Furman 3, USC Upstate 0

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior Chandler Ambrester hit .381 with 11 kills and seven digs to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-18) victory over USC Upstate at the Willie Jewell’s Invitational Saturday morning in Charleston, S.C.

The Paladins jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the opening set then maintained the lead throughout the set, on their way to a 25-17 win.  The teams were evenly matched at the beginning of set two, battling to an 8-8 tie before the Paladins went on a 4-0 run to begin to pull away.  Furman led 23-17 when the Spartans scored three-straight points to cut the margin to three points at 23-20, but the Paladins answered with a kill from freshman Amelia Bohlander and a service ace by junior Amanda Komisarow to take a 2-0 set lead at the break.

Again the teams battled through several ties to open set three.  Following a 6-6 tie, the Paladins went on a 5-1 run to open up the set.  USC Upstate came within three points of Furman at 17-14, but two key kills from Komisarow and a block by junior Christina Dorismond put the Paladins back in control of the match at 20-14.  Furman went on to complete the sweep, 25-18.

Junior Natalie Braun was just one kill shy of a double-double, posting nine kills and a team-high 12 digs.  Freshman Jo Wilks paced the Paladins with 39 assists and eight digs.  Komisarow tallied six kills, while freshman Amelia Bohlander and senior Caroline Adams each added five kills.

USC Upstate (2-3) was led by Emily Bingham, who tallied 12 kills.  Emily Sanders recorded a team-high 24 assists plus nine digs, while Morgan Page led the Spartan defense with 14 digs. 

Furman (6-1) will face host Charleston Southern Saturday at 7 p.m. to conclude the tournament.

Furman 3, Charleston Southern 0

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior Chandler Ambrester hit .636 with a season-high 15 kills as the Furman volleyball team extended its winning streak to six matches with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-18) victory over Charleston Southern to conclude the Willie Jewell’s Invitational Saturday evening in Charleston, S.C.  Paladin rookie Jo Wilks notched her second double-double of the season in the win, posting 38 assists and 10 digs.

Furman built a 6-4 lead to open the match before the Buccaneers won four-straight points to take an 8-6 advantage.  The Paladins answered with a 6-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back kills from sophomore Christina Dorismond, to lead 12-9.  The Bucs kept the match within two points at 13-11, but a 9-2 Paladin run put the match out of reach as Furman cruised to a 25-16 win.

The Paladins jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead at the beginning of the second set, en route to a 25-15 victory to take a 2-0 set advantage at the break.  Charleston Southern led 4-1 to open set three, but four kills and nine-straight serves from senior Natalie Braun sparked a 12-1 Furman run that gave the Paladins control of the set at 13-5.  Furman remained in front to comple the 25-13 victory for the sweep.

Dorismond hit .562 with 10 kills in the victory, while Braun added nine digs and eight kills.  Junior libero Elle Ross collected eight digs, and seniors Caroline Adams and Christina Curry each contributed five kills in the Paladin effort.

Katrina Houston led Charleston Southern (2-3) with eight kills, and Kirsten Struksnes posted a team-high 11 assists.  Ashley Higgenbothem led the Buccaneer defense with eight digs. 

Furman (7-1) will open the 2012 home season Tuesday when the Paladins take on Clemson at 6 p.m. in Alley Gymnasium.

Georgia Southern 3, High Point 1

AUBURN, Ala. – Meredith Paskert (Brecksville, Ohio) posted a match-high 21 kills and hit .320 to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20) volleyball victory over High Point in the Eagles’ final game of the Auburn Invitational Sunday afternoon.

Paskert was named all-tournament as the senior finished the weekend with 40 kills in three matches and averaged 3.64 a set.

Enjoli Johnson notched 10 kills and three blocks for the Eagles (4-2), and Jamie DeRatt collected 10 kills and 15 digs. Moriah Bellissimo finished with nine kills and 15 digs, and Kate Van Dyke had 45 assists. Alexandra Beecher added 19 digs. 

Courtney Johnk had 15 kills to lead the Panthers (4-3), and Kristin Heldt posted 12 kills. Chelsea Davis finished with 10 kills and 13 digs and Molly Barlow posted a match-high 21 digs. 

Leading the match 2-1, Georgia Southern pulled away late in the fourth set to win the match. The frame featured 12 ties and seven lead changes before the Eagles distanced themselves. The final tie came at 16-16, when GSU used a 6-1 spurt to open a 22-17 cushion. Johnson ignited the run with a kill, and Paskert added two kills. Paskert added another kill and an ace as GSU took a 24-19 advantage, and Bellissimo finished the match with a kill.

Georgia Southern jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set as Paskert contributed two early kills. High Point rallied to tie the score at 13-13, but the Eagles rattled off four straight points, with two kills from Van Dyke, to get some breathing room. GSU pushed the margin to six points with the help of kills by  Johnson and DeRatt, and the margin never dipped below four for the remainder of the set.

With the score tied 6-6 in the second set, Georgia Southern used a 4-0 run, capped by block from Johnson and Paskert to open a 10-6 cushion.

High Point responded with a 9-1 run, with two kills by Jamie McDonald, to open a 15-11 lead. The margin never fell below four points from there as the Panthers took the frame 25-20.

The Eagles led the third set by as many as eight points at 18-10 following consecutive kills by Paskert and Van Dyke. But High Point fought back, and a McDonald ace made the margin 20-18. Kills by Bellissimo and DeRatt extended the margin to four and with the Eagles leading 23-21, the duo notched consecutive kills to win the set.

The Eagles play their home opener Tuesday against Mercer. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

College of Charleston 3, Memphis 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston defeated Memphis, 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23), and won the tournament championship of the 2012 Courtyard Charleston North Classic.

College of Charleston (3-2) were able to win the title after earning a 2-1 weekend record with Memphis (1-6) and winning the head-to-head tiebreak after UNF lost to Slovenia in the afternoon.

The Cougars were led by Tournament MVP Sloane White who hit .462 and notched 14 kills and two blocks. All-Tournament selection Kerstin Koehler set new career highs with 12 kills and six blocks, while she also hit .458.

Emily Shelton was also named to the All-Tournament team as she tallied 16 digs on Saturday after tying her career high with 32 digs yesterday.

Kallie McKown tallied a double-double with 39 assists and 18 digs.

Memphis’ Altrese Hawkins notched a match-high 21 kills and 17 digs. Maja Kostic, named All-Tournament, landed 13 kills and libero Aleksandra Petronijevic made 25 digs.

College of Charleston fell behind 6-1 in the first set, but slowly worked back into the set, trailing by 16-14 after a White kill. The Cougars tied the set at 18 when Grace Rebarchak recorded a block and a Lizzie Theesfeld ace gave the Cougars their first lead. Kills from Darcy Dorton and White closed out the first set with a CofC win, 25-22.

CofC built a 10-7 lead in the second set and held a two- or three-point lead until the Tigers tied the set at 15. The teams traded points until a tie at 21, but two errors from Memphis gave CofC a 23-21 lead. After an Emily Neideffer attack error, the Tigers committed two more errors to give the Cougars a 25-22 set two win.

Memphis went on a set-opening run again in the third, quickly building an 8-2 lead. The Cougars were able to come back yet again, tying the set at 16. However, the Tigers went on a 5-0 run on the serve of Hawkins, setting up an eventual 25-20 set win for Memphis.

White took over for CofC in the fourth set, making five kills on seven attempts. CofC built a 15-9 lead and never trailed, despite a late Memphis run. The Tigers tied the set at 23 after a kill from Maja Kostic. But White notched a big kill and the Cougars clinched the match with a block from Koehler and Theesfeld.

College of Charleston will travel to Lawrence, Kansas next weekend to compete against Wyoming, Arizona State and Kansas in the Jayhawk Invitational.

Davidson 3, UNC Wilmington 1

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Caroline Brown and Ariel Ley earned all-tournament honors as the Davidson volleyball team prevailed over the UNC Wilmington Seahawks 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Wake Forest Invitational. The ‘Cats ended the weekend 2-1 in the tournament behind host Wake Forest’s 3-0 record and moved to 3-1 on the season.

Brown had 15 kills and 12 digs in the match and led the ‘Cats with three service aces. Ley had a match-high 46 assists and produced seven digs as well as three aces. Taylor Pisel’s 18 kills led the squad with Hannah Rau adding six block assists. Molly Crenshaw also contributed with a team-high 13 digs.

For the Seahawks, Jennifer Mallard was the team leader with 20 kills. Haley Collins had 15 digs and Victoria Phillips recorded 22 assists. Meredith Peacock had five block assists in the match as UNCW finished the tournament 1-2.

UNCW took a 4-1 lead off a kill by Mallard, and another 3-0 run put them ahead 8-4. A kill from Megan Chamberlin and a block by Sewell and Brown kept it close at 8-6, but the Seahawks were on a roll and scored three straight points to take an 11-6 lead on an ace by Lindsay Hartmann. The ‘Cats would come within three on a kill from Pisel, but couldn’t catch up as the Seahawks took set one by a score of 25-19.

The Seahawks rolled into the second set, taking a 3-0 lead and staying ahead early on. Down 12-10, the ‘Cats went on a 10-0 run and never looked back. Despite a late 4-0 streak by UNCW, Davidson finished things off with a kill by Chamberlin for the 25-20 win.

The ‘Cats once again found themselves on the wrong end of the score at 10-5 in the third set. Just as the Seahawks were about to claim the set, a kill from Brown would extend things with a 24-24 tie. The teams traded points, with kills from Brown and Sewell to give Davidson the 28-27 lead. Brown had another kill before an attacking error on UNCW gave the ‘Cats the 30-28 win.

Davidson took no chances in the fourth set, dominating from the start with an early 6-1 run to take an 8-4 lead. A late 10-point streak culminated with an ace by Brown gave the 'Cats a 12-point advantage at 20-8. A Rachel Earnhardt kill ended the set and secured the match.

The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for the UNF Invite. The team will kick things off with a 4:30 p.m. tilt with Presbyterian on Sept. 7 before facing Florida A&M and host North Florida on Sept. 8.

Wake Forest 3, Davidson 2

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Taking the match to five sets, the Davidson volleyball team battled Wake Forest in a tight contest before falling to the Demon Deacons by a score of 3-2 in the Wake Forest Invitational on Saturday.

Caroline Brown’s 14 kills and two aces powered the Wildcats, who fell to 2-1 in 2012.  Brown also recorded 13 digs and three block assists on the day.  Molly Crenshaw was the team leader with 23 digs, while Tindall Sewell had four block assists and four solo blocks.   Sewell and teammate Megan Chamberlin had eight kills each while Ariel Lay had 34 assists.

Wake Forest’s Anna Carley had 20 kills and 13 digs, while Andrea Beck had 19 kills.  Kristin Grissom had seven block assists, while Megan Miller posted 13 digs in the match.

It was a battle from the start as the two teams traded points before a kill by Brown from Ley gave the edge to the Wildcats at 6-5. A kill by Grissom soon after gave the lead back to the Demon Deacons.  A kill by Brown, along with a pair of errors by Wake Forest put the Wildcats’ back ahead by four at 14-10 but Wake would storm back to a 15-15 tie on a service ace by Kylie Hargreaves. The Wildcats would take the lead three more times before Wake Forest went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-20 advantage. The Demon Deacons would score on kill by Carley to end the set with a 25-22 win.

The ‘Cats took an 8-4 lead to start set two and were able to stay ahead 14-10 on three errors by Wake Forest. Ley and Sewell combined for a block, while two more Wake errors put the score at 24-18.  Ley had a kill of her own before picking up the assist on Brown’s kill for the final point of the set for the 25-21 win.

Davidson once again found itself with an early lead in the third set, going ahead 11-6 on back-to-back kills by Pisel and Chamberlin.  Brown, Anastasia Owen and Sewell each had consecutive kills to add to the ‘Cats’ lead at 14-6. Another from Brown made it a seven-point game before Wake Forest scored four consecutive points to cut the deficit to three at 17-14. The Demon Deacons would make another late running, coming within two on a kill from Beck to make it 23-21. However, Sewell added another kill for the ‘Cats before a Wake Forest error gave Davidson the 25-21 win.

Wake Forest would go on an early 7-1 run in the fourth set and would hold control the rest of the way.  Back-to-back errors by the Demon Deacons gave the ‘Cats their fourth and fifth points of the set as they found themselves down 11-6.  A 3-0 run by Wake Forest would put them ahead 19-8, before another 3-0 run finished with a kill by Carley gave the Demon Deacons the 25-12 win and tie things up at two sets apiece.

The tiebreaker set was again a tight battle as a kill by Beck put the Demon Deacons ahead 5-2. A service ace by Brown tied things up at 6-6 before an attacking error on Wake Forest gave Davidson the 7-6 lead. Wake Forest picking up the game-tying point on a ball handling error by the ‘Cats, then proceeded to produce two miscues of their own to put Davidson back ahead 9-7.  Neither team would take a comfortable lead as the two squads found themselves tied at 15-15 nearing the end of the set.  Wake Forest’s Grissom would come through with a kill and assisted on a block as the Demon Deacon scored the final two points to win the set 17-15 and take the match at 3-2.

Elon 3, N.C. Central 0

Alabama 3, Elon 0

ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team won its third straight match against North Carolina Central earlier today, Sept. 1, before falling to Alabama in the final match of the Elon Phoenix Classic. The Phoenix (3-4) swept the Eagles (1-6) 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) and fell to the Crimson Tide (6-1) by a final of 3-0 (15-25, 18-25, 17-25).

Up by two in the first set against NCCU, 6-6, the Phoenix put together a seven-point run with kills by Chanelle Smith and Megan Gravley and a block by Celia Rose Eddy and C. Smith to increase its advantage to nine, 13-4. A kill by Eddy and an ace by Ana Nicksic pushed the Phoenix advantage to 10, 15-5, forcing the Eagles to call its second timeout of the set. The maroon and gold continued to roll and won the set by a final of 25-15.

The second set remained close with the Phoenix and Eagles trading points every other score until Elon pulled ahead by two, 15-13, off a block by Eddy and Danielle Smith. Another ace by Nicksic, her second of the match, increased the maroon and gold’s lead to four, 22-18. A kill by Gravley sealed the four-point second-set win, 25-21, for the Phoenix.

With the third set tied at three-all, Elon went on a 4-0 run with the help of a kill by Harris and a block by Nicksic and Harris to go up 7-3. Leading by one, 10-9, a block by Eddy and D. Smith capped three straight points for the Phoenix to take a 13-9 advantage and cause an NCCU timeout. The Eagles scored the first point out of the timeout to cut the deficit to three, 13-10, but Elon scored the next four off kills by Eddy, Gravley and D. Smith to increase its lead to seven, 17-10. With the score in favor of the Phoenix, 20-13, kills by Harris and Allison Johnson helped the maroon and gold finish on a 5-2 run and win the third set, 25-15, to earn the match sweep.

Harris continued to look strong at the net, hitting .667 with 11 kills off 15 attempts and only one error. Johnson recorded eight kills, while Gravley finished with seven. Eddy and D. Smith both earned five kills, helping Elon to hit .333 overall.

On defense, senior Ali Deatsch tallied 10 digs and Eddy finished with three blocks as the Phoenix held the Eagles to a .071 attack percentage.

Alabama took the early 4-2 lead over Elon in the first set before Johnson tied the score at four-all with an ace and a kill. Down by two, the maroon and gold went on a 6-2 run off kills by D. Smith, Harris and Gravley to take a two-point advantage, 10-8. The Crimson Tide would then go on a 17-5 run to win the set, 25-15.

With the second set tied at seven-all, the Phoenix scored four of the next five points off kills from Gravley and Catherine Head to take the lead by three, 11-8. After Alabama came back to tie the score at 12, Elon used a 4-1 run with another kill by Head and one by Eddy and Harris to take back its three-point advantage, 16-13. However, the Crimson Tide managed to score nine straight, followed by three of the last five points to win the set, 25-18.

The Phoenix kept the third set close and did not trail Alabama by more than three, pulling within two, 10-8, off a kill by C. Smith. Down by five, 14-9, the maroon and gold cut the deficit to one, 15-14, after a 5-1 run off back-to-back kills by Harris. The Crimson Tide was then able to pull away and win the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-0.

Harris led Elon with six kills, while Gravley and Eddy both recorded five. Nicksic tallied 26 assists in the match and Deatsch finished with 10 digs on defense.

Harris and Eddy were both named the Elon Phoenix Classic All-Tournament Team at the end of the tournament.

Elon travels next to Radford, Va., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to face Radford in a 7 p.m. match.

Wofford 3, Stetson 1

DELAND, FLA. – Wofford’s Reagan Styles and Wendy Burnett claimed Clarion Invitational All-Tournament Team as the volleyball team knocked off Stetson, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-15) in the team’s final tournament match Saturday afternoon.

Styles finished the four-match tournament with a team-high 76 digs for a 5.07 average and eight aces, while Burnett had 41 kills a team-high .337 hitting percentage, 15 total blocks and was responsible for a team-high 54.5 total points.

Neither team could pull ahead in the opening set until Stetson turned a tie at 11 into a 15-13 lead as they took advantage of three Wofford errors.  The Terriers fought back and tied the set at 17 highlighted by kills from Amanda Liguori and Rachel Woodlee.  After the Hatters took a 20-18 lead, Wofford again tied the set this time at 20 with a Woodlee kill and an ace by Kelsey Bagwell.  After trading points, Stetson broke a tie at 21 with a 4-2 run to take the first set 25-23.

The second set saw the Terriers jump out to an 8-2 lead before the Hatters tied the set at 11 with a 9-3 run.  Wofford responded with a 3-0 run highlighted by a Bagwell kill and a Styles ace.   Wofford pushed its lead out to 20-14 only to see Stetson trim the deficit to one point, 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22, before the Terriers closed out the set, 25-23, and evened the match with two Woodlee kills.

The third set was all Wofford as they took an early lead, 9-5, and led wire-to-wire with the Hatters coming within two points of the lead three times.  Wofford took the one set lead in the match with a 25-15 set three win.

In the fourth set, Wofford broke a tie at ten with a 5-1 run keyed by two kills from Burnett.  Wofford never slowed downed as they pushed the lead 20-13 en route to a 25-15 win to claim the match victory.

Wofford earned ten more kills than Stetson, 52-42, and held a higher team hitting percentage, .188 to .074.  The Terriers also controlled the net with nine team blocks compared to just five for the Hatters.

Woodlee paced the Terriers with 15 kills on 36 attempts with a .361 hitting percentage.  Burnett followed with 12 kills on 27 attempts and a .370 hitting percentage.  She also added five total blocks, one solo and four block assists, for a total of 18 points.  Bekah Dorsey claimed her third double-double in as many games with 35 assists and 18 digs, while Amanda Liguori collected a team-high 20 digs.  Reagan Styles collected 17 digs and moved into fifth place all-time in the career record books with 1,303 digs. 

The Terriers will travel to Gardner-Webb for a midweek match against the Runnin’ Bulldogs Wednesday for their next match.

Central Arkansas 3, Wofford 0

DELAND, FLA. – The Wofford volleyball team suffered its first loss, 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) of the Clarion Invitational Saturday morning to Central Arkansas.

Wofford fell behind early in the opening set, 10-7, and was never able to cut the lead as the Bears pushed the lead out to 15-9.  Trailing 20-14 Wofford went on a 8-2 run to force a tie at 22.  Amanda Liguori and Reagan Styles had aces during the run.  However, Central Arkansas won three of the final four points to win 25-23.

Central Arkansas broke a tie at nine in the second set with an 11-4 run to pull away 20-13.  The Bears held the lead the seven-point lead as they took the set 25-18.

In the third set, again the Bears took the early lead, 10-7, but Wofford battle back to tie the set at 12.  Wofford took a narrow 14-12 lead, only to see Central Arkansas come back and take a 16-14 lead.  Wofford was never able to force a tie or regain the lead as they fell 25-23.

Wendy Burnett led Wofford with eight kills and a .400 hitting percentage.  Taylor Baird following with six kills.  Bekah Dorsey had 14 assists, and Styles had 12 digs.

Wofford plays its final match of the tournament at 1 p.m. against host Stetson.

Friday Night's Match Against Hampton

Woodlee’s 14 Kills Gives Wofford 3-1 Win Over Hampton

DELAND, FLA. – Rachel Woodlee paced the Terrier attack with 14 kills as the Wofford volleyball team improved to 2-0 in the Clarion Invitational with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-15) win over Hampton Friday night.

With Hampton up one point, 11-10, the Pirates went on a 6-2 run to take a 17-12 lead. Wofford answered with an 8-1 run as the Terriers took a 20-18 lead.  After the Pirates retied the set at 20, Wofford again pushed ahead for a two-point lead, 22-20, but Hampton answered winning five of the last eight points to take the opening set 25-23.

Neither team could break away in the second set, until Hampton broke a tie at 13 with back-to-back points on a kill by Marija Kocevska and a Wofford attack error.  Wofford mounted a 5-2 run as they took an 18-16 lead.  Amanda Liguori and Woodlee had kills during the stretch for the Terriers.  For there it was all Wofford as the Terriers ended the set with a 7-3 run to claim the 25-19 win and even the match.

The third set saw the Terriers take an early 11-8 lead only to have the Pirates rally with a 7-1 run and take a three-point lead, 15-12.  Wofford answered with an 8-2 run to take a three-point lead, 20-17, only to have Hampton tie the set up at 21. After trading points, back-to-back Woodlee kills gave the Terriers the 26-24 win.

Set four was all Wofford as they surged out to a 12-5 lead.  Wofford never had less than a six-point lead, 16-10, but they took the set by ten points, 25-15, to win the match.

Woodlee’s 14 kills and .312 hitting percentage paced the Terriers.  Liguori and Wendy Burnett added 12 kills and 11 kills respectively.  Liguori added her third double-double of the season and 15th of her career with 15 digs.  Bekah Dorsey picked up her second double-double in as many games with 34 assists and 11 digs.  Reagan Styles had a match-high 29 digs.

Duke 3, Samford 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- After falling in the first set, Samford earned a close win in set two to even the match, but the Duke offense came alive in the final two frames as they defeated the Bulldogs, 3-1.

Samford (1-4) earned 46 kills but was plagued by errors, committing 19 which limited their offense to a .216 clip.  For the second-straight game, Michaela Reesor led the team in kills, earning 13, while adding nine digs.  Casey Garvey paced the offense with 37 assists while Alexis Bauer led the defense with 12 digs.  Duke (4-1) had an efficient offense, led by Emily Sklar with 19 kills and a .472 hitting percentage. 

The Blue Devils held a slight edge for most of the beginning of set one, though the Bulldogs never let them get too far ahead.  Down 11-7, Samford scored two to cut the lead in half but Duke came back with a 5-1 run to give them the 16-10 lead.  Down 17-11, Samford scored four unanswered points, including back-to-back service aces by Taylor Chao, to draw within two.  With the Blue Devils up 21-16, the Bulldogs scored three unanswered to draw back within two, down 21-19.  Duke would outscore Samford 4-1 down the stretch however, as they took the first set 25-20.

Play was even to begin the second set, with Duke holding a slight lead but never more than two points.  Samford took its first lead of the set, 12-11, off a Duke attack error.  Samford would not relent the lead for the rest of the set, holding the edge until, up 24-23, Elizabeth Neisler laid down a kill to secure the 25-23 win and even the match at 1-1.

The Blue Devils came out firing in set three, jumping to a 5-0 lead forcing an early Samford timeout.  Duke would continue to build on their lead, eventually moving ahead by nine, up 21-12.  Samford scored four unanswered points to draw within five, down 21-16, forcing a Blue Devil timeout.  Trailing 24-18, Erika Devaughn and Reesor earned back-to-back kills to bring Samford within five, but Duke’s Brittney Balser got a kill to give them the 25-20 win.

Duke got off to another fast start in set four, jumping ahead 5-0 as Samford regrouped with a timeout.  The Blue Devils’ offense stayed hot, building a ten-point margin up 17-7.  Duke was looking for match point, serving up 24-9, and Samford scored a point but the Blue Devils came right back, securing the 3-1 win with the 25-10 tilt in set four.

Samford wraps up its weekend at the Cardinal Classic tonight as they face host team Louisville (5-1) at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Louisville 3, Samford 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- Samford concluded action at the Cardinal Classic Saturday facing the host team, Louisville, in the marquee matchup.  The teams split the first two sets but the home team would hold off the Samford attack in the final two sets to take the 3-1 win.

Samford (1-5) held the 54-50 edge in kills, led by Elizabeth Neisler with 17.  Neisler’s strong performance all weekend, a total of 37 kills, earned her a spot on the Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team.  Katie Murphy was also strong offensively, tallying 12 kills with a .435 clip.  Alexis Bauer led the team in digs with 18 while Taylor Chao was close behind with 17, a single-game best for the redshirt junior.  Louisville (6-1) was led by their Preseason Big East Player of the Year, Lola Arslanbekova, who earned 22 kills and a .429 hitting percentage.

The Samford offense got off to a good start in the first set, with the Bulldogs building a 7-2 lead thanks in part to three kills by Neisler.  Samford maintained the five-point margin through the middle portion of the set, leading 15-10 as Louisville took a timeout.  The Cardinal came out of the break with three quick consecutive points, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout of their own.  Louisville continued the comeback, eventually tying the set at 15-15.  Up 21-20, a kill by Lauren Hutchinson forced a Louisville timeout, but the Cardinal would charge back with five unanswered points to come back and win the set, 25-22.

Louisville earned the first point of set two and the teams would trade points evenly in the early going.  Louisville began to widen the gap a bit, pulling ahead 16-12 to force a Bulldog timeout. The Cardinal came out of the break with a 5-2 run as Samford took yet another timeout.  Louisville earned possession up 24-14 and looked to end the set.  Samford got two points off two attack errors but the Cardinal’s Carly Sahagian earned a kill on the next rally to give them the 25-15 win.

The teams traded points back-and-forth for the majority of the third frame.  Louisville’s largest lead of the set was only three points, as Samford consistently fought toe-to-toe with the host team.  Samford would tie the match up at 18-18 and then take the 19-18 lead off a Louisville ball-handling error, forcing the home team to take a timeout.  Down 22-21, Murphy fired in back-to-back kills to give Samford the 23-22 edge and force a late Cardinal timeout.  A kill by Neisler would give Samford possession on set point and another kill by Neisler would seal the 25-22 victory.

The home team jumped ahead to a 10-5 lead as Samford looked to regroup with a timeout.  Leading by the same margin later, up 12-7, a kill and a Samford attack error stretched their lead to seven points.  Louisville would hold off the Samford attack as they maintained the score gap, reaching the 20-point mark with a seven-point lead, up 20-13.  The Bulldogs would only score two more point for the remainder of the set, as the host team powered through to a 25-15 set-four victory and a 3-1 match victory.

Samford will play its first home match of the 2012 season on Wednesday, Sept. 5, hosting North Alabama at 7 p.m. CT.  The following weekend, Samford heads to Atlanta, Ga., for the Georgia State Tournament where they will face Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 7 (7 p.m. ET) and then South Alabama (10 a.m. ET) and Mercer (5 p.m. ET) the following day.

Missouri 3, Appalachian State 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Appalachian State University volleyball dropped its final match of the 2012 Lipscomb Invitational, 3-0, to Missouri on Saturday at Allen Arena.

The Mountaineers (1-6) ended the weekend with a 1-2 record while the Tigers (5-1) finished the weekend with a 3-0 record and did not drop a set in defeating the Apps 25-13, 25-13 and 25-10.

App State was able to grab early leads in both the first and third sets, but Missouri dominated the vast majority of each set to pick up its third-straight win.

After snagging a 2-0 lead in the first set, the Mountaineers fell behind after the Tigers mounted a 5-0 run and forced the Apps to call a timeout. Despite the stoppage in play, Mizzou did not miss a beat as it built a lead as large as 10 points late in the set to grab a 25-13 first-set win.

The second set would play out much the same as Missouri strung together several impressive runs after building a an early lead and, after jumping out in front 14-4, never led by less than seven points en route to another 25-13 set win.

The Tigers dominated the third and final set of the contest, using a an 11-0 run to take a 13-2 lead, as they led by as many as 19 points (22-3) and were never really in danger of surrendering the lead.

Appalachian was led on offense by Dalton Tolliver’s (Ortonville, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) 10 kills while Courtney Rhein (York, Pa./Eastern York) had a match-high 19 digs. Paige Brown (Overland Park, Kan./St. James Academy) finished with a team-best 13 assists.

Missouri was paced by Taylor Simpson’s 11 kills and Lisa Henning finished with five total blocks. Molly Kreklow led all players with 30 assists.

The Apps hit just .191 on the attack while the Tigers posted a hitting percentage of .370 and finished with eight blocks to Appalachian’s four.

App State continues tournament play this coming weekend at the VCU Invitational where it will face Georgetown, Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth.

MATCH NOTES: The Mountaineers dropped to 174-163 all-time in regular season tournaments... Appalachian is 31-20 in tournament matches played in the state of Tennessee... Rhein increased her career dig total to 1,438... Tolliver notched double-digits in kills for the third-straight match... she has 10 or more kills in five of her first seven matches this year.

St. Francis (Pa.) 3, The Citadel 2

Radford 3, The Citadel 2

Radford, Va. – The Citadel volleyball team extended both Radford and St. Francis (Pa.) to the limits in the second day of action at the Radford University Tournament, but was unable to complete a victory in their second in-season tournament. The Bulldogs suffered a tough five-set loss in the morning session and returned to the court four hours later to fall just shy of St. Francis (Pa.) by scores of 19-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13.

Sophomore outside hitter Ise d'Angelo finished with 13 kills, eight digs and a .229 attack percentage for the Dogs. She was joined up front by the combination of Lauren Hurt and Bailey Kernodle, who capped off the loss with six kills, respectively. Amanda Rudnik led The Citadel with 14 digs, while all-tournament selection Jessica Maxwell assisted on a team-high five blocks.

The Red Flashes (3-3) were led by the efforts of Hannah Kutny, who finished with 20 kills and a .385 attack percentage. Also instrumental in the St. Francis (Pa.) success were Elizabeth Williams (14 kills), Lauren Wingard (13 kills) and Chelsea Easter (10 kills). Williams added 15 digs and Wingard tacked on 12 digs to complete their double-double performances.

The Citadel established control early in the opening set, jumping out to an 11-7 lead behind and attack error by Breanna Kochinsky. St. Francis (Pa.) allowed just one point in the next six, making for a 12-12 tie. With Maxwell in serve, the Dogs regained a small advantage, 15-12, and increased the lead to 22-17 following a d'Angelo kill. A service ace by Maxwell coupled with an attack error and a Kernodle kill completed the 25-19 victory.

St. Francis (Pa.) answered with a strong second set, battling to a 10-10 tie on a kill by Williams. The Red Flash put together a 10-3 run, including three kills by Kutny, to assume a 20-13 lead. Despite kills by Hurt and d'Angelo, The Citadel fell in the second set 25-16.

After falling behind 10-3 early in the third set, due in large part to eight points with Williams in serve, The Citadel were able to adjust and force six errors and trim the lead to five. Continuing to push the Red Flash, a series of kills by Mikaela Tracy and d'Angelo made for a 20-16 score. D'Angelo sent three of the Cadets next four kills past an unbalanced Red Flash defense to pull the team even at 22-22. Hurt gave

The Citadel its first lead since the fourth point of the match, and after two errors the Dogs won the 25-23 win.

The Red Flash got off to a sound start in the fourth set, jumping in front 11-6 on a series of Citadel attack errors. Leading by four, St. Francis capitalized on four straight points to move in front 18-11. The Bulldogs retaliated with consecutive unforced errors and a service ace from d'Angelo to pull within five, drawing as close as 21-20 following an unforced error by SFU's Lauren Wingard. The Red Flash again responded with key kills, this time by Maria Cup and Kutny, to capture the set 25-21.

The fifth set began in similar fashion to that of the fourth, as St. Francis (Pa.) amassed a 10-6 lead behind a pair of points by Alanna Blenkam. Again, The Citadel proved resilient service aces by Tracy that made for an 11-11 tie. Three consecutive kills by Williams, Wingard and Kutny moved St. Francis in front, 14-11, as the Red Flash completed the match victory on a strike by Cup.

Lauren Hurt finished with 16 kills and Ise d'Angelo added 14 kills as The Citadel front row accounted for 67 team kills, but Radford earned a tough five-set victory over the Bulldogs by scores of 19-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-23 and 15-11.

Teammates Jessica Maxwell and Bailey Kernodle also reached double-figures in  kills with 13 and 10, respectively. The Bulldogs (0-5) had a solid defensive showing from Emily Dalton (20 digs) and Mikaela Tracy (17 digs). Hurt finished with a match-high six assisted blocks to lead a Citadel unit that had 22 on the contest.

Radford (4-2) took advantage of double-digit kill outings by Rachel Wiechecki (15), Savannah Cantrell (10) and Emma Deininger (10). Five Highlanders, led by Katelyn Meeks (13 digs), Jena Braden (12 digs) and Emily Carlin (12 digs), topped the team in digs. Cantrell also chimed in with four assisted blocks.

The Citadel battled through five ties in the opening frame to reach a climatic 14-14 tie after kills by Hurt and Radford's Emily Hayes. D'Angelo followed with three kills over the next four points to provide a small cushion, 18-15. The Citadel continued to pile on the points as two kills from Maxwell and one each from Hurt and Amanda Rudnik opened a 24-17 lead. Radford briefly countered with a pair of kills by Deininger before Tracy drove home the clinching 25-19 Citadel win.

The Highlanders responded by assuming an early 8-4 lead in the second set, behind a kill by Cantrell.

They managed to maintain the four-point cushion, even pushing the advantage to five on a pair of occasions, before a series of points provided Radford with a 21-14 advantage. Hurt drove home a kill for the Bulldogs and following an unforced error and a Rachael Farrell kill, The Citadel climbed within 21-16 of the lead. Continuing to apply pressure, Maxwell drove home a kill and put used her service game to knot the game at 23-23. Two points later, tied at 24, a Citadel error and Cantrell kill gave the Highlanders a 26-24 win.

The third set was also a battle for supremacy as Radford assumed an early 12-7 lead. The Citadel hung close by forcing errors through the service game of Tracy and Maxwell to trim the score to 17-13.

Trailing by five, 20-15, Rachel Keefer gave the Dogs offense a boost with six of the next seven points to pull even at 21-21. The two teams reached a 25-25 tie before a kill by Maxwell coupled with an attack error by Savanna Burton gave The Citadel a 27-25 win.

Radford, facing a must-win set, fought hard through a 9-9 tie to take a brief two point led. Trailing 18-15 at the midpoint of the match, kills by d'Angelo coupled with a pair of Highlander attack errors with the sophomore in serve, drew the Dogs within one. The game reached an eventual 20-20 tie before consecutive kills by Jesse Miedema and Wiechecki opened up a two-point Radford lead. The Highlanders scored three of the next six points to send the match into a decisive fifth set with a 25-23 win.

The Citadel exploded with an offensive surge in the early stages of the fifth set, assuming a 9-4 lead, keyed by three kills by Hurt. Radford responded seven unanswered points with Wiechecki in serve to move in front 11-4. The Highlanders took advantage of three Bulldog unforced errors in that span and grabbed momentum in the process. The Highlanders allowed just two points among the final five of the set to complete the match clinching 15-11 victory.

Ohio 3, Western Carolina 0

Kentucky 3, Western Carolina 0

Athens, Ohio - Western Carolina falls to Ohio and No. 10 ranked Kentucky in the second day of competition at the Baymont Invitational in the Ohio University Convocation Center Saturday. Sophomore Caitlin Piechota was named to the Baymont Invitational All-Tournament team for her play this weekend. It is the second straight tournament that Piechota has received such honor.

WCU fell in its first match against the host team, Ohio, being swept 3-0 (23-25, 15-25, 12-25) despite leading in every set. Both teams came out of the gates alternating points, with neither team stretching out the lead until the Catamounts went up by three at 10-7. WCU maintained the lead throughout the set, leading as late as 23-21 before the Bobcats went on a 5-0 run to take the set.

In the second set, WCU led by as many as four at 13-9, before the Bobcats would again mount a comeback to tie the set at 14. Western would score only one more time on a kill by Caitlin Piechota with Ohio U. going on a 9-0 run to win the second.

The third set would stay close up until the halfway point with the Catamounts hanging around being down by two at 12-10 before Ohio would take the set and the match, 25-12.

Caitlin Piechota again led the Catamounts as the only one to reach double digit kills with 13. Senior Abbey Scroggins and Jordan Timmermann each had four. Libero Morgan Cochran was the only Catamount over 10 digs with 12. WCU only notched four blocks total as Piechota had two.

In the night game against Kentucky, points came at a premium for the Catamounts with the Wildcats controlling the tempo for the first two sets, winning 25-8 and 25-15.

WCU came out strong after the break holding the nation’s tenth-ranked team within three points through the entire set, leading 20-18 late in the set, but it would be the last time the Catamounts would lead in the set. Kentucky came back to win, 25-23.

Western Carolina’s offense was spread around evenly against Kentucky with Nicole Ford, Jordan Timmermann and Caitlin Piechota all having six kills. Tina Nazario and Cally Pfeiffer scattered 20 assists total with Nazario dishing out 11 assists and Pfeiffer 9.

The Catamounts go back on the road Tuesday as WCU travels to UNC Asheville for its first mid-week match against the mountain-foe at 7:00 pm before going to North Carolina State this weekend for its third consecutive weekend tournament. The N.C. State Courtyard Midtown Invitational will feature the Wolfpack, Central Michigan and Campbell. GameTracker for Tuesday’s match will be available on CatamountSports.com.

Clemson 3, Chattanooga 0

Charlotte 3, Chattanooga 0

Clemson, S.C. - The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team fell to 3-3 on Saturday with losses to Clemson and Charlotte in Clemson, S.C., at the Clemson Classic. Chattanooga finished 0-3 in the tournament with a loss to East Tennessee on Friday.

Despite coming away winless at the Classic, UTC senior libero Paula Passmore was named to the Clemson Classic All-Tournament team. The honor is Passmore's second all-tournament selection of the season.

Chattanooga was unable to contain the host Tigers in the first match Saturday morning. Clemson topped the Mocs 3-0 with set scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18, respectively. Freshman Sarah Batterton led the UTC offense with eight kills along with a .273 attacking percentage. Both senior Christina Teter and freshman Julimar Alvarado earned seven kills, and junior setter Bridget Camacho was the Mocs' assists leader with 26. Passmore collected a team-best 18 digs.

UTC claimed the first point of the first set, but the Tigers tied the score at 1-1 and took the set's only lead change with the second point. Chattanooga pulled the score within one with a 7-6 Clemson lead, but the hosting team ran away with it late.

The Mocs put up a good fight in the second frame as they tied the score a match-high five times and forced a lead change. Chattanooga again scored the first point and led by as much as four points early in the set, but Clemson took control after tying the score at 21-21 and scoring the final four of the frame.

Chattanooga looked to force a fourth set with a win in the third, but it wouldn't happen as the Tigers never found themselves behind in the frame. UTC went on an 11-5 run late, but, despite the last-minute effort, Clemson came away with the match-point.

UTC then had to face Charlotte in its final match of the Clemson Classic. Looking to come away with its first win of the Classic, Chattanooga was unable to top the 49ers in a 3-0 loss. Teter was the Mocs' offensive leader with seven kills and a .333 attack percentage. Camacho again led UTC with 28 assists and Passmore collected 17 digs while freshman Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.) came up with 12.

The Mocs came out fighting in the first set, forcing the 49ers to reach 29 points to take the frame. The back-and-forth set saw the scored tied 15 and eight lead changes before Charlotte eventually took a 29-27 set win.

Chattanooga fell 25-19 in the second set while keeping on the coattails of the 49ers, and set three proved to be the final frame with an identical score.

With a .500 record, the Mocs return home Tuesday to take on Alabama A&M at Maclellan Gym at 7 p.m. (E.D.T.). The Bulldogs come into the weeknight match in Chattanooga with an 0-7 record with losses to Belmont, Northern Colorado, Alabama, Evansville, Northern Kentucky and Morehead State.