Furman 3, Western Carolina 1Cullowhee, N.C. – Behind one of its best offensive performances of the year, Furman volleyball took down SoCon-rival Western Carolina, 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon. The Paladins now sit at 9-8 on the year (5-1 SoCon), while the Catamounts fell to 14-6 (4-2 SoCon).
Christina Dorismond led the Paladins offensively with 18 kills and a season-high .484 hitting percentage. Annie Bierman also recorded 18 kills, which is a career high, while adding 17 digs for her third double-double of the season. Andrea Fisher and Jo Wilks each also recorded double-doubles, as Fisher added 17 kills and 17 digs, and Wilks dished out 62 assists and totaled 12 digs. Ashton Gregory was the final Paladin with double-digit kills with 17. Katie Harrell added a season-high 17 digs and Elle Ross also added 24 digs.
As a team, the Paladins hit .237 on the day and put down 72 kills. They also totaled 67 assists, 97 digs, four service aces and six team blocks. The 97 digs are a season-high for the Paladins, and the 72 kills are second best on the season.
Furman took an early 5-3 lead in set one, before Western Carolina was able to tie the set at 6. The teams traded points until, with the score tied at 9, Furman went on a 3-0 run, sparked by kills from Annie Bierman and Ashton Gregory to force a Western Carolina timeout. Out of the timeout, Furman got a service ace from Jo Wilks to spark a Paladin run to open their biggest lead of the set at 17-12. Western Carolina then went on a 5-1 run of its own to cut the Furman lead to one at 20-19 and force a Paladin timeout. After the timeout, Western Carolina continued their offensive play and regained the lead at 22-20 to force a second Furman timeout. The Paladins cut the lead to one at 22-21, but the Catamounts again went on a 3-0 run to win set one, 25-21, and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Paladins jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in set two behind the serving of Andrea Fisher and kills by Fisher, Bierman and Gregory to force a Western Carolina timeout. Following the TO, Furman went on a 5-4 run to push their lead to 10-6. Western Carolina cut the Furman lead to 10-7, but the Paladins then went on a 5-0 run, forcing Western Carolina to take their second timeout of the set. The Paladins pushed their lead to 20-10, their largest of the day, but Western Carolina cut the lead to 8 at 22-14. The Paladins then rattled off three-straight points to take set two, 25-14, and tie the match at one. Furman hit .333 in set two and recorded 21 kills as a team.
Western Carolina took an early 3-1 lead in set three, but the Paladins were able to use kills by Dorismond and capitalize on WCU errors to take a 9-7 lead. Furman stretched their lead to three at 10-7, but Western Carolina went on a 5-1 run to take an 11-10 lead. The Paladins battled back, however to regain the lead and stretch it to two at 16-14. After a Western Carolina kills, Furman got a kill from Christina Dorismond and a service ace by Caitlyn Scioscia to push their lead to 18-15 and force a WCU timeout. Furman then used a block by Jo Wilks, a block and kill by Ashton Gregory and a service ace from Andrea Fisher to push their lead to 21-17 and force WCU to call another timeout. The Paladins were able to hold off the Catamount rally and win set three, 25-21, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The teams traded points in set four until, with the score tied at 7, Furman took a 10-7 lead. Western Carolina battled back to tie the score at 10, before the teams again began trading points. Furman got consecutive blocks from Andrea Fisher and Ashton Gregory to take an 18-16 lead in the set at force a Catamount timeout. Western Carolina again battled back to tie the set at 18, then again at 19, but Furman got kills from Gregory and Fisher to stretch their lead back to two (21-19) and force another WCU timeout. The Paladins were able to fend off another Catamount rally to win set four, 25-21, and take the match, 3-1.
Davidson 3, Chattanooga 1DAVIDSON, N.C. – Three players finished in double figures in kills as Davidson hit .228 as a team to top the Chattanooga Mocs 3-1 in Southern Conference action Sunday afternoon at Belk Arena. The Wildcats (12-8, 3-3 SoCon) took the match in set scores of 27-25, 25-15, 14-25 and 25-15.
Caroline Brown had a double-double with a team-high 15 kills and 20 digs, hitting .293 with a pair of aces. Taylor Pisel also had a solid outing, hitting .296 with 12 kills, a block and two block assists. Hannah Rau was the third player in double digits with 11 kills and a career-high 19 digs. Emily Franklin just missed being a part of that group, hitting .389 with nine kills. Franklin also led the blocking effort with a solo block and four block assists as the ‘Cats put up 8.0 team blocks.
In addition to assisting on 48 of Davidson’s 58 kills, Mikayla Derochie added five kills of her own to hit a team-best .714. Derochie also posted a pair of blocks, while Tindall Sewell chipped in a solo block and a block assist to go with six kills. Anastasia Owen led four players in double-figures with 22 kills, followed by Brown (20) and Rau (19) with Derochie’s 11 dug balls rounding out the group. Owen also assisted on four kills while Morgan Shannon came up with an ace and a pair of assists.
Briana Reid’s 14 kills led a Chattanooga offense that hit .186. Kendall Sexton added 10 kills and led the way with a .400 attacking percentage. Catherine Chason and Anne Bachmann split the setting duties with 23 and 19 assists, respectively. Melissa Green led the defense with 22 digs, while Sexton also played a large role with four block assists.
The Mocs took a 4-1 lead with the help of three early kills in the first set. The Wildcats scored three straight to overcome the deficit, and the two teams would trade points to a 15-15 tie. A pair of kills by Pisel combined with a UTC error gave Davidson a 21-18 lead, but this time it was the Mocs would come from behind to knot the score at 22-22. The Cats and the Mocs traded points once again before kills from Franklin and Pisel gave Davidson the 27-25 win as they took a 1-0 match lea.
After a close start, the Wildcats went on to dominate the second set. Coming out of an 8-8 tie, Davidson went on to score six straight on a trio of kills from Rau to take a 19-10 lead. Though the teams traded scores from that point, it was too late for a Moc comeback as Franklin ended the set with a kill to give Davidson the 25-15 win for a 2-0 match lead.
It was the Mocs turn for a strong start in set three as the rolled to a 9-3 lead. Four straight points for UTC made it a 9-point advantage at 15-6. The Mocs would go on two separate 3-0 runs to make it a 23-14 lead before back-to-back kills handed them the set, 25-14, though the Wildcats would still lead 2-1 in the match. The Wildcats held a slim advantage in the fourth set, taking a 13-10 lead on a UTC error.
Five straight attacking errors on the Mocs, in between kills from Franklin and Brown, meant a 7-0 run for Davidson that brought them a 22-14 lead. Chattanooga came up with a kill to end the run, then committed three more straight errors to hand the 25-15 set win to the Wildcats as they took the match 3-1.