Elon 3, Davidson 0DAVIDSON, N.C. – A strong night on offense helped the Elon volleyball team to an impressive sweep of Davidson, 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-17), tonight, Oct. 4, in Belk Arena. The Phoenix improves to 10-9 on the season and a 2-2 record in Southern Conference play, while the Wildcats fall to 10-6 (1-2 SoCon).
Junior Kris Harris hit .688 in the match after 12 kills off 16 attempts and only one error. Senior Cali Estes recorded a match-high 13 kills and finished with a double-double after 26 assists. Sophomore Megan Gravley also tallied a double-digit kill performance with 11. Sophomore Ana Nicksic posted her fifth double-double of the season with 20 assists and 12 digs.
With the first set tied at 11-all, Elon went on a 6-2 run with the help of three kills by Estes and an ace by Harris to take a 17-13 lead. The Wildcats closed the gap to one, 20-19, before the Phoenix scored the next five straight with the help of kills by Kayla Agae, Estes and Gravley and a block by Harris and Gravley to take the win, 25-19.
A strong offensive attack gave Elon a 7-2 edge early in the second set. Up by three, 11-8, kills by Harris, Agae and Estes extended the maroon and gold lead to six, 14-8. The Phoenix closed out the set on a 4-1 run with the help of kills by Ally Karle, Harris, Danielle Smith and Estes to give Elon a 25-16 victory.
With the third set tied at three-all, a kill by Estes sparked seven straight for the Phoenix, which was capped by a solo block by Karle, to take a 10-3 lead and force an early Wildcat timeout. Two kills by Gravley and one by Harris helped the maroon and gold keep a nine-point edge over Davidson, 18-9. The Wildcats managed to cut its deficit to seven, 23-16, but kills by Harris and Agae gave the Phoenix a 25-17 win and the match sweep.
Furman 3, Georgia Southern 2
Statesboro, Ga. – Andrea Fisher and Christina Dorismond each recorded double-digit kills and the Paladins were able to outlast Georgia Southern, 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-9), on Friday night to remain unbeaten in SoCon play. Furman, who started the season at 0-5, has won eight of its last 10 matches and five matches in a row. The win was the first for the Paladins in Statesboro since a 3-2 victory on October 30, 2009.
Fisher turned in one her greatest performances in a Paladin uniform, recording a career-high 21 kills and a career-high 18 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while adding a season-high five blocks. Dorismond put down 17 kills and three blocks, while hitting a team-high .412.
Ashton Gregory added six blocks, while Elle Ross totaled 29 digs. Annie Bierman recorded her first 20-dig performance as a Paladin and Jo Wilks dished out 46 assists. As a team, the Paladins hit .239 to Georgia Southern’s .202 and out-blocked the Eagles, 10-8.
Georgia Southern took an early 6-1 lead in set one, but the Paladins battled back to tie the game at 8 after an Andrea Fisher kill. Then, with the score tied at 11, Furman used an Eagle error, a Fisher kill, and a block by Fisher and Dorismond to take a 14-11 lead. The teams traded points until Furman pushed their lead to 18-14 after an Annie Bierman kill, forcing a Georgia Southern timeout. Furman continued to lead throughout the set, until Georgia Southern cut the lead to one at 24-23, forcing a Paladin timeout. Furman was able to use a Georgia Southern error to take set one, 25-23.
The teams traded points in set two, before Georgia Southern took a 13-9 lead to force a Paladin timeout. The Eagles then used a 4-1 run to push their lead to 17-10. Furman cut the Georgia Southern lead to four at 21-17, but the Eagles held off the Paladin rally to take set two, 25-18, and tie the match at one.
The teams again traded points in set three, until, with the score tied at 14, Georgia Southern opened up a 17-14 lead. The Paladins used kills by Dorismond and Bierman and Georgia Southern errors to tie the match at 18. However, the Eagles closed the match on a 7-3 run to win set three, 25-21, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Furman used an early 7-3 run to force a Georgia Southern timeout in set four. Furman then capitalized on Georgia Southern errors and used kills from Ashton Gregory to force another GSU timeout at 11-4. The Eagles would never get closer than seven as the Paladins held them to a .000 hitting percentage en route to a 25-15 victory in set four to tie the match at two.
Set five was close from the outset, as the teams were back-and-forth until switching sides with Georgia Southern leading 8-7. After tying the set at 8, Furman used three consecutive kills from Dorismond to push the lead to 11-8. Georgia Southern cut the lead to two at 11-9, but Furman closed out the set on a 4-0 run to take set five, 15-9, and the match, 3-2.
Western Carolina 3, Samford 2
Birmingham, Ala. – In a back-and-forth match on the road at Samford, the Western Carolina volleyball team snapped an 11-match losing streak to the Bulldogs with a 3-2 (26-24, 14-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10) win Friday night in Pete Hannah Center in a Southern Conference match.
The Catamounts’ last win over the Bulldogs came on September 10, 2005 also on the road at Samford. In the past 11 meetings, 37 total sets, WCU had only four sets. With the win, Western Carolina improves to 13-4 overall and 3-0 in the SoCon. The 3-0 start is the best start to SoCon play since the 2002 team started conference play at 6-0. WCU has now won back-to-back five set matches after defeating Davidson, 3-2, in the Ramsey Center on September 28.
Addy George set a career-high with 16 kills. The junior middle blocker recorded her 16 kills on 26 attempts with four errors for .462 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitters Caitlin Piechota and Jordan Timmermann followed with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Piechota hit at a.306 clip. Brandi Anderson, a junior right side hitter, tallied 10 kills and .389 hitting percentage. Cristina Nazario, WCU’s sophomore setter, tied a career-high with 54 assists in the match.
In the first set neither team could pull away early, until Samford finally took control of the set when the Bulldogs broke a tie at 18 with three straight points to take a 21-18 lead. Trailing 23-20, Western Carolina mounted its comeback. WCU cut the lead to 23-22 with consecutive points, but Samford picked up a kill to take a 24-22 lead. Facing two set points, the Catamounts kept the match alive with a kill by Timmermann and a Bulldog attack error to tie the set at 24. A kill by Piechota and another Bulldog attack error gave WCU the 26-24 win.
The second set was all Samford as the Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-5 lead. WCU was never able to trim the margin to fewer than six points in Samford’s 25-14 set two win to even the match at one set each.
WCU flipped the tide in the third set as Western Carolina took an 11-5 lead, but the Bulldogs didn’t relent. Facing a 19-11 deficit, Samford rallied with a 9-3 run to trim the WCU lead to 22-20, but the Catamounts held on and ended the set, 25-21, with three of the final four points to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
In the fourth set, Samford struck first with a 14-5 lead. WCU fought back with a 6-1 run sparked by two kills from George to pull within four points, 15-11. After trading the next four points, the Bulldogs increased the lead out to six points, 19-13. WCU again cut into the margin and again pulled within four points, 19-15, on a ace by Elyssa Mulheron. However, the Catamount comeback would fall short as the Bulldogs went on to claim the set, 25-20, to force a fifth and final set in the match.
In the decisive fifth set, WCU came out firing with a 7-3 lead as the Catamounts took advantage of costly Bulldog errors and timely kills from George, Piechota and Timmermann. Samford cut the lead to 9-7 and eventually pulled within one point, 10-9. But, Western Carolina got a big kill from Anderson that sent the Catamounts on a 5-1 run to finish the set, 15-10, and the match.
Defensively, senior libero Morgan Cochran picked up 18 digs to lead the Catamounts for the 85th time in her career and 15th time this season. She has recorded double-digit digs in 91 career matches and 16 of the 17 this season. Paige McConlogue, who has recorded double-digit digs in three straight matches, added 17 digs. Piechota added 14 digs for a double-double, her third double-double in as many matches and eighth this season.
Appalachian State 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Appalachian State University volleyball got its first conference win in a 3-1 match against Chattanooga on Friday night.
The match began with a competitive first set that featured seven ties and five lead changes. The set was tied at 25 before Chattanooga (2-17, 1-3 SoCon) took the lead to take the first set 27-25.
Appalachian (10-7, 1-2) came out strong in the second set, finding a quick 7-2 lead. Chatt charged back, scoring six straight points to make the score 8-7. After a tied scored at 15, the Mountaineers found the lead and never looked back, winning the set 25-20.
The Mountaineers hit their stride in the third set, getting a quick 12-4 lead and continuing to score. The Apps took the third set in a dominant 25-11 victory.
Appalachian was able to take charge immediatley in the fourth set, finding a 5-2 lead and did not let up. The Mountaineers got a comfortable 25-15 win the fourth set to take the match 3-1.
Lauren Gray paced the Apps offensively, posting 17 kills and a .382 hitting percentage on the match.
Meghan Mahoney led the Mountaineers in digs with 29, followed by Emily Corrigan who tallied 18. Paige Brown had another consistent match, recording 44 assists.
Allie Davenport led the Mocs in kills with seven and Briana Reed paced the team defensively with 21 digs.
The Mountaineers ended the match with .181 attack percentage, in comparison to Chattanooga's -.011 percentage. The Apps got the edge in total blocks with 13, while the Mocs' had nine.