Elon 3, The Citadel 2CHARLESTON, S.C. – After rallying back from two sets down, the Elon volleyball team claimed the final three sets to take a 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 15-5) win over The Citadel today, Sept. 28, in McAlister Fieldhouse. The Phoenix improves to 9-8 overall and 1-1 in Southern Conference play, while the Bulldogs fall to 4-13 (0-2 SoCon).
Senior Cali Estes recorded a triple-double with a career high 15 kills, another career-high 14 digs and 14 assists. Freshman Kayla Agae posted her first career double-double for the Phoenix with 14 kills and a career-high 16 digs, while sophomore Megan Gravley led all players with a match-high 18 kills.
Estes, Agae and junior Kris Harris all finished with three blocks to help Elon to nine total team blocks. Senior Maggie Reichard posted 25 digs to average five digs per set.
Neither team was able to take more than a two-point lead through most of the first set until The Citadel moved ahead by five, 17-12. From there, kills by Ana Nicksic, Estes, Agae and Harris helped Elon to a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 19-18. Kills by Harris kept the Phoenix within one, 21-20, but the Bulldogs were able to pull away with a 25-22 win.
The Bulldogs took an early 8-3 lead in the second set, forcing an Elon timeout, but the maroon and gold responded with five straight off a kill by Gravley, a kill and ace by Agae and a block by Gravley and Ally Karle to pull even at eight-all. With Citadel leading by four, 20-16, kills by Harris and Gravley and a block by Nicksic gave Elon three of the next four points to close the gap to two, 21-19. However, The Citadel maintained its advantage and took a 2-0 match lead after a 25-21 victory.
The Phoenix took a strong 8-1 lead in the third set with strong plays on both the offensive and defensive side of the net. The Bulldogs pulled within two, 12-10, before two kills by both Harris and Agae and one by Estes helped Elon to a 6-0 run to take an 18-10 advantage. The maroon and gold would go on to win the set by 10, 25-15, and keep the match alive.
With the fourth set tied at four-all, kills by Estes and Agae and two aces by Estes helped the Phoenix to six straight for a 10-4 lead. After the Bulldogs pulled within two, 13-11, back-to-back solo blocks by Estes and Gravley put Elon back up by four. Elon moved back to a six-point edge, 21-15, after a kill by Agae and a block by Karle and Gravley. The Phoenix would move on to a 25-17 victory to send the match into a deciding fifth set.
Two kills by Gravley and one by Estes gave Elon a 3-1 lead early in the fifth. Holding a four-point edge, 9-5, a kill by Karle sparked a 6-0 run to close out the set with a 15-5 Phoenix win and a 3-2 match victory.
Furman 3, Samford 1
Greenville, S.C. – Behind the play of junior Andrea Fisher and senior Christina Dorismond, Furman was able to outlast Samford, 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23), in Southern Conference action at Alley Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Paladins (6-7) finish their opening weekend of SoCon play at 2-0, while Samford (10-7) falls to 1-1 in the conference.
Andrea Fisher paced the Paladins on offense with 13 kills, while Christina Dorismond tallied 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Jo Wilks dished out 43 assists, while Ashton Gregory had a team-high seven blocks. The teams were evenly matched on offense, as Furman totaled 51 kills and a .218 hitting percentage and Samford recorded 58 kills and a .217 hitting percentage. Furman out-blocked the Paladins, 10-8, on the day.
The teams were evenly matched in set one with Furman hitting .273 as a team and Samford hitting .250. Early in the set, the teams traded points until Furman took a 12-9 lead. Samford was able to cut the lead to two at 15-13, but Furman was able to hold off a Samford rally and take a 21-18 lead, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Samford used a 4-2 run to cut the Paladin lead to one at 23-22, but Furman used kills from Annie Bierman and Andrea Fisher to take set one, 25-23.
Furman jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in set two, forcing Samford to use its first timeout. The Bulldogs then used a 5-2 run to take a 7-6 lead. The teams traded points until Samford used another run, this time of 4-1, to take a 15-12 lead. Furman cut the lead to one at 15-14, but Samford finished the set on a 10-4 run of their own to take set two, 25-19, and tie the match at one.
Samford jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in set three, but Furman was able to rally and the teams traded points until the score was tied at 7. The Paladins then used an 8-3 run to force a Samford timeout with the score a 15-10. The Bulldogs cut the lead to two at 13-15, but Furman capitalized on key Bulldog errors to push their lead to 19-15. Samford was able to again cut the Furman lead to two at 20-18, but the Paladins held on to their lead to take set three, 25-22, and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Samford again jumped out to an early lead in set four, this time at 5-2, but Furman clawed their way back into the match to take a 10-8 lead. Samford tied the set at 10 before Furman used an ace by Casey Wells and a kill by Christina Dorismond to take a 13-10 lead and force a Samford timeout. Furman pushed their lead to 16-11, but the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the set to tie the score at 16. Furman then went on a 6-2 run, highlighted by kills by Amelia Bohlander and Ashton Gregory to take a 22-18 lead, but Samford again battled back, tying the score at 22. Furman then got two kills from Dorismond and two Samford errors to take set four, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.
Georgia Southern 3, UNCG 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - It took Head Coach Dustin Wood's squad five sets, but the Georgia Southern Volleyball team improved to 2-0 in the Southern Conference after a 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 10-15) win over the UNCG Spartans at Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday.
Georgia Southern (14-2, 2-0 SoCon) won the odd number sets while UNCG (8-7, 1-1 SoCon) took the even ones in the first five-set match of the season.
The Eagles opened the match with a 25-18 win in the first set, the largest margin of victory on the afternoon. Tied 1-1 after two sets the Eagles found themselves tied 23-23 in set three. Jamie DeRatt and Katie Bange both tallied kills on the next two rallies to give GSU a 25-23 win. The Eagles went on to win the decisive fifth set 15-10.
GSU's .170 attack percentage was below their season average of .241, and UNCG out-hit the Eagles with a .183 percentage. Nicole Jeschelnik and DeRatt tallied double-doubles in the match. Jeschelnik posted 16 kills and 14 digs, while DeRatt had 15 kills and 13 digs.
Morgan Freeman led the Spartans with 17 kills and posted a .533 attack percentage. On the defensive end Katherine Santiago led all players with 28 digs. Karrian Chambers added 27 digs.
Western Carolina 3, Davidson 2Cullowhee, N.C. – Nicole Ford and Brandi Anderson collected career-highs in kills to lead the Western Carolina volleyball team in a thrilling five set win 3-2 (13-25, 25-14, 25-16, 21-25, 21-19) over Davidson Saturday night in the Southern Conference match in the Ramsey Center.
Ford and Anderson tallied 13 and 11 kills respectively as the Catamounts improve to 2-0 in the SoCon for the first time since the 2002 season. The win vaulted WCU to 12-4, overall while Davidson slips to 9-5 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
Davidson exploded out the gate in the first set with a 7-1 lead in the first set. WCU cut the lead to 9-4, but that was as close as the Catamounts would get with the Wildcats cruising a 25-13 win. WCU hit a dismal .000, while Davidson was efficient with a .364 hitting percentage.
In the second set, it was the Catamounts who took an early lead and led from start to finish in a 25-14 set win to even the match at one set each. The Wildcats got as close as four points, 8-4, before the Catamounts went on to take the set. This time it was Western Carolina with an efficient attack with 16 kills on 35 attempts and one error for a .429 hitting percentage. Davidson struggled with 11 kills on 40 attacks with seven errors for a .100 attack percentage.
With the score tied at 13 in the third set, WCU mounted a 5-0 run sparked by two Cristina Nazario service aces to take an 18-13 lead. The Catamounts kept the lead between five and six points as they took a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-16 win.
Davison answered in the fourth set when they broke a tie a six with a 10-2 run to take a 16-8 lead. WCU fought back and trimmed the lead down to 23-21, but Davidson forced the decisive fifth set with the final two points on two Western Carolina attack errors. WCU hit .064, while Davidson hit at a .265 clip.
In the fifth set, Western Carolina took a 12-9 lead late, but Davidson rallied highlighted by a kill and a service ace to tie the set at 12. Neither team could win consecutive points with each team fighting off three set points. With the score tied at 19, Caitlin Piechota gave WCU a 20-19 lead, and the Catamounts clinched the match, 21-19, on a Davidson attack error.
Jordan Timmermann and Piechota led WCU offensively with 14 kills each. Piechota came up huge in the fifth set with five of her 14 kills. Piechota earned her second consecutive double-double with 20 digs. Paige McConlogue tied with Piechota for the WCU dig lead with 20 kills. Addy George had five total blocks, four block assists and one solo block.
Morgan Cochran continued her quest for the WCU all-time dig record as she picked up 18 digs in the match. She now sits at 1,840 career digs, 312 digs shy of Liz Rondone’s 2,152 digs.
Davidson held a narrow hitting percentage at .201 compared to WCU’s .197. The Catamounts continued their blocking dominance with an 8-4 team blocks advantage.
Chattanooga 3, Wofford 2 Spartanburg, S.C. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team defeated Wofford 3-2 Saturday night in a thrilling five-set match in Spartanburg, S.C., to claim its first Southern Conference win of the season. The match saw the score tied 35 times and the lead change on 15 occasions. The Mocs are now 1-1 in the SoCon with their only loss coming against Furman Friday afternoon.
Sophomore Julimar Alvarado excelled against the Terriers, collecting 10 kills and recording a .200 attacking percentage. The middle blocker also recorded four assisted blocks en route to the 3-2 win. Overall, Chattanooga totaled 49 kills with its most coming in the first set.
Freshman Allie Davenport led with 14.0 points, including nine kills and two blocks. Sophomore Sarah Batterton also recorded nine kills and recorded one block.
Chattanooga’s 15 kills in the first frame gave the Mocs the extra momentum needed to claim a 26-24 victory over Wofford. While the Terriers also totaled 15 kills in the set, eight Wofford errors cost the home team the loss. A seven-point Chattanooga rally with Wofford leading the Mocs 21-17 jumped UTC into the lead and led to the 1-0 advantage.
The Mocs took the second set as well, downing Wofford 25-20. The Terriers rolled over as UTC again pieced together multiple scoring drives. Seven multi-point rallies gave Chattanooga its early advantage and the Mocs took a 2-0 match-lead into the intermission.
Wofford returned from the locker room to claim back-to-back sets over UTC, taking the third 26-24 and the fourth 25-16 to even the match 2-2 to force a deciding set. Chattanooga downed only 13 points in the two sets while Wofford was on fire with 38 kills through the two sets.
The Mocs and Terriers didn’t spare on the dramatics in the fifth set. Much like the previous four frames of the match, a tug-of-war between the two teams sent the set into extra points. Again, errors cost the loss for the home team. Chattanooga was nearly flawless with just three errors and nine kills. Wofford had nine kills but seven errors gave the Terriers a .069 hitting percentage.
UTC took the set 16-14 and the match 3-2 on scoring five of the last six points in the match. Back-to-back points from the Terriers forced a timeout as the Mocs pulled together to put a “W” in the column.