Elon 3, Radford 2
ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team (5-7) earned its seventh straight win over Radford (8-4) tonight, Sept. 18, after coming back to win 3-2 (25-23,17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-8) in Alumni Gym.

Junior Kris Harris hit an impressive .536 after a career-high 17 kills off 28 attempts and only two errors. Sophomore Megan Gravley also tallied 17 kills, while sophomore Catherine Head finished with eight. Sophomore Ana Nicksic posted her third double-double of the season after 50 assists and 12 digs.

On defense, Harris recorded seven total blocks, followed by Gravley who finished with three. Senior Maggie Reichard led the team with 19 digs, while freshman Morgan Maner posted 13.

Up by one in the first set, 4-3, kills by Gravley, Chanelle Smith and back-to-back aces by Harris extended the Elon lead to six and forced a Highlander timeout. Radford closed the gap to one, 13-12, but the Phoenix never relinquished its advantage. A kill by Harris closed the set to give the maroon and gold a 25-23 win.

With the second set tied at three-all, the Highlanders went on a 9-4 run to take a four-point lead, 11-7. Kills by Head and Kayla Agae and several errors by Radford helped Elon pull even at 13-all. The Highlanders scored the next four to reclaim its edge and eventually won the set, 25-17, to even the match.

Three straight kills by Harris helped Elon to a 14-10 lead in the third set. The Phoenix increased its advantage to six, 20-14, after kills by Danielle Smith and Head. Radford came back to tie the score at 23-all and claim the next two points to take a 25-23 victory.

In the fourth set, kills by Harris, C. Smith and a block by Harris and Gravley put Elon up by four, 14-10. Radford managed to knot the score at 17-all before a kill by D. Smith sparked a 5-2 run to give the maroon and gold a four-point edge, 23-19. Kills by Gravley and Harris gave Elon a 25-23 win, forcing fifth set.

Four kills by Gravley helped put Elon out to an 11-3 lead in the fifth set. The Highlanders were not able to overcome the strong Phoenix advantage and a kill by Harris capped a 15-8 final-set win and gave the maroon and gold the match.

Elon will play in the 49er Invitational this weekend, Sept. 20-21, against Tennessee State, South Carolina State and Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C.

 

Furman 3, Presbyterian 0
Greenville, S.C. – Furman volleyball swept Upstate-rival Presbyterian, 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) on Wednesday night in front of 676 fans at Alley Gym. The Paladins move to 4-7 on the year, while the Blue Hose fall to 1-11.

Furman used a balanced offensive attack to defeat Presbyterian, as Andrea Fisher paced the offense with nine kills. Christina Dorismond and Amelia Bohlander added eight kills each, while Ashton Gregory totaled six kills and Annie Bierman recorded five. Jo Wilks dished out 33 assists, while Elle Ross and Katie Harrell amassed 17 and 10 digs, respectively.

The teams traded points in set one, before Furman used a 9-0 run to take a 17-7 lead in the set. The Blue Hose were never able to get closer than five, as Furman used that balanced offense to take set one, 25-15. The Paladins held the Blue Hose to a -.161 hitting percentage in the set.

Presbyterian jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in set two, but Furman battled back to tie the match at 12. The teams traded points before a kill by Annie Bierman gave the Paladins a 20-18 lead and forced PC to call their first timeout of the set. PC was able to tie the match again at 22, but Furman too advantage of two PC errors and a Bohlander kill to win set two, 25-22, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The teams traded points early in set three, before the Paladins went on a 7-1 run, again served by Katie Harrell, to take a 20-11 lead in the match. Furman then took advantage of key PC errors and kills by Andrea fisher to take set three, 25-16 and the match, 3-0. The Paladins out-hit the Blue Hose .300-.075 in set three.

Furman is back in action on September 27 as they host Chattanooga in the first Southern Conference match of the season.

 

Appalachian State 3, North Carolina A&T 0
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball rolled to its seventh victory in its young season after defeating North Carolina A&T in three straight sets on Wednesday evening at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers improve to 7-4 overall, matching their previous season’s win record, while the Aggies drop to 11 losses on the season (1-11) after Appalachian overpowered A&T on both sides of the net to a three-set victory (25-9, 25-11, 25-5). With the win, Appalachian is now 9-8 all-time against NC A&T.

In a change of offensive pace, Lindsey Sauls topped the Appalachian offense with 11 kills and 11.5 points as Jess Keller finished right behind with 10 kills and 10.5 points on the night.

Appalachian hit an impressive .412 as a team and held A&T to a dismal -.101 hitting percentage in the seventeenth meeting between the two squads.

The Black and Gold held a 59-33 digs advantage defensively as libero Meghan Mahoney led App with 27 digs.

Saul’s offensive-leading 11 kills yielded a match-high .529 hitting percentage, while setter Paige Brown dished out 31 assists and Emily Corrigan added 14 digs and a service ace.

Four mountaineers averaged better than .500 hitting against the Aggies, including Keller’s .529 percentage along with Brown, Lauren Gray, and Brooke Lyons at .500 apiece.

Appalachian’s 3-0 victory marks its sixth sweep this season. Up next, Appalachian will host Denver, East Carolina, and UT Arlington in the Black & Gold Challenge on Sept. 20 and 21 at Varsity Gym.