18-12 lead. The Eagles scored three-straight later in the match to cut the score to 23-18, and came as close as 24-20 before a kill from junior Caroline Adams sealed the 25-20 victory for the Paladins.
Kirby hit .458 and recorded a double-double with a team-high 12 kills and 12 assists, while junior Carolyn Nicoletti paced the Paladin defensive attack with 17 digs. Adams tallied four block assists in the win.
Florida Gulf Coast (2-4) was led by Jill Hopper with 13 kills and Camil Dominguez with 44 assists. Holly Youngquist recorded 21 digs to pace the Eagles.
Earlier in the day, the Paladins dropped a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) match to #3 Southern California. Kirby notched a double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs, while Adams posted a team-high 10 kills. Senior Alexis Shaffer hit .500 with seven kills, and junior Chandler Ambrester paced the team with 15 digs. Braun added 19 assists to lead the Paladins.
Western Carolina 0, Wisconsin 3
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Western Carolina (2-4) fell for the first time in the Courtyard Midtown Classic to the Wisconsin Badgers (3-3) Saturday morning by a score of 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-14), due to a balanced Badger offensive attack with four different players earning more than five kills and a 17-5 advantage in total blocks.
The Catamounts could not gain a lead in the match until leading briefly 3-2 in the third set. The Badgers were led by Courtney Thomas, who played a complete game adding five kills, 12 assists, five digs and four blocks in the winning effort. Elle Ohlander also contributed with seven kills, five blocks and a dig.
The Catamounts offensive effort was led by freshman Caitlin Piechota, who for the third straight match had at least 10 kills. Setter Brittany Lysik posted a double-double, adding 11 digs and 19 assists.
Wisconsin claimed the first set, 25-12, getting on the board first following two Catamount attack errors. An early run behind Chapman's serve put the Badgers up 7-1. A Carrie Minogue kill and a few errors by the Badgers brought the Catamounts within six, being down 17-11, but WCU wouldn't get any closer to the Wisconsin lead.
The Catamounts were behind 3-2 in the second set after two straight kills by Caitlin Piechota before Wisconsin went on a 9-3 run. WCU didn't get any closer than within six points of the Badgers' lead, with Wisconsin winning the second set 25-18.
WCU saw its only lead of the match early in the third set with a kill be senior Rebecca Stoltz and an ace by Brittany Lysik putting the Catamounts up 2-1. Following a kill by Wisconsin's Deme Morales, the Badgers would tally six points behind the serve of Annemarie Hickey, taking an 8-3 lead. The Catamounts got back within three of Wisconsin behind kills from freshman Lauren Johnston and Abbey Scroggins, but eventually fell 25-14.
Libero Morgan Cochran added two assists and 13 digs while senior Carrie Minogue added four kills.
Chattanooga 1, Kennesaw State 3
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team came out with fire in a first set victory, but Kennesaw State (3-3) battled back to take the match, 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17), at the Owl Invitational. Sophomore outside Jennifer Kuroski recorded 14 kills during the contest.
A rotation of ten players was used during the contest as the insertion of youth continued from the Sept. 5 match against Oral Roberts. Receiving their first starts of the season were sophomore setter Tess Kosycarz, freshman Jessi Blackstock while freshman Melissa Green made her first start as libero.
Totaling 11 kills each were senior middle blocker Ellie Kuhn and junior right side Christina Teter. Blackstock registered 6 kills, while freshman middle Kasey Talley added five.
The offense was run by Kosycarz, who tallied 43 assists, a season-high for the Mocs. She also had three service aces and two block assists.
Green led the defensive effort with 19 digs and junior Meagan Ernd notched seven. Junior Paula Passmore record six along with Talley. Also seeing action was sophomore Andrea Johnson who dug up 5 attacks playing in the final two sets.
The first set saw 13 ties and six lead changes as the teams battled for each point. With a tie at 16, Chattanooga began to break away from the Owls with Green on the service line recording two aces and a kill by Kuroski as it took a 20-16 advantage.
From there, Kennesaw State continued to battle and knotted the match at 20 and 21 before Kosycarz served the Mocs to a 25-21 victory that included two aces.
The Mocs tallied six service aces in the first frame and totaled 11 kills as Kuroski and Kuhn led the way with four each.
Set No. 2 started similar to the first as each team had rallies of three or four points, but the frame was tied up at 13 on a kill by Kuhn. The Owls then took control of the set scoring on 12 of the next 16 rallies to secure a 25-17 win.
Coming on for Chattanooga was Kuroski, who registered four kills, as the squad hit 11 kills for the second time in the match. Kennesaw State's offense began to click as it notched 16 kills during the frame and hit .355.
Following the intermission, the Mocs started out slow and coach Filar used two early timeouts to change the momentum. With KSU up 16-10, Kuhn and Green led service attacks that enabled the Mocs to cut the deficit to 17-14.
Chattanooga was down 21-15 before it started battling and fought back to 22-19 with back-to-back kills from Blackstock. The Owls played for set point at 24-19, but the strong serve of Ernd enabled the Mocs to score four-straight point before the frame was closed out, 25-23.
The momentum that the Mocs earned at the end of the third set continued in the fourth as they scored the first four points with Kosycarz on the service line and kills from Kuhn, Kuroski and Talley. Chattanooga kept the lead, but was unable to extend it as the Owls knotted the frame at 10.
From there, Kennesaw State took control of the set and match in recording the 25-17 victory. The Owls notched 17 kills during the set, while Chattanooga had 11.
Kennesaw State was led by Alyssa Long with a match-high 16 kills and Justine Young notched 10. Setter Sara Metroka had 46 assists for the Owls. A match-high in digs was registered by Keyaira Stevenson with 21.
Georgia Southern 0, Idaho 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team (3-5) fell to Idaho (2-4) 3-0 in the finale of the Varney's Invational hosted by Kansas State Saturday, September 3rd. Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) recorded 17 kills, the second most by her this season, but the Eagles fell 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 in a close three-set loss.
Georgia Southern held the Vandals to a .200 hitting percentage but committed 27 attack errors of their own. Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.), Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.) and Lauren LaRocque (Frisco, Texas) all tallied 10 or more digs with the libero LaRocque leading the way with 12. Van Dyke recorded 11 more digs and led the team in assists with 28.
Allison Walker and Alicia Milo powered Idaho to the win with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Alex Sele posted a team best .333 attack percentage and recorded eight kills on 18 attempts. The Vandals committed 16 errors but posted nine team blocks to help make up the difference.
Elon 1, South Carolina 3
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Elon volleyball team handed South Carolina its first set loss of the Gamecock Invitational today, Sept. 3, but was not able to take the match win, falling 3-1 (20-25, 12-25, 25-22, 9-25). The Phoenix is now 6-2, while the Gamecocks improve to 6-0 on the season.
Juniors Allison Johnson and Carly Ledbetter led the team with nine kills apiece, while senior Traci Stewart recorded seven kills and 22 digs. Senior Caroline Lemke finished with eight kills and five block assists. Seniors Nickie Halbert and Megan McMahon tallied 18 and 15 assists, respectively.
Junior Ali Deatsch led the defensive attack with 32 digs, while junior Melissa Zidar recorded a career-high 11 digs.
In the first set, Lemke, Johnson and junior Celia Rose Eddy all got kills in to keep the score even at four-all. A kill from Stewart pulled the Phoenix within two, 10-8, but a four-point run put the Gamecocks up by six. With the score in favor of South Carolina, 19-13, Elon pieced together three unanswered points off the serve of Deatsch that included a kill from Eddy and a block by Lemke and Stewart to close the gap to three. From there, the Gamecocks scored six of the next 10 points to win the set, 25-20.
South Carolina started off strong in the second set building a 7-1 lead and forcing Tendler to call an early timeout. Out of the timeout, Elon scored on two of the next three plays with kills from Stewart and Johnson to cut the Gamecock advantage to five, 8-3. With USC up 21-9, a kill from freshman Danielle Smith and two from Ledbetter spurred a 3-1 Phoenix run that made it a 22-12 set. However, the South Carolina edge was too much for Elon to recover from as USC went on to a 25-12 victory and 2-0 match lead.
Back-to-back block assists at the beginning of the third set by Lemke and Johnson and then by Lemke and Ledbetter got the Phoenix off to a good start with a 3-2 lead. With the score tied at 12-all, a kill and then an ace by Stewart gave Elon a two-point edge and forced a USC timeout, its first of the match. After the Gamecocks took the first point out of the timeout, the Phoenix scored three unanswered starting with a block by Johnson and Smith. Two kills from Johnson capped the run, causing another South Carolina timeout with score in favor of the maroon and gold, 18-13. The Gamecocks would then score six straight to go up 20-18, but a block from Smith and sophomore Cali Estes stopped the run. With the score at 21-all, a block assist by Lemke and Stewart, a solo block by Lemke and then a kill from Stewart put Elon up 24-21, helping the team earn the eventual 25-22 set win and keeping the match alive for the Phoenix. Elon recorded six of its seven total blocks in the third set.
In the fourth set, kills from Johnson and Lemke closed a South Carolina lead to 4-3 before the Gamecocks grabbed four of the next five points to take a four-point advantage, 8-4. Stewart pulled the Phoenix back within three, 10-7, but from there USC went on a 7-1 run to go up by nine, 17-8. South Carolina finished the set and match by scoring seven unanswered to win 25-9.
Davidson 3, Gardner-Webb 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sophomore outside hitter Caroline Brown turned in a second straight double-double to help the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team sweep the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-21), Saturday in the team's tournament finale at the University of South Carolina Invitational at the Volleyball Competition Facility.
Brown finished with a match-high 19 kills to go along with 15 digs to lift Davidson (5-2) to its second win of the weekend. Senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski added eight kills, and junior setter Ariel Ley finished with 34 assists. Junior libero Molly Crenshaw led all players with 19 digs.
Lauren Evans paced Gardner-Webb (1-5) with 14 kills, and Carol Solano also touched double-doubles with 10 kills for the Bulldogs. Heather Feldman finished with 31 assists and 13 digs, while Evan Moffitt also finished with 13 digs.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 7-1 lead to start the match behind kills from senior opposite Erin Lupfer, Brown and senior outside hitter Madison Benedict. The Bulldogs got back in the set with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 9-7, and with the momentum on their side, turned a 14-12 deficit into a 16-14 lead with four straight points. The Wildcats battled back with another 6-2 swing to retake the lead, 20-18, on two kills by Brown and one from sophomore middle hitter Tindall Sewell. Gardner-Webb got back-to-back kills to knot the score again, but Brown answered with two of her own to take an important lead, 22-20. The Wildcats sealed the 25-22 win on a Perzinski put away.
Tied at 3-3, Davidson used a 6-1 run to open a 9-4 lead and take control of the second set. The Wildcats led by as many as 19-11, behind six kills from Brown, before two scores by Perzinksi put Davidson ahead 2-0 in the match with the 25-17 win.
Davidson rattled off five straight to start the final set as Lupfer and Perzinski recorded kills. The Wildcats held that advantage, but Gardner-Webb got within a point, 15-14, on a 6-2 slide. Davidson won six of the next 10 points to regain control, 21-18, and went on to win the match, 25-21, on Perzinski's eighth kill.
Wofford 3, Alabama State 0
Wofford 1, SC State 3
ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's volleyball team went 1-1 at the S.C. State Tournament with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23) win over Alabama State and a 3-1(19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19) loss to host S.C. State Saturday afternoon.
In the Terriers' first match against Alabama State the team fell behind early trailing 8-2. Wofford would rally to tie the match at 14 aided by two attack errors by Alabama State and an Arden Anderson kill. The two teams traded points until Wofford broke a 17-17 tie with a 3-0 run with a kill from Taylor Baird, Rachel Woodlee and a service ace by Kelsey Bagwell. Wofford would go on to take the set 25-22. Woodlee had four kills in the set.
With the score tied at 14 in the second set, the Terriers broke out with a 5-0 run. Amanda Liguori had three kills during the run. Wofford would go on to take the set 25-20. Woodlee added five more kills in the second set with a .500 hitting percentage.
After Alabama State took the opening two points of the third set, the Terriers lead until the Hornets tied the set at 20. After trading points to tie the score at 21, the Terriers took the lead on two Alabama State errors and a block by Lucy Reser. Wofford would seal the set and the match on a Lucy Reser kill to make 25-23.
Woodlee was the the only Terrier in double-digits as she notched ten kills. Amanda Liguori followed with nine kills and Baird had eight kills. Wendy Burnett tallied six kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Tara Gough passed out 20 assists, while Bekah Dorsey had a team-high nine digs. Anderson paced the Terriers with three block assists and a solo block for two and a half total blocks.
Wofford outhit Alabama State .268 to .185, while racking up eight total blocks compared to only one for the Hornets.
In the second match of the day against S.C. State, the Terriers broke a tie at nine with 4-0 run on three Bulldog errors and a block by Anderson and Baird. Wofford would go on to take the set one win 25-19.
With the score tied at 20, the Bulldogs tied the match at one by winning five of the final eight points to take the set 25-23.
In the third set, S.C. State broke a 6-6 tie with an 8-3 run to take a 14-9 lead. Wofford was never able to get back in the set as the Bulldogs took the set 25-18. The Terriers were outhit .094 to .323 in the set.
The fourth and final set, saw the Terriers take an early 7-4 lead only to see the Bulldogs rally to tie the set at 11. S.C. State pushed a lead to 16-13, before Wofford rebounded to tie the set at 16 with the aide of a Burnett kill. However, the Bulldogs used a 5-1 run to take control of the set as they seal the match 25-19.
Burnett and Liguori led the Terriers with eight kills apiece. Bekah Dorsey handed out 28 assists, while Anderson led the Terriers with three and half total blocks.
Wofford won the battle at the net with ten total team blocks, while S.C. State had five total blocks. However, the Bulldogs outhit the Terriers .217 to .144.