Georgia Southern 3, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Kym Coley and Nicole Jeschelnik each had 14 kills to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-21) Southern Conference volleyball victory over Western Carolina Saturday night.

Coley only took 21 swings and hit .667 for the match, and Jeschelnik added six digs, two blocks and an ace. Jamie DeRatt tallied 13 kills and 11 digs, while Katie Bange finished with 10 kills. Alexandra Beecher had 19 digs, and Katalin Minnerly recorded 44 assists.

Jordan Timmermann led Western Carolina (15-7, 5-3) with 11 kills, and Morgan Cochran had 20 digs. Caitlin Piechota finished with nine kills and nine digs.

The Catamounts opened the match with a 6-2 run, but Jeschelnik contributed three kills and DeRatt added two in an 8-2 run for the Eagles (19-3, 7-1). Georgia Southern went on to take a 21-16 lead on a Jeschelnik kill, but this time, it was the Catamounts’ turn for a run.

Three hitting errors by the Eagles aided a 7-2 spurt for Western Carolina, and the Catamounts tied the score 23-23 on a block by Timmermann and Addy George. The Eagles had three set points but could not close it out until Jeschelnik and Coley got consecutive kills for the 28-26 win.

The second set was similar to the first with Western Carolina taking an early lead and the Eagles storming back. An 8-2 run, capped by a DeRatt kill, broke an 11-11 tie and gave GSU a 19-13 cushion. Western Carolina got to within two at 22-20, but Jeschelnik answered with a kill and the Eagles went on to take the set 25-21.

Leading 6-5 in the third set, the Eagles used a 5-1 run, aided by kills from Jeschelnik and DeRatt and a block by Crysten Curry, to open a five-point lead. The Catamounts came back to make it a two-point margin at 13-11, but the Eagles ran off five points in a row to open a seven-point advantage en route to a 25-21 win.

 

Samford 3, UNCG 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- On an emotional night at the Pete Hanna Center where Samford Volleyball paid tribute to their former teammate, Caroline Neisler, Samford played one of its best matches of the season in a solid 3-0 win over UNCG.

Samford (14-9, 5-3 SoCon) wore commemorative orange jerseys tonight, the color for Leukemia awareness to honor Neisler’s memory.  The jerseys were auctioned off following the match, with all proceeds from the auction and other donations going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and local hospitals.

Samford harnessed its emotions towards an incredible .434 team hitting percentage, beating last night’s total of .371 as the best against any SoCon team so far this season.  UNCG (11-10, 4-4 SoCon) hit a respectable .322 as a team, but could not contend up front as the Bulldogs outpaced them in kills (53-36) and blocks (5-2).

In only her junior season, Michaela Reesor became the 11th player in Samford history to surpass 1,000 career kills, finishing the night with 15 and a career total of 1,003.  She is the second Samford player to break the career milestone this season, following Katie Murphy on Sept. 14 at Kennesaw State.  Murphy earned 12 kills and three blocks in tonight’s match while freshman Gabbi Greenwald had a career night with 13 kills and a .478 hitting percentage.

UNCG was briefly out in front in set one, 5-4, before the Bulldogs quickly moved it back in their favor thanks to a 4-0 run to move ahead 8-5.  UNCG eventually closed the gap, drawing within one trailing 9-8, but Samford answered right back with five-consecutive points forcing the Spartans to take a timeout down 14-8.  The teams traded points back and forth until a 4-0 run by Samford gave them a double-digit lead, 23-13, as the Bulldogs eventually won the set by the same margin, 25-15.

Samford started set two on a roll, moving ahead 6-0 before UNCG finally scored its first point of the frame to make it 6-1.  Samford would move up seven points, 13-6, but the Spartans would make it a four-point game with a 4-1 run as the Bulldogs took a timeout leading 14-10.  UNCG would take a timeout soon after, trailing 17-12, but the Bulldogs continued to score, eventually winning set two 25-17.

Unlike the previous two sets, the third would be a very close affair early on.  Tied at 9-9, Samford would score three in a row to earn its largest lead of the set, 12-9, at the midway point.  UNCG battled to tie it back up at 15-15 and eventually took the lead, 17-16.  Samford moved ahead 19-18 and would not give up the lead for the remainder of the match, although the Spartans kept it close.  Tied at 22-22, a kill by Taylor Palmer and an ace by Stephanie Palmer set up match point with UNCG taking a timeout looking to strategize a way to force a fourth set.  UNCG scored a point following the break to stave off elimination but a kill by Murphy ended it as the Bulldogs won 25-23 to complete the sweep.

 

Wofford 3, Davidson 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Junior Taylor Baird had a match-high 18 kills to lead the Wofford College volleyball team to its fourth Southern Conference win in five matches, 3-1 (25-22, 14-25, 25-20, 25-23), Saturday afternoon from Benjamin Johnson Arena. 

Wofford (9-13, 4-4 SoCon) stepped up when it mattered most, closing out sets down the stretch to jump Davidson (12-10, 3-5 SoCon) in the league standings. The Terriers scored the final three points of a first set tied at 22, the final three points of a third set it led 22-20 and finished out the match by breaking a 23-all tie with the afternoon’s final two points.

For the match, Wofford had 60 kills to Davidson’s 49, but the Wildcats had a better attack percentage of .254 (49-16-130) to Wofford’s .193 (60-28-166). Davidson also had 16 blocks to Wofford’s six, but could not stop the Terriers late in sets. Wofford went for five aces, outdueling Davidson by three. 

Baird led the Terrier attack with her 18 kills and a .310 attack percentage (18-5-42). The reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week saved her best performance for the last set, where she had five kills and no errors on nine swings, also adding a block. On the afternoon, Baird had four blocks, two aces and five digs.

Seniors Amanda Liguori and Bekah Dorsey each posted a double-double. Liguori had 15 kills and 11 digs, while Dorsey tallied 48 assists and 17 digs. Dorsey’s double-double marked her ninth of the season and Liguori’s was her eighth.

Senior Wendy Burnett had a big afternoon, putting down 14 kills on 31 attempts and posting two blocks, including a block solo. Freshman Ellie Tallman had eight kills, seven digs and a block,

For Davidson, Caroline Brown had a team-high 13 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double, coming up two blocks shy of a triple-double with eight. Hannah Rau added 12 kills and five blocks and Emily Franklin went for eight kills and five blocks. 

Baird and Burnett paired up to lead the Terriers to a first-set victory. The duo each tallied six kills and a block, while Baird added two crucial aces. The opener saw the most ties and lead changes of any set with nine ties and four lead changes.

The Terriers established the first three-point cushion of the first set at 14-11 on a kill from Burnett, but seven of the next nine points were taken by the Wildcats for an 18-16 Davidson advantage. Wofford came back once again and got the score level at 20 and took the lead for good with the next point on a Brown attack error which led to a Davidson timeout. Burnett got the Terriers back up by two with a kill, but Davidson responded to tie the set at 22 on consecutive blocks. Tallman stepped up and slammed down a bad dig by Davidson to regain the lead and an attack error by Taylor Pisel gave Wofford set point. Again, the Wildcats called timeout, but Wofford took the next point and the set on Burnett’s sixth kill of the opener.

The second was all Davidson, responding with a .353 attack percentage, which included 14 kills and just two errors on 34 swings. The Terriers had their worst attacking set of the match at .065 (11-8-46), making way for an easy nine-point set victory for the Wildcats and bringing the match score to 1-1 at the intermission.

Burnett hit .875 with seven kills and no errors on eight swings in set three to boost the Terriers back ahead in the match. Wofford took its first lead of the set at 7-6 and never gave it back, despite the Wildcats tying the score down the stretch. The final tie came at 19-19 and Wofford took the next three points with two Davidson attack errors and a kill from Baird. Davidson got a kill from Franklin to get back within two, but the Terriers put down the final three points with a kill from Liguori and the set winner from Burnett.

The fourth set was all Wofford early on as it appeared the Terriers would cruise to a victory, but Davidson fought all the way back to tie the set after being down by as many as eight. The eight-point lead came at 15-7 with the help of a good service run from Tallman, which included two aces for seven consecutive Terrier points. Wofford got stuck at 16-8 as Davidson scored the next four points and chipped away at the lead until leveling the fourth set 20-20. The lead was never given away as the next six points were traded to make the score 23-all, before Baird put the finishing touches on her afternoon with the final two kills to get the Terriers to .500 in Southern Conference play.

 

Elon 3, Chattanooga 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – After dropping the first two sets, the Elon volleyball team battled back to defeat Chattanooga, 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-12), tonight, Oct. 19 in Maclellan Gym. The Phoenix is now 13-11 overall and 4-4 in Southern Conference play, while the Lady Mocs are 3-20 (2-6 SoCon).

Elon had five players finish with double-digit kill performances. Sophomore Megan Gravley posted a season-high 16 kills followed by a season-high 15 from junior Danielle Smith. Senior Cali Estes (10 kills, 13 assists), sophomore Ana Nicksic (45 assists, 13 digs) and freshman Kayla Agae (12 kills, 15 digs) all finished with double-doubles on the night. Freshman Ally Karle recorded a career-high 12 kills, while also tallying a career-high six blocks on defense. Both freshman Morgan Maner and senior Maggie Reichard finished with 16 digs.

The Lady Mocs held a five-point lead, 14-9, in the first set before kills by Estes and Gravley and a block by Karle and Estes gave Elon three straight points to pull within two. Down by four, 19-15, the Phoenix used a 5-2 run off kills by Gravley, Catherine Head, Agae and Estes and a solo block by Agae to cut the deficit to one, 21-20, and force a UTC timeout. Kills by Karle and Gravley would keep the set close but the Lady Mocs were able to hold on for a 25-22 win.

In the second set, a kill and an ace by Estes gave Elon a 5-6 advantage early. With the Lady Mocs leading 14-11, two kills by Gravley, one by Head and aces by both Maner and Estes helped the maroon and gold to a 7-2 run to give the Phoenix an 18-16 edge. Kills by both D. Smith and C. Smith put Elon up 21-18 before UTC managed to score the next five points to regain the lead, 23-21. Chattanooga would go on to win by another 25-22 final.

With the third set tied at seven-all, two kills by D. Smith and one by C. Smith gave Elon five of the next six points to put Elon up by four, 12-8. Kills by Estes and Gravley and a block by Estes and Karle kept the Phoenix at a four-point advantage, 16-12. The Lady Mocs would pull within two, 23-21, before kills by Karle and Estes closed out the set for a 25-22 Elon win to keep the match alive.

Elon led by two, 10-8, in the third set before kills by Gravley, Estes, Karle and Agae and a block by Karle and Estes gave the Phoenix an 8-2 run to take an eight-point advantage, 18-10. A kill by each Gravley and Karle would seal a 25-17 win for the Phoenix and send the match into a deciding fifth set.

 In the fifth and final set, kills by Karle, Gravley and Agae and an ace by C. Smith would put Elon up 4-1 early. The Lady Mocs pulled within one, 8-7, before a kill and an ace by Agae moved the maroon and gold back to a three-point edge, 10-7. A block by Karle and Agae would close out the match to give Elon a 15-12 victory and complete the comeback .

 

Appalachian State 3, The Citadel 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball swept The Citadel on Saturday night, winning in three sets with scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-16.

The Mountaineers (12-10, 3-5 SoCon) came out strong in the first set, getting a quick 12-5 lead over the Bulldogs (5-19, 0-8). The Apps would continue to dominate and take the set 25-11.

The second set would be closer for the two teams, featuring eight tied scores. With the score tied at 11, Appalachian began to rally, scoring eight straight points with serves from Meghan Mahoney. The Bulldogs could not catch up, as the Mountaineers won the set 25-19.

The beginning of the third set would be a battle between the teams. With the score tied 11-11, The Mountaineers began to pull ahead for good, scoring five straight times. The Apps would take the third set 25-16 to win the match 3-0.

Lauren Gray and Emily Corrigan led Appalachian offensively in the match with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Paige Brown added a match-high 43 assists.

Bailey Kernodle led The Citadel with eight kills, while Erin Burcherl recorded 11 digs on the match.