Georgia Southern 3, The Citadel 0

STATESBORO, Ga. – Kym Coley recorded 12 kills, and Kayla Henderson added 11 as Georgia Southern hit .389 as a team to sweep The Citadel 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-13) in Southern Conference volleyball action Friday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse. It was the fifth straight win for the Eagles (12-5, 3-0 SoCon).

Moriah Bellissimo posted eight digs, surpassing 1,000 for her Georgia Southern career, to go along with six kills and four blocks.

Meredith Paskert also posted seven kills for the Eagles, and Kate Van Dyke added five kills and 33 assists. Alexandra Beecher recorded a match-high 21 digs.

Rachael Farrell led The Citadel (2-15, 0-3 SoCon) with eight kills.

The Eagles tallied 49 kills on 95 swings while holding the Bulldogs to an .067 hitting percentage as a team. The Eagles posted six team blocks as Crysten Curry and Coley had three each. Curry also added five kills and two digs.

The victory for Georgia Southern sets up a showdown of the two undefeated teams in the SoCon South Division as the Eagles host College of Charleston in Hanner Fieldhouse tomorrow. Game time is set for 1 p.m., and tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth 12-and-under.

Elon 3, Western Carolina 0

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team picked up its first Southern Conference win of the season in a sweep of Western Carolina, 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-15), tonight, Sept. 28, in the Ramsey Center. The Phoenix improves to 8-10 on the season and 1-2 in the SoCon, while the Catamounts fall to 5-13 (1-2 SoCon).

Freshman Megan Gravley recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs. Senior Celia Rose Eddy and sophomore Chanelle Smith each finished with nine kills. Senior Ali Deatsch led the Phoenix on defense after talling 23 digs.

The first set opened with a 9-6 Catamount lead before two kills by Eddy, one by C. Smith and an ace by Maggie Reichard helped the Phoenix to a 7-2 run to take a two-point advantage, 13-11. After WCU tied the set at 13-all, the maroon and gold scored four unanswered off kills by Gravley and a block by Ana Nicksic and Kris Harris to regain the lead, 17-13, and force Western’s second timeout of the set. The Catamounts were able to even the score again at 20-all, but Elon scored five of the last seven points to win the first set, 25-22.

Down by two in the second set, 9-7, four straight kills by Gravley and a Catamount error put the Phoenix up by three, 12-9. With the maroon and gold holding a slight one-point advantage, 13-12, Elon went on a 4-0 run to take an advantage of five, 17-12. WCU put together a run of five to tie the set at 17-all before the Phoenix made another run with three straight off two kills by C. Smith and a block by Catherine Head to lead 20-17. With the set tied at 25-all, the maroon and gold captured the final two points to take a 27-25 victory and grab a 2-0 match lead.

With the third set tied at three-all, the Phoenix put together a 6-1 run off kills and blocks by Head and Gravley and an ace by Head for a 9-4 lead. Elon moved to a 10-point advantage, 18-8, after a kill by C. Smith capped a 4-1 run. The Phoenix held a 12-point lead, 22-10, before four unanswered by the Catamounts forced an Elon timeout. Out of the timeout, Elon scored three of the final four points off two kills by Gravley and one by Danielle Smith to earn the set win, 25-15, and the match sweep.

Samford 3, Chattanooga 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ---- Samford volleyball continued its hot streak Friday, sweeping Chattanooga 3-0 in the Bulldogs’ first SoCon road contest of the season.

Samford (11-6, 3-0 SoCon) hit .376 as a team and were again led by SoCon Offensive Player of the Week Lauren Hutchinson, who tallied a season-high 16 kills on 27 swings with only one error for a .556 average.  Fellow middle blocker Katie Murphy also had a good offensive game with ten kills and a .588 clip.  Casey Garvey tallied 35 assists while Alexis Bauer led the defensive effort with 14 digs.

Chattanooga (7-11, 1-2 SoCon) struggled offensively, hitting .056 with 27 kills and 21 errors.  SoCon Defensive Player of the Week Paula Passmore led all players with 15 digs while Sarah Batterton was their offensive leader with eight kills on 16 swings.

Garvey earned the first point of the match off a service ace that caromed off the top of the net and the momentum stayed in the Bulldogs’ favor, as Samford built a 9-3 lead to force an early timeout by the Mocs.  Samford continued to roll out of the break, going on a 10-3 run to move ahead by 13 points, 19-6.  The Bulldogs reached set point, up 24-9, but Chattanooga hit a hard attack down the left line to gain possession and end the set.  The rally was short-lived however, as a Chattanooga blocking error immediately after gave Samford the 25-10 set one win.

The Mocs opened with possession in set two and kept it close, as the Bulldogs’ lead steadily narrowed until Chattanooga tied it at 9-9.  The Mocs took their first lead of the match, up 13-12, but Samford quickly regained the lead as Murphy slammed down an overpass at the net to put the Bulldogs up 16-14, forcing Chattanooga to regroup with a timeout.  Samford extended its lead with a quick 4-1 run as the Mocs burned yet another timeout, now trailing 20-15.  The Mocs would earn two points late in the set but the deficit would prove too large as Samford eventually won, 25-17 to move up 2-0 in the match.

Set three was another close contest as neither team was able to build more than a two-point lead early.  Samford earned its largest lead of the set so far, up 12-9 off a kill by Elizabeth Neisler, as Chattanooga took a timeout.  The Bulldogs maintained the slim lead, eventually stretching it to five, up 20-15, as the Mocs took a timeout.  Samford reached match point, up 24-17, allowing the Mocs to score one point but ultimately sealing it with a hard kill by Hutchinson to make it 25-18, securing the 3-0 match sweep.