Furman 3, The Citadel 0

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Junior Christina Dorismond hit .667 with 11 kills as the Furman volleyball team rolled past The Citadel, 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-10) Saturday in Charleston.

The Bulldogs led throughout the first half of the opening set before the Paladins managed to tie the score at 14.  The Citadel won five out of the next six points for a 19-15 advantage, but Furman came alive to score nine of the following tean points to tie the match at 20-all then go ahead 24-20.  The Bulldogs answered with three-consecutive points to pull within one before a kill by Dorismond clinched the 25-23 set victory.

The Paladins jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in set two.  The Citadel came within three points of the Paladins at 13-10, but Furman put together a 7-1 run to gain control of the set, 20-11.  A kill from senior Caroline Adams, followed by a block by senior Natalie Braun and Adams, gave Furman match point, and a Citadel attack error yielded a 2-0 Paladin set lead at the break.

The third set belonged to Furman, as the Paladins hit .517 for the set and put together an 11-1 run early on to eventually lead 20-6.  Furman won three out of the match’s last four points off key kills from senior Chandler Ambrester and Adams, capping a 25-10 set win for the victory.

Braun tallied a double-double, her 13th of the season, after collecting 10 kills and 11 digs.  Ambrester paced the Paladins with 13 kills, while adding eight digs, and rookie Jo Wilks continued her dominance as the Furman setter, notching 41 assists, two kills, and five digs.  Junior libero Elle Ross posted 11 digs for the evening, and freshman Caitlyn Scioscia added seven digs for the Paladins. 

The Citadel (2-18, 0-6 SoCon) was led by Amanda Rudnik, who tallied seven kills and six digs.  Erin Bucheri paced the Bulldog defense with 13 digs, and setter Rachel Keefer recorded a team-high 16 assists.

College of Charleston 3, Wofford 0

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Junior Darcy Dorton had a dominating performance to lead College of Charleston to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-7, 25-20) sweep over Wofford at TD Arena on Saturday afternoon.

A native of Muncie, Ind., Dorton made 17 kills for a .394 attack percentage, marking a new career high in kills for a three-set match. That total is also the most for any player in the SoCon in a three-setter.

College of Charleston (13-5, 5-0) won its seventh straight match and fifth straight sweep in SoCon play, staying in first place in the South Division. The Cougars have now won 21 straight conferences matches at home, a streak that ranks seventh in the nation. Wofford fell to 1-5 in SoCon play and 10-8 overall.

The Cougars hit .293 as a team and held the Terriers to a -.021 hitting percentage. College of Charleston was hitting .455 through the first two sets. The Cougars reached a side-out percentage of 72% in the first set and 85% in the second set, keeping Wofford from making any extended runs.

Kerstin Koehler hit a perfect 1.000 from her middle blocker position as she tallied six kills and made a block. Sloane White made five kills and perfectly placed three serves for aces. The Cougars finished with eight service aces which marks a new season high.

Senior Emily Shelton continued her strong play at libero with 16 digs while Dorton contributed nine digs and Melissa Morello made eight.

No Terrier player made more than five kills as Wofford finished with more errors (20) than kills (18).

College of Charleston went on a 7-0 run in the first set to open up a 14-4 lead on a kill from Dorton. After three Cougar errors, CofC reeled off another six points to get to 20-7. Several Terrier errors set the Cougars up for match point which Dorton killed for a 25-10 Cougar victory.

The second set continued as the first set ended with the Cougars quickly out to a 7-1 lead after a block from Koehler and White. A Dorton attack error let the Terriers cut the lead to 8-4, but College of Charleston put the set away with an 8-0 run to lead 16-4 on the serve of White, who tallied two aces in the rally. CofC ended the match on a 5-0 run capped by an ace from Taeler Davis.

Wofford played better in the third set, staying within six points early in the set and pulling to within 17-15 after a block from Taylor Baird and Wendy Burnett. A number of Terrier service and setting errors helped keep the Cougars ahead despite CofC hitting just .054 in the final set. Grace Rebarchak notched a kill and a block to end the third set, 25-20, for CofC.

Davidson 3, Western Carolina 0

Cullowhee, N.C. --- Middle blocker Addy George notched a career-high 12 kills Western Carolina volleyball was nipped by Davidson in a match in which the Catamounts lost each set by just two points, falling 3-0 to the Wildcats (23-25, 25-27, 23-25). The lead changed hands 12 times between the two teams with 30 total tie scores in the match.

Jordan Timmermann and Caitlin Piechota (10 kills, 16 digs) picked up double-double in the loss. Timmermann led the Catamounts in kills with 15, while hitting at a .250 clip, and scooped up 13 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Addy George kept up her team-leading hitting percentage by hitting .379, tallying a career-high 12 kills. George also had 5 digs and 2 blocks in the match.

With Davidson taking the first two sets, the Catamounts had to battle back after the break to keep the match alive. Neither team led by more than three points at any time during the third set with the score knotted at 17 apiece late in the set. Davidson went on a 3-0 run to take a 20-17 lead before Timmermann picked up a kill to cut the deficit to two with a Davidson attack error bringing the Catamounts within one. WCU continued to claw and evened the match at 21 thanks to a block by Abbey Scroggins and Addy George, forcing a Davidson timeout.

George knocked down two powerful kills consecutively to take a 23-21 lead. Davidson ran off a 4-0 run to end the match thanks in large part to two kills by the Wildcats’ Rachel Earnhardt.

Samford 3, Elon 1

ELON, N.C. ---- Samford battled against a very tough Elon team on the road Saturday night, falling in the opening set but rallying for a 3-1 win to stay perfect in SoCon play this season.

Heading into this match, Samford (14-6, 6-0 SoCon) held a 1-4 record this season when losing the first set.  The Bulldogs bucked the trend, winning the next three for the four-set victory.  The Bulldogs now have a nine-match win streak, dropping only three sets during that stretch.

Yet again, Samford’s attack was anchored by its middle blockers with Lauren Hutchinson hitting .407 with 14 kills while Katie Murphy had ten kills of her own on 29 swings.  The pair combined for five solo blocks and five assisted blocks as well.  Murphy’s three solo and three assisted blocks are a season-high and it puts her at 10th all-time at Samford in career solo blocks with 59.  Michaela Reesor led all players with 17 kills and added ten digs for her fourth double-double of the season.  Chelsi Carter saw the most time at the service line Saturday night, tallying a career-high four service aces.

Elon (8-12, 1-4 SoCon) had three in double-digit kills, led by Megan Gravley with 13, while Ali Deatsch led the defense with 17 digs and Ana Nicksic paced the offense with 42 assists.

Play was even to begin the first set when, tied at 5-5, Samford scored three in a row with Chelsi Carter at the service line to move up 8-5.  Samford began to widen the gap, moving up by five on a kill by Hutchinson as Elon took a timeout trailing 13-8.  The Bulldogs hit the 20-point mark first, as an Elon service error gave Samford a three-point lead, up 20-17.  The Phoenix scored two in a row to draw within one, down 20-19, and a kill by Carter made it 21-19 and the Bulldogs looked to strategize, calling a timeout.  Elon fought back quickly, tying the match at 21-21 with possession.  Elon ended up taking the lead, 23-22, and the teams battled back-and-forth until the Phoenix managed to earn the close win, 27-25.

Similarly to set one, set two got off to an even start before, up 5-4, Samford rattled off three in a row to go up 8-4 as Elon took a timeout.  Up by four later, 11-7, back-to-back kills by Elizabeth Neisler would stretch Samford’s lead to six as the Phoenix took another timeout.  The Bulldogs would continue to roll coming out of the break, scoring three more unanswered points to move up 16-7.  Up by double digits, 21-11, a Samford attack error and an Elon service ace brought the Phoenix within eight as Samford took a timeout leading 21-13.  Samford regained its ten-point lead, serving for set point up 24-14, and Reesor knocked a kill in to give Samford the 25-14 set two win and even the match at 1-1. 

Elon held the early momentum in set three, moving up 6-3 before Samford answered back with four in a row to take the lead, 7-6.  The teams traded the lead in the middle portion of the set until Samford started to pull away, moving up 17-13 as Elon took a timeout.  Samford maintained the four-point lead all the way to set point, serving up 24-20.  Elon scored two but Samford ultimately won the set, 25-22, to move up 2-1 in the match.

Samford got off to a 2-0 start in set four and held that margin for most of the set.  Up 18-16, a kill and a block by Hutchinson put Samford up 20-16 forcing Elon to take a timeout.  Samford would score two more out of the break, moving up 22-16, and reached match point up by six, 24-18.  A service error on match point extended the set for Elon but a kill by Murphy on the subsequent point gave Samford the 25-19 win and the 3-1 match victory.

Georgia Southern 3, Appalachian State 1

BOONE, N.C. – Meredith Paskert recorded 16 kills, and Nicole Jeschelnik tallied 13 kills and 12 digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 21-25, 25-19) Southern Conference volleyball victory over Appalachian State Saturday night.

Crysten Curry recorded nine kills and eight blocks for the Eagles (13-6, 4-1 SoCon), and Kym Coley posted nine kills and five blocks.

Kate Van Dyke finished with 43 assists, and Alexandra Beecher collected 16 digs.

Lindsey Sauls had 15 kills to lead Appalachian State (5-15, SoCon), and Jacqui Spurgeon posted 12 kills. Dalton Tolliver finished with 10 kills, and Courtney Rhein was credited with 15 digs.

The Eagles had 13 team blocks and 26 block assists in the match, just six away from the school four-set,  single-match record. That helped GSU hold the Mountaineers to a .158 hitting percentage as a team.

Leading 12-11 in the fourth set, the Eagles used an 11-4 run to distance themselves and ultimately put the match away. Paskert had two kills and an ace during the run, Curry posted a kill and a block and Beecher capped the run with consecutive service aces. App rallied to trim the margin to 24-19, but Jeschelnik ended the match with a kill.

The Eagles opened an early 9-4 lead in set one but found themselves trailing 17-15. An App service error and a block by Moriah Bellissimo and Coley tied the score, and with score even at 20-20, Paskert ignited a 5-0 run to end the set with a kill. Katalin Minnerly served it out, Paskert added another kill and Van Dyke and Curry combined for a pair of blocks in the run.

After the Mountaineers scored the first point of the second set, the Eagles scored nine straight points during Paskert’s serve. Curry was in on four blocks during the stretch as GSU opened a 9-1 cushion. The Eagles never trailed by less than eight points the rest of the way.

The Mountaineers scored the first three points of the third set and never trailed. Leading 19-18, App used a 4-2 run to open a 23-20 cushion. After Bellissimo got a kill for GSU, the Eagles committed consecutive hitting errors to end the set.

UNCG 3, Chattanooga 1

GREENSBORO, N.C. – In front of a raucous and season-best crowd of 627 at Fleming Gymnasium Saturday night, the UNCG volleyball team raced past Chattanooga 3-1 in a Southern Conference matchup.

The Spartans' defense pulled the team through many times as UNCG (9-8, 4-2) racked up a season-best 94 digs, including a Spartan season-high 33 by junior libero Kellie Orewiler. There were three other UNCG players in double figures in junior Olivia Humphries (16), sophomore Emily McMurtrey (13) and junior Morgan Freeman (10). All three posted double-doubles with Humphries putting down 17 kills, McMurtrey adding 52 assists and Freeman posting a career-high nine blocks. She fell just one block short of a triple-double while hitting .444 in the four sets. Additionally, junior Karrian Chambers knocked down a match-best 19 kills on 52 swings.

It was a mediocre hitting night for both squads as UNCG produced a .141 mark while limiting the Mocs to just .056. The Spartans also held the upper hand in kills (59), service aces (4-2), digs (94-66) and total blocks (12.0-10.0). UNCG sided out well in first and fourth sets at 89 and 70 percent respectively (64 percent overall) while holding Chattanooga (8-13, 2-4) to a 52-percent overall sideout performance.

Freeman put down four kills in the first 10 points of the first set to give UNCG a 7-3 lead. The advantage grew to 11-7 and 15-11 before the Mocs' head coach Travis Filar saw enough and called a timeout. The Spartans were able to keep Chattanooga at bay and led by no less than four the rest of the set as a Christina Teter attack error ended the frame in the Spartans' favor at 25-19.

UNCG scored the first two points of the second interval on a Chambers kill and Moc attack error, but Chattanooga was able to fight back and tie the set at six. The Mocs scored five of the next six points on the serving of Bridget Camacho to assume an 11-7 cushion – prompting a timeout from the Spartan bench. A Heather Parman kill kept the momentum on Chattanooga's side as the Mocs built an 18-12 edge. However, UNCG battled back and drew within 22-21, capping a 9-3 run. The Spartans fell behind 24-21 when Kasey Talley posted a kill, but UNCG was able to scrap for points and tied the frame at 24 when Freeman and Humphries teamed up for a block. A Teter block put the Mocs in front 25-24 before Chattanooga eventually took the 28-26 victory and tied the match at one set apiece.

The Mocs were the aggressors out of the intermission, pushing in front 5-2 and forcing a Spartan timeout. UNCG fell behind 8-3 and 12-7 before a 6-1 run pulled the Spartans even with the visitors. A Chambers attack error afforded Chattanooga a 15-13 cushion, but the Spartans scored six of the next 10 points to knot the score at 19. A Talley service error and UNCG block then gave the home team all it needed to overtake the Mocs and score a 25-20 third-frame win.

The fourth interval began with the teams tied at four before a Talley attack error capped a 5-2 run for UNCG and made the score 9-6. Chattanooga was able to draw within one at 12-11 but three-straight points by the Spartans stretched their lead to 15-11. UNCG stayed ahead by three before a Heather Parman kill cut the advantage to 18-16, but the Spartans buckled down and allowed the Mocs just two more points. A kill by freshman Katherine Santiago from the back row gave UNCG match point, bringing the boisterous UNCG fans to their feet before a Talley attack error ended the contest to the delight of the crowd.