Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Appalachian State University volleyball dropped its Southern Conference opener to Chattanooga by a 3-0 final on Friday at Maclellan Gym.

The Mountaineers (4-11, 0-1 SoCon) were swept by the Mocs (7-9, 1-0) by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-21. Chattanooga jumped out to an early lead in each set and never trailed en route to its first win over App State in almost two years.

The Mocs set the tone early by racing out to a 9-2 lead in the first set and held the seven-point edge throughout the early stages before the Mountaineers rallied to cut the deficit to 18-15. It would not be enough, however, as Chattanooga was able to stave off the comeback attempt on its way to a 25-18 first-set victory.

In the second set, Appalachian was able to keep it close throughout much of the early-going, but a late 8-1 run by the Mocs would be too much as Chattanooga took a 25-16 second-set win.

The third and final set turned out to be more of the same as the Mocs build a 7-1 lead early, then held back a furious rally by the Mountaineers late in the set to pick up the sweep.

Lauren Gray led the Mountaineers with eight kills while recording six block assists. Dalton Tolliver tallied seven kills while Lindsey Sauls and Jacqui Spurgeon each finished with six.

Paige Brown posted a double-double with 16 assists and 13 digs while sister, Lauren Brown, notched 10 assists, three digs and an ace.

Julimar Alvarado and Kristina Teter led the Mocs with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while Bridget Camacho tallied a match-high 31 assists. Paula Passmore finished with a team-best 23 digs.

App State struggled offensively, hitting just .056 on the attack while Chattanooga notched a .205 attack percentage. The Mountaineers did finish with the edge in blocks as they tallied six.

Appalachian State returns to action tomorrow when it faces defending SoCon champion Samford at 8 p.m. at the Pete Hanna Center.

Georgia Southern 3, Wofford 1

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Meredith Paskert tallied 16 kills, and the Eagles hit .309 as a team to open the Southern Conference portion of their schedule with a 3-1 volleyball victory over Wofford Friday night in Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Paskert hit .333 and added three digs and a pair of service aces for the Eagles (10-5, 1-0 SoCon), while Moriah Bellissimo collected 13 kills, 15 digs and two blocks. Jamie DeRatt posted 11 kills and 17 digs, and Kate Van Dyke had 46 assists and 10 digs.

Rachel Woodlee led four Terriers in double-figure kills with 13, and Amanda Liguori posted 11 kills and 13 digs. Wendy Burnett and Taylor Baird each had 12 kills for Wofford (10-4, 0-1 SoCon).

Leading 2-1 in the match after Wofford took the third set, Georgia Southern used a 7-1 run to pull away in the fourth. Paskert keyed the run with a kill and an ace, and Enjoli Johnson added a kill as the Eagles turned an 8-7 lead into a seven-point cushion. The margin never dipped below four points for the rest of the set.

The Eagles had 20 kills with just one error to hit .679 in the first set, but Wofford hung with Georgia Southern until late in the game.

With the score tied 19-19, Bellissimo recorded the last three points on kills in a 6-1 GSU run.

Trailing 17-14 in the second frame, Georgia Southern used a 4-1 run to tie the score at 18-18. Lauren LaRocque and Bellissimo had kills during the stretch. Then with the score tied 19-19, Georgia Southern went on a 5-1 run to take control. Van Dyke and Kym Coley combined for a block to start the spurt, and Paskert and DeRatt added kills.

The Terriers turned the tables in the third set, finishing the frame with a 6-1 run to win it 25-22. Trailing 22-19, Wofford benefitted from three consecutive Eagle misplays before Woodlee put down two kills and Burnett added another.

Samford 3, Western Carolina 0

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford opened conference play on a very strong note Friday night as they dispatched Western Carolina in sweeping fashion, earning a 3-0 victory.

Samford (9-6) was extremely efficient on both sides of the ball.  The offense hit .326 and only committed 10 errors in 95 swings.  SoCon Offensive Player of the Week Lauren Hutchinson continued to impress, leading the attack with 12 kills and a .571 clip.  Michaela Reesor and Erika Devaughn combined for 16 kills on both ends of the net while Casey Garvey earned her third double-double of the season with 34 assists and 12 digs.  Samford’s defense up front was solid as well, as the team earned one solo block and 12 block assists, as Meitz led the team with a personal-best six blocks.

Western Carolina (4-12) struggled on offense, committing 21 errors to limit their attack percentage to .069.  Jordan Timmerman led the team with seven kills while Morgan Cochran led the defense with 11 digs.

The Catamounts earned the first point of the opening set, but that would turn out to be their only lead in the entire frame.  Samford answered that opening point with a 7-2 run, forcing an early timeout by the visitors.  Up 10-6, Samford rattled off five-consecutive points, including two service aces by Hutchinson, to extend the lead to nine, up 15-6.  Each team would score five points as, up 20-11, Alexis Bauer knocked in a service ace to give the Bulldogs the double-digit lead and force another Western Carolina timeout.  Samford reached set point, up 24-13, but Western Carolina managed to keep the set alive with back-to-back points.  The comeback was not to be however, as Hutchinson dunked home the deciding kill to give Samford the 25-15 set one victory.

Set two was the most deciding game of the match, as the Bulldogs got off to a quick 5-0 start including two service aces by Garvey.  Samford stretched the lead to 8-1 as Devaughn and Meitz paired up for a block, forcing the visitors to regroup with a timeout.  The Bulldogs moved up by ten, 15-5, and Reesor extended it to 11 with a kill to put Samford up 16-5.  Samford reached set point with a 13-point lead, up 24-11, but a quick kill by Western Carolina briefly staved off the Bulldog attack.  Samford sealed it on the next rally as Hutchinson again closed the set with a kill to give the Bulldogs the 25-12 win in set two.

Play was more even to begin the third frame as Western Carolina managed to grab a lead, up 5-4 early.  The teams traded points back-and-forth until, tied at 11-11, Samford knocked in four points in a row to move up 15-11 and force a Catamount timeout.  Western Carolina would draw within four, down 17-13, but the Bulldogs would not allow them to score another point for the remainder of the set as Samford capped the match with a stellar 8-0 run to win the deciding frame 25-13 and complete the 3-0 sweep.

Furman 3, Davidson 0

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Senior Natalie Braun recorded a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs as the Furman volleyball team opened the Southern Conference season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20) victory over Davidson Friday in Alley Gymnasium.  With the win, the Paladins extended their home winning streak to 19 matches.

Following a 7-7 tie to open the first set, the Paladins connected on four-straight points, sparked by the service of freshman Caitlyn Scioscia.  The Wildcats remained within two points of Furman throughout the second half of the set until the Paladins put together back-to-back points off a kill from Braun and a Davidson hitting error to go ahead, 20-16.  After a Paladin hitting error, Furman notched five of the next six points for a 25-18 set victory.

The teams battled through six ties in the beginning of set two before Furman took a 13-11 lead off a service ace by junior Elle Ross and a Wildcat attack error.  The Paladins maintained the two-point lead until Davidson’s Hannah Rau tallied a consecutive block and kill to tie the match at 17.  Furman answered by reeling off five-straight points, including a replay of a point argued by Paladin head coach Michelle Young.  The replay ignited the Furman team, who claimed the set’s final three points for a 25-18 win in the set.

With the score tied at 11 in the third set, the Paladins went on a 10-4 run to build a 21-15 advantage, but the Wildcats responded with a 4-0 run of their own, cutting the lead to two points at 21-19.  Furman freshman Payton Frappier entered the match to serve and connected on back-to-back service aces to swing the momentum toward the Paladins, who held on for a 25-20 set win to seal the victory.

Furman junior Christina Dorismond hit .350 with 10 kills, while senior Chandler Ambrester posted 11 kills and nine digs in the match-up.  Ross collected a team-high 20 digs, and Frappier led the team with three service aces.

Davidson (4-7, 0-1 SoCon) was led by Tindall Sewell, who hit .353 with seven kills.  Molly Crenshaw paced the Wildcat defense with 16 digs.