Wofford 3, South Carolina State 0
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College volleyball team took care of business Tuesday evening, traveling to Dukes Gymnasium in Orangeburg and defeating South Carolina State, 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15).

The win makes it two in a row for Wofford (5-6), while South Carolina State (0-10) begins the season with 10 straight losses, falling in 30 consecutive sets.

The Terriers entered the match ranked among the top 25 in the NCAA in aces per set (1.8), adding to that total with 13 aces in three sets (4.3). More importantly, Wofford hit at a positive ratio with only 10 errors.

Senior Amanda Liguori, junior Taylor Baird and freshman Ellie Tallman led the attack. Liguori hit a match-high .571 with nine kills and a single error on 14 total attempts. The outside hitter bumped herself up to No. 9 in Wofford history, totaling 1,009 career kills and surpassing Courtney Howe’s mark of 1,001. Baird went for double-digit kills for the ninth time this season, posting a match-high 10 while hitting .200 (10-4-27) on the evening. The Blythewood, S.C., native added five aces for a match-high 15 points. Tallman tied her season-high of nine kills and hit an impressive .316 (9-3-19).

Senior Wendy Burnett continued to up her hitting percentage, attacking at a .500 rate (6-1-10). Burnett went into the match ranked second all-time at Wofford in career hitting percentage.

On defense, sophomore libero Jessica Graham went for 20 digs, marking the third match this season she has come away with 20 or more. Baird added six digs.

Baird got it going from the onset, putting down the match’s very first point with a kill. SC State went on a mini-rally to take a 4-2 lead, but Wofford closed the gap immediately to jump ahead 6-5. Wofford went on a 6-1 run to force SCSU to call its first timeout and the Terriers would not trail for the rest of the set or at any other point in the match. The Bulldogs got as close as four at 18-14, but Wofford went on a 7-3 run to end the set.

Liguori got the ball rolling in the second set, putting down the first two points with a pair of kills to give the Terriers the immediate advantage. The big run came with the score 10-7, sparked by a pair of Tallman aces. SCSU used a timeout after a 7-1 run put it down 16-8, and the Bulldogs only got as close as six before Wofford used a pair of kills to end the second set by nine.

The Terriers used the third set to hit at their highest percentage of the match, attacking at a .360 clip with 11 kills and two errors to close out the sweep. Tallman led the way with four kills and Wofford put its foot down by scoring the first four points of the set. It was all but over with Wofford ahead 19-10 and senior Lucy Reser gave the Terriers their biggest lead with the final point and kill of the match.

 

Citadel 3, Gardner-Webb 1
Charleston, S.C. – Ise d'Angelo recorded a team-high nine kills and led an energized Citadel volleyball squad to a 25-23, 25-13, 23-25, 25-17 victory over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening at McAlister Field House.

The junior outside hitter was one of six Bulldogs with at least five kills, joined by Katie Briggs (eight), Mallory Moore (eight), Bailey Kernodle (seven), Lauren Hurt (six) and Rachel Keefer (five). Keefer also dished out a season-best 40 assists, pacing a Citadel lineup that finished with a .267 attack percentage.

The Bulldogs (2-9) also came through with an all-around defensive performance that included 12 digs from d'Angelo and 23 by senior libero Erin Bucherl. The front row combination of Katie Briggs and Lauren Hurt tallied three assisted blocks each as The Citadel held a 12-0 edge in that category.

Despite a match-high 14 kills off the hand of Erin Anderson, Gardner-Webb (5-8) struggled in their second-ever meeting with the Cadets. Anderson teamed with Tyra Montour (eight kills), Taylor Lillard (six) and Amanda Murphy (six) to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to 51 team kills. Meanwhile, teammates Anna Pashkova (21 digs) and Kacy O'Connor (10) proved to be the defensive attack for GWU.

Gardner-Webb got off to a strong start to open the match, assuming a 12-5 lead and capitalized on points in Murphy's service game that included two kills each by Montour and Devin Judge. Facing a seven-point deficit, Khaledi called timeout and regroup his team, who methodically responded by driving home four kills and forcing 10 Runnin' Bulldog errors in the next 17 points of the set to draw even at 22-22. Montour sent a kill past the Cadets to give GWU a slim one-point lead, but it was the combination of a Kernodle kill and two attack errors that allowed The Citadel to emerge 25-23.

The Citadel momentum established in the latter stages of the first set carried over into the second as it ran out to a 14-4 lead behind three kills by Hurt and two each from Moore and Kernodle. Gardner-Webb struck back behind Pashkova's service game, cutting the deficit to six, but the Dogs responded with a series of kills by Hurt, Kernodle and d'Angelo that stretched the lead to 22-11. The Bulldogs allowed just two additional GWU points from that point forward and took advantage of powerful kills by Briggs and d'Angelo to complete the 25-13 victory.

Emerging from the break in action with a tenacity, behind kills by Anderson, Lillard and Murphy, Gardner-Webb built a 10-6 lead. That lead vanished following a pair of kills by d'Angelo, cutting the margin to one on two occasions, but the Runnin' Bulldogs held strong and would eventually move in front 20-17. With Bucherl in serve the Cadets made one final push, forcing an eventual 22-22 tie, but GWU took advantage of an unforced error and an Anderson kill to win 25-23.

Behind four timely kills from Moore in the fourth set, The Citadel seized its opportunity to complete the victory. The two teams battled to a 4-4 tie before a Moore kill gave the Dogs a lead that they would not relinquish. The kill sparked an 11-5 Citadel run that included strikes by Keefer, Kernodle and Samantha Espy and along with a Bucherl service ace, the lead was extended to 15-9. With their offensive clicking and the defense in sync, the Bulldogs used a pair of kills by Moore and service aces from Keefer and Kernodle to complete the 25-17 victory.

The Citadel returns to action this weekend at Winthrop where they will take on UNC Wilmington on Friday at 4 p.m. The following day they will play Bethune-Cookman (10 a.m.) and the host Eagles (7 p.m.) for their final in-season tournament of the 2013 season.

 

UAB 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs dropped a 3-1 match to the UAB Blazers Tuesday night at Maclellan Gym. The defeat at the hands of the Conference USA team puts the Mocs at 0-12 on the season while the Blazers improve to 10-3 with the win.

With a 25-18 win in the first set of the match, UTC snapped a 15-set losing streak, but three sets following the Chattanooga bright spot would hand the Mocs a home loss.

Junior Kasey Talley and sophomore Briana Reid led the offensive effort with nine kills each while sophomore Julimar Alvarado recorded eight kills. Talley took the scoring crown with 9.5 points on the night.

Freshman Kendall Sexton collected a team-best four blocks, including a solo block, while sophomore Catherine Chason and junior Melissa Green led the Mocs with 15 and 18 digs, respectively.

UTC downed 13 spikes and recorded an errorless set in the first frame of the match. A match-best .464 hitting percentage between the two teams led the Mocs to their eight-point victory. Chattanooga put together eight scoring rallies of back-to-back points against the Blazers, holding the visitors from Birmingham, Ala., to just a .243 hitting percentage – their lowest of the match.

UAB rallied back in the second set with a 25-17 victory. Losing steam in the frame, Chattanooga fell 15-11 in kills and the Blazers hit a team-best .375 with the win to tie the match 1-1. The Mocs were downed by the same score in the third frame, as well, as UAB recorded 15 kills for the third set in a row while UTC was held to a match-low nine kills.

The Blazers took the match 3-1 in the fourth set with a 25-19 score, led by offensive force Sara Rishell. The attacker downed 20 kills against the Mocs while hitting .457 to lead all hitters. UAB setter Becca Howard collected 53 assists on the night.

The Mocs return to action this weekend as they travel to Oxford, Miss., to compete in the Red and Blue Classic, hosted by Ole Miss. Chattanooga meets up with Southern Mississippi, Louisiana-Lafayette and the Rebels on its trip to Ole Miss.