Elon 3, Campbell 0
ELON, N.C. – With the help of an energetic crowd, the Elon volleyball team opened its 2013 home slate with a strong showing, defeating Campbell, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17), tonight, Sept. 3, in front of over 400 fans in Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix hit .400 as a team and held the Camels to a .128 attack percentage. Sophomore Megan Gravley and junior Chanelle Smith led Elon with 11 kills each. Gravley hit .526 off her 19 attempts with only one error, while C. Smith hit .458 with no errors off her 24 attempts. Senior Cali Estes contributed eight kills to hit .421 on the night. Sophomore Ana Nicksic and Estes ran the offense efficiently, combining for 35 of Elon's 42 total assists.
On defense, Elon tallied eight team blocks with freshman Ally Karle recording five total blocks. Senior Maggie Reichard led the team with 15 digs, while C. Smith earned her first double-double of the season with 11 digs to go with her 11 kills.
The first set remained tight with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage early on. With the score tied at 16-all, kills by Estes, Gravley and Kris Harris and helped Elon to a 4-0 run and a 20-16 lead. A block by Danielle Smith and Karle extended the advantage to five and gave the Phoenix a 25-20 win.
Elon took a 12-7 early lead in the second set, forcing Campbell to call a timeout. The Camels closed the gap to three, 13-10, but the serve of Harris helped spark the Phoenix to five straight points off kills by C. Smith, Estes and Karle to make it an eight-point edge, 18-10. The maroon and gold continued to force Campbell errors and earned a 25-19 victory to take a 2-0 match lead.
With the set knotted at three-all, a kill by C. Smith started a 10-2 run that gave Elon a 13-5 edge. With the Phoenix leading 14-8, a block by Harris helped Elon score four straight and move its advantage to 10, 18-8. An ace by Kayla Agae and kills by D. Smith and Gravley helped Elon close out the match as the Phoenix claimed a 25-17 final-set win.
Elon travels to Orlando, Fla., this weekend for the Holiday Inn Select/UCF Classic. The Phoenix will face host Central Florida and Stephen F. Austin on Friday, Sept. 6, before taking on George Washington on Saturday, Sept. 7.
ETSU 3, Furman 0
Johnson City, Tenn. – The Furman volleyball team fell to future SoCon foe East Tennessee State, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 26-24) in midweek action in Johnson City, Tenn. on Tuesday night.
Freshman Ashton Gregory led the Paladin offense with nine kills and five blocks. Christina Dorismond added six kills and one block, while Andrea Fisher and Amelia Bohlander each had five kills. Elle Ross amassed 13 digs, while Annie Bierman added 10 digs of her own. Jo Wilks recorded 29 assists, her third 20+ assist game of the season.
Furman jumped out to an early lead in set one, behind kills by Dorismond and Katie Harrell. After sloppy play by both teams, Furman took a 7-6 lead on a kill by Gregory. ETSU then went on a 5-2 run to jump out to a 12-7 advantage. The Paladins clawed back to within one at 12-11, before ETSU went on a 5-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. Furman used kills by Bohlander and Bierman to pull to within four at 20-16. Then, following a timeout, the Paladins got a service ace from Bierman and a kill by Dorismond to trim the lead to 21-19. Furman again pulled the score to within one at 22-21 after a kill by Gregory to force an ETSU timeout. After the timeout, ETSU closed out on a 3-0 run to take set one, 25-21.
The Paladins again took an early lead in set two behind kills from Wilks, Gregory and Fisher, before the Buccaneers used a Furman error and consecutive kills to take a 4-3 lead. The teams then traded scores until East Tennessee State used a 6-1 run to take a 12-7 lead. Furman used a block by Gregory and an ETSU error to pull to within three at 12-9, but the teams continued to trade points and the Paladins could not close the gap, falling in set two, 25-15.
For the third consecutive set, Furman took an early lead at 6-3 on kills by four different Paladins. East Tennessee State worked their way back into the set to tie the score at 10. Then, with the score tied at 12, ETSU opened up a 16-13 lead over the Paladins. Furman clawed their way back into the set behind a pair of ETSU errors and an Andrea Fisher kill to tie the score at 18. The teams traded points until ETSU took a 22-19 lead following a Furman timeout. The Paladins took advantage of East Tennessee State errors and a kill by Casey Wells to tie the score at 24 and force an ETSU timeout. The Buccaneers finished the game on a 2-0 run, taking set three 26-24 and the match, 3-0.
Furman returns to action this weekend when the Paladins travel to nearby Clemson, S.C. for the Big Orange Bash. Furman will take on Winthrop on Friday at 4:30 p.m., South Carolina on Saturday at noon, and tournament-host Clemson on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Presbyterian 2
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball won a five-set thriller to defeat Presbyterian College on Tuesday evening at the Templeton Center.
The Mountaineers (4-0) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to tie the match with a dominant fourth-set effort. Appalachian seized the momentum from the Blue Hose (1-4) en route to the victory.
The match began as an early back-and-forth affair until a kill from Lauren Gray, an error on Presbyterian and a service ace by Jess Keller would push Appalachian into the lead. The Apps withstood a late run by the Blue Hose and took a 25-21 victory in the first set.
Both teams would need extra points in the second set, but Presbyterian managed to edge a 30-28 win. Appalachian held a four-point lead (23-19) but costly errors put the Blue Hose back in position to win the set and tie the match at one all.
Presbyterian used its momentum from the second set to pull out a 25-18 third set victory. Appalachian took the lead at 12-11 but Presbyterian used two four-point runs to push ahead of the match, 2-1.
Appalachian focused its will in the fourth set, scoring the first five points of the match and winning 25-16. The Blue Hose battled back to take an 8-7 lead, but the Mountaineers unleash on a six-point run to tie the match at 2-2.
Two kills from Emily Corrigan won the match for Appalachian (15-12) as the Mountaineers raced out to a 8-2 lead and did not look back. The Blue Hose were able to pull the match within three (13-11) but Corrigan would nail the final two points Appalachian needed.
Corrigan and Keller led the Mountaineers with 20 kills each, while Gray pitched in with 16. Paige Brown set a career-high in assists with 58 while Meghan Mahoney had a team-high in digs with 18.
Rachel Hall’s 14 kills paced Presbyterian, while Ashtin Fran led her team with 54 assists. Mary Trimpe recorded a game-high 28 digs.
The Mountaineers had 20 errors on 162 total attacks, while forcing Presbyterian into recording 23 errors on 163 attacks. The Apps hit .290 for the match while the Blue Hose hit .245.
Appalachian will continue its road swing at the NC State Tournament in Raleigh on Sept. 6 and 7, where the Apps will face NC State, Towson and Binghamton.