Elon 3, Western Carolina 1

ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team picked up its fourth straight win tonight, Oct. 27, with a victory over Western Carolina, 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21) on Senior Night. The Phoenix is now 14-13 (7-5 SoCon) on the season, while the Catamounts fall to 8-19 (4-8 SoCon).

Sophomore Chanelle Smith led the Phoenix on offense with 12 kills and recorded her second straight double-double (sixth on the year) with 20 digs. Freshman Megan Gravley and sophomore Kris Harris finished with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

With the help of C. Smith’s 20 digs, the defense also saw 18 digs from senior Ali Deatsch and 12 from sophomore Maggie Reichard. Harris recorded six blocks, while senior Celia Rose Eddy finished with three.

Down by three in the first set, 9-6, the Phoenix used a 6-2 run off an ace by C. Smith and kills and a block by Eddy and Allison Johnson to take a 12-11 lead. The set remained tight and was knotted at 21-all when the Catamounts scored three of the next four to take set point, 24-22. Miscues by WCU and kills by C. Smith and Danielle Smith led the Phoenix to four unanswered to win the set, 26-24.

Western held a seven-point advantage at the beginning of the second set with a 16-9 lead. From there, the maroon and gold went on a 9-3 run with the help of several Catamount mistakes and kills by Johnson and D. Smith to cut the deficit to one, 19-18. With the set tied at 21-all, three straight kills by Harris gave the Phoenix its first lead of the set, 23-21, forcing WCU to call its second timeout. Elon used another kill by Harris, her fourth of the set, to win 25-23 and take a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was close with seven ties by the time the score reached 14-all. WCU then scored three straight to take a 17-14 lead. Elon tied the set again at 21-all, however, the Catamounts managed to send the match into another set, winning 25-23.

With the fourth set tied at five-all, the Phoenix scored seven straight with the help of an ace by Harris, two kills by Gravley and a block by Eddy and Nicksic to grab a 12-5 lead. The maroon and gold maintained its strong advantage until the Catamounts pulled within two, 20-18. Kills by Eddy and D. Smith put the Phoenix back up by four, 22-18. From there, Elon took the final set, 25-21, and the 3-1 match win.

UNCG 3, Appalachian State 1

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball team won its third-straight match Saturday night inside Fleming Gymnasium, sweeping the season series with Appalachian State with a 3-1 victory. The Spartans improve to 13-11 overall and 7-5 in SoCon play while the Mountaineers drop to 6-20 and 2-10.

With the win, head coach Patrick Nicholas earned his 197th career victory – putting him within reasonable reach of picking up his 200th this season.

UNCG hit better than .250 for the third consecutive contest, firing at a .255 clip with 62 kills in the four sets. The Blue and Gold did a good job of limiting Appalachian’s offensive efficiency as the Mountaineers were limited to a .152 showing. The Spartans were also very effective defensively, racking up 87 digs for an average of 21.8 per set. Additionally, in the fourth frame, UNCG converted on all but one of its sideout opportunities.

Juniors Olivia Humphries and Karrian Chambers netted double-doubles for the second-straight match as Humphries posted 20 kills and 11 digs while Chambers contributed 13 kills and 15 digs. Senior setter Ari Lysacek continues to run the offense well after returning from injury as she distributed 58 assists to go along with nine digs and three block assists. Additionally, junior Morgan Freeman capped a stellar weekend with 13 kills in the match and a hitting percentage of .360.

It was a career night again for freshman Julia Westerbur, as she posted her first-ever double-digit kill effort with 11 while adding four blocks. She hit .435 in the match – making just one error on 23 attempts. Defensively, junior Kellie Orewiler recorded a match-high 25 digs while freshman Katherine Santiago checked in with 16 of her own.

UNCG jumped out to a 7-1 lead, prompting a timeout from the Mountaineer bench. The lead grew to 12-4 when Chambers put down a kill, but Appalachian began to rally. A ball-handling error by Kelsey Sidney capped a 12-6 run for the Mountaineers, pulling them to within 18-16, but the Spartans managed three-straight points out of a timeout to put away the visitors in set one by a 25-21 score.

The second interval was a mirror image of the first as Appalachian State ran up an 8-3 lead on a kill by Jacqui Spurgeon. However, UNCG managed to cut the deficit to 13-10, prompting a Mountaineer timeout. ASU was able to manage a pair of kills out of the respite to establish a five-point cushion and held the Spartans at an arm’s length the rest of the way to tie the match with a 25-22 set two win.

Out of the intermission, UNCG took a 4-1 lead thanks in part to kills from three different players. The Mountaineers were able to tie the score at 15 eventually, but the Spartans scored five of the next seven to take control 20-17. Appalachian was able to stave off a set point down 24-20, but a Lindsey Sauls service error gave UNCG the set 25-21 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

A kill by Humphries put the Spartans ahead 8-5 in set four and UNCG stayed ahead by four when Humphries recorded another kill off a blocking error by Jessica Eley. The Blue and Gold would not be denied the rest of the way as UNCG cruised to a 25-15 victory and sealed the match.

Georgia Southern 3, The Citadel 0

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Meredith Paskert had 16 kills, and Nicole Jeschelnik added 12 kills and seven digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-16) Southern Conference volleyball victory over The Citadel Saturday night at McAlister Fieldhouse.

It was Georgia Southern’s eight straight victory and their 20th win of the season. The Eagles have now won 20-plus matches for the 10th time in school history and the third time in head coach Chad Callihan’s five-year tenure.

Moriah Bellissimo added seven kills and 16 digs for the Eagles (20-6, 11-1 SoCon), and Alexandra Beecher collected a match high 21 digs.

Kate Van Dyke was credited with 29 assists, eight digs and six kills.

Jessica Maxwell led the Bulldogs (5-23, 0-11 SoCon) with nine kills, and Mikaela Tracy posted 14 assists.

Defense keyed the win for the Eagles, who struggled a bit with offensive efficiency. GSU held the Bulldogs to a .094 hitting percentage and had 67 digs and six team blocks in the three-set match.

The Bulldogs were solid defensively as well, posting 10 team blocks and 39 digs.

Paskert had three kills and assisted on a block as the Eagles jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first set en route to winning it 25-13.

The Bulldogs overcame an early six-point deficit in the second set and pulled to within two at 18-16 on a kill by Ise d’Angelo. The Eagles answered with a 6-3 run and had set point at 24-19 after a Paskert kill. The Citadel scored five straight points to tie the set 24-24, but Van Dyke got a kill and Paskert added another to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the match.

With the score tied 13-13 in the third, GSU went on a huge 12-3 run to win the set and end the match. Bellissimo and Jeschelnik served aces during the run, while Van Dyke and Paskert each collected two kills.

Furman 3, Chattanooga 1

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Senior Chandler Ambrester notched her fifth-straight double-double, collecting career highs with 26 kills and 23 digs, to lead the Furman volleyball team past Chattanooga, 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23), Saturday at Alley Gymnasium in Greenville, S.C.

Following an 11-11 tie to open the match, the Mocs reeled off five-straight points to take a 16-11 lead, but the Paladins answered with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to one.  Chattanooga put together back-to-back points later for a three-point lead at 20-17 and eventually stretched the lead to four at 23-19.  A Paladin kill from senior Caroline Adams kept Furman in the match, but Chattanooga held on for a 25-21 set win.

The Paladins came out strong in set two, building a quick 8-2 lead.  Furman maintained a five-point advantage at 15-10 then stretched the lead to eight following three-consecutive winners, including a kill from freshman setter Jo Wilks and a kill by Ambrester.  Up 22-16, the Paladins won the last three points of the set off three-straight kills from Ambrester, taking a 25-16 victory to tie the match at one set apiece.

After the break, the teams were tied at 7-all in set three when Furman went on a 4-0 run to build a 11-7 lead.  The Mocs cut the lead to one at 11-12, but the Paladins collected back-to-back kills from junior Amanda Komisarow and Ambrester to stretch the lead to three.  Chattanooga later trimmed the lead to one at 15-14.  The lead remained one at 20-19 before the Paladins claimed the last five points of the set for a 25-19 win.

Chattanooga came out strong to open set four, building a 16-9 lead before Furman reeled off eight-straight points to take a 17-16 advantage.  The teams fought through five ties to settle at 23-all before consecutive kills from Komisarow and junior Christina Dorismond sealed the 25-23 set victory for the Paladins.

Wilks recorded her 11th double-double of the season, tallying 52 assists and 19 digs for Furman.  Dorismond added 13 kills in the win, while junior libero Elle Ross collected 17 digs.  Freshman Caitlyn Scioscia added 11 digs for the Paladins.  Adams posted a team-high five blocks, while posting eight kills.

Chattanooga (10-16, 4-7 SoCon) was led by Sarah Batterton, who notched 13 kills.  Libero Paula Passmore led the Mocs on defense with 30 digs, while setter Bridget Camacho collected 37 assists.

College of Charleston 3, Davidson 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston came back from a tough defeat on Friday at the hands of Georgia Southern by defeating Davidson, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-18) on Saturday evening.

Although the Cougars struggled at times, especially in the first set, College of Charleston (19-7, 10-2) showed stamina and endurance to win long rallies and hold off Davidson (8-13, 4-7) in the final three sets.

The Cougars outhit the Wildcats with a 61-42 advantage in kills and .226-.136 edge in hitting percentage. CofC also outdug Davidson 72-63.

Darcy Dorton led the Cougars in kills with 19 against just five errors for a .318 hitting mark. Melissa Morello tallied a double-double with a season-best 16 kills and 11 digs.

Emily Neideffer made 11 kills and two service aces, and Sloane White tallied seven kills. Setter Taeler Davis made 52 assists and 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.

Emily Shelton made 26 digs to give her 1,989 digs in her career, just 11 away from 2,000.

Davidson was led by Tindall Sewell who made 13 kills and Caroline Brown’s 11 kills and 17 digs. However, Brown also made nine costly hitting errors and two service errors.

Davidson opened the first set with a 6-1 run to build a 9-4 lead after a Sewell kill. The Cougars clawed back to an 11-11 tie with a block from Kerstin Koehler and Davis, and both teams sided out to a 18-17 DC advantage. The Wildcats then went on a big 3-0 run to take a 21-17 lead and control of the set. A service error from Dorton gave the Wildcats a 25-22 set one victory.

College of Charleston used a 6-2 run in the middle of the second set to build a 16-11 lead after a White ace. The Wildcats never got closer than four points from then on as CofC sided out on 13 of 16 chances (81 percent), and hit .379 as a team in the second frame. Kills by Morello and White sandwiched a Tindall Sewell error that gave the Cougars a 25-16 set victory.

The third set featured 16 ties and eight lead changes as neither team could take control until the very end. Both teams’ defenses held down the opponents as Davidson hit just .130 and College of Charleston hit .170. The Wildcats took a 22-21 lead after a kill from Brown, but a Sewell error tied the set at 22. Sloane White gave the Cougars a 23-22 lead and then White teamed with Neideffer for a block and Morello made a solo block to give CofC the third set, 25-22.

College of Charleston did not let Davidson hang around in the third set, opening a 17-11 lead and eventually going up 20-12. Davidson managed just seven kills and Shelton tallied 10 digs in the final set as the Cougars won, 25-18.