Furman 3, Chattanooga 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind 49 kills and a .396 hitting percentage, the Furman volleyball team powered by Chattanooga, 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-16), on Friday night in Alley Gym. With the win, the Paladins moved to 13-5 on the season and 6-1 in SoCon play. The loss drops Chattanooga to 11-1 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play.
Ashton Gregory paced the Paladins with 12 kills and a .625 hitting percentage, as well as four blocks. Andrea Fisher also put down 12 kills, while adding two aces and five digs. Annie Bierman hit .300 and put down 10 kills, while Taina Joseph tallied six kills and four blocks and a .556 hitting percentage. Jo Wilks dished out 39 assists and Meg DeMaar added a team-high nine digs and three service aces. The Paladins out-hit Chattanooga .396-.208 and out-blocked the Mocs, 9-5. Furman also recorded seven service aces to zero for Chattanooga.
The Mocs were led by sophomore Kristy Wieser with 13 kills and sophomore Allie Davenport with ten, while libero Catherine Chason led Chattanooga with 10 digs
Furman jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in set one and continued to hang on to the lead throughout the match. The Paladins used a 5-0 run to stretch the lead to six at 12-6, then stretched the lead to ten at 20-10. Chattanooga cut the lead to eight at 20-12, but the Paladins closed out the set on a 5-1 run to take set one, 25-13, for a 1-0 lead in the match. Furman hit .519 in set one and held Chattanooga to just a .200 hitting percentage.
Chattanooga opened an early 6-2 lead in set two, before the teams traded points until the Mocs opened a three-point lead at 16-13. Furman cut the lead to one at 16-15 before Chattanooga again stretched the lead to two at 17-15. Furman then used a 3-0 run to take its first lead of set two at 18-17. The teams traded points and Chattanooga reclaimed the lead at 19-18, then again at 20-19. The teams continued to trade points until Furman had set point at 24-22. Chattanooga would not go away quietly, however, as the Mocs rallied to tie the match at 24, 25, then again at 26. The Paladins then got kills from Annie Bierman and Taina Joseph to take set two, 28-26, for a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Paladins opened up a 7-2 lead in set three, forcing Chattanooga to call an early timeout. The Paladins continued their dominance as they used a 4-2 run to take an 11-4 lead, their largest of the set. The teams traded points until Chattanooga cut the lead to six at 19-13, then again at 20-14. Furman closed out the set on a 5-2 run to win set three, 25-16, and the match, 3-0. Furman out-blocked Chattanooga 6-1 in set three, holding the Mocs to a .108 hitting percentage.
Furman is back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. as the Paladins host league-leading Samford.
Samford 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Samford University volleyball team extended its winning streak to nine games as they dismantled The Citadel 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 17. Reigning SoCon Player of the Year Michaela Reesor led the way with 11 kills as the Bulldogs hit .337 as a team in the decision with 42 kills on 92 attempts.
Samford (13-7, 7-0 SoCon) jumped out in front early over The Citadel (6-16, 0-7 SoCon) over the Bulldogs from Charleston. SU clung to a 16-14 lead in the initial set before exploding on a 9-4 run to take the set and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs continued to let The Citadel hang around in the second set and actually trailed early on 6-3 before rallying to take a 7-6 lead. The Samford middles came alive as junior Emily Meitz and redshirt freshman T.J. Russell went on a tear to help extend the Bulldogs lead to 15-9. SU closed out the set with a 25-18 decision for a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
SU didn't allow The Citadel to hang around any in the third set as the Bulldogs convincingly took a 25-7 decision. The Citadel managed only one kill in set as the other six points were from Samford offensive miscues.
The Bulldogs only committed 11 attack errors in the match as compared to The Citadel's 16.
Russell and sophomore Erin Bognar combined for eight kills apiece in the match while sophomore setter Erika Pifer tallied 35 assists. Senior libero Chelsi Carter picked up her 40th service ace of the season as she notched a pair in the match to go along with 11 digs; sophomore Gabbi Greenwald led the Bulldogs with three service aces.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 18, to face SoCon foe Furman University. The match can be found via live stream on the SoCon Digital Network with first serve set for 3 p.m. CDT.
ETSU 3, Wofford 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Seven different Buccaneers posted a block, while ETSU registered seven of its 11 total blocks in the third set as the Blue and Gold stuffed Wofford in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-11) on Friday night inside Brooks Gym.
Senior Ivey Rice, who was honored pregame with a game ball for joining the 1,000-kill club back on Oct. 7 against MTSU, led all players with 11 kills (.393 attack percentage) and also added four blocks. Freshman Rylee Milhorn hit .444 (8-0-18) and pitched in with three digs.
Overall, eight different Buccaneers accounted for their 42 kills as ETSU registered a season-high .347 (42-8-98) attack percentage, while also out-blocking Wofford, 11-1. Senior Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) finished with seven kills (.417 attack percentage) and five blocks, while fellow senior Bethany Gesell and junior Khadijah Wiley both ended with six kills. Wiley also put away five blocks and Gesell totaled a pair of her own.
Senior Katie Muey posted a match-high 16 digs and moved into second-place all-time on ETSU’s career digs list with 1,607. Setters Kristen Favre and Jamie Rutledge quarterbacked the offense as Favre finished with a team-best 22 assists and Rutledge registered 10 assists and three blocks.
Following the match, head coach Lindsey Devine talked about the Bucs’ strong blocking performance.
Ivey Rice talked about how important it was to stick together and use great blocking to help propel the Buccaneers to victory. She also added how the pair of setbacks at Furman and Western Carolina helped fuel a fire for ETSU to get back into the win column.
Along with kicking the Blue and Gold into gear, ETSU has now won four straight home matches and 23 of its last 26 inside Brooks Gym, improving to 9-13, 3-3 in SoCon play.
Playing in Brooks Gym gives Milhorn a sense of comfort when taking to the court.
The entire team was calm and confident following the first set as ETSU never trailed after the opener.
The Bucs came out on fire offensively in the opener as ETSU hit .433 (15-2-30) and ETSU won the final three points to win the first set, 25-21. The Blue and Gold rallied back as Wofford led 13-10 midway through, but following an ETSU timeout, the Bucs used a 10-4 run to regain a 20-17 lead. ETSU never relinquished its advantage and captured its four-point win. Rice hit .500 (4-0-8) in the first frame, while Hardy and Milhorn added three kills, and Wiley and Gesell pitched in with a pair each.
In the second, ETSU won five of the first seven points and led 12-7 when Favre found Wiley for a slam, forcing Wofford to call a timeout. From there, the Blue and Gold pushed their advantage to six when Favre got in on the fun with a kill – and despite the Terriers pulling within three late (19-16) – the Bucs closed the frame on a 6-1 run to take a 2-0 lead following their 25-17 victory. ETSU tallied 15 kills in the second set and Muey picked up 10 of her 16 digs in the stanza.
Following the 10-minute intermission, the Bucs set the tempo early by winning the first three points of the third set and never looked back from there. Wiley and Gesell added the kills and Wofford’s Molly Mayo was called for a ball handling error, which led to the Terriers burning an early timeout. Wofford would win the next three points after the stoppage of play, but the Blue and Gold kicked things into a different gear – leading to the “Block Party.” With ETSU leading 13-5, the next five points for the Buccaneers came via the block as the Blue and Gold pushed their margin into double-digits, 18-6. Another Wofford timeout couldn’t slow down the blitzkrieg as Wiley and Rice combined for a block and Jessica Schafer and Briana Allmon followed suit, pushing ETSU’s lead to 14, 22-8. The block by Schafer and Allmon was the final one for the Bucs and ETSU celebrated the sweep when Wofford’s Jen Espenschied committed a service error to end the match, 25-11. In the end, the Bucs out-blocked Wofford, 7-0, in the third and ETSU out-hit the Terriers, .435 to -.094.
Wofford was led by Taylor Baird’s 9-kill effort, while Mayo led all players with 24 assists and added seven digs.
The Terriers dropped to 9-13, 2-4 following the setback.
The Bucs return to action Saturday afternoon when ETSU hosts Mercer at 2 p.m. inside Brooks Gym.
Western Carolina 3, Mercer 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - For the fifth time this season the Western Carolina volleyball team took a match to five sets and just like the four previous times the Catamounts came out victorious, 3-2. The Bears of Mercer University gave WCU all it could handle despite entering the match with a 5-13 record. Highlighting the Catamounts performance was senior Jordan Timmermann surpassing the 1,000 career digs mark. She became the tenth Catamount in program history to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
Timmermann now ranks ninth in career kills with 1,176 and 19th in career digs with 1,008 following her 19 kill/12 dig performance Friday evening inside the Ramsey Center. Timmermann led the Cats in kills and finished fourth in digs during the match while also chipping in a match-high three service aces and three blocks.
Senior Caitlin Piechota, who is also a member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club, had 14 kills, 17 digs and three blocks in the match. Senior Addy George added 10 kills and six blocks as she continued to assert her presence at the net. Freshman Katie O'Connor had a career-high nine blocks including three solo stops while adding three kills.
Freshman setter Jo-Leigh Vervelde led the team with 25 assists and also had 15 digs, six kills and two blocks. Junior setter Cristina Nazario had 21 helpers to go along with seven digs, two kills, two service aces and one block.
The Catamounts improved to 11-11 overall and 4-4 in SoCon play while the Bears dropped to 5-14 overall and 1-5 in SoCon action.
WCU controlled most of the opening set but it was a 13-4 to close out the stanza that gave WCU its 25-16 margin of victory. George had six of WCU's 12 kills in the period while also chipping in a pair of blocks.
The second set was almost the complete opposite as the Bears controlled play and took a 25-21 set victory. Molly Locke led the Bears with six kills and three blocks in the set while also digging up 12 balls. The Bears had 17 kills in the set and three blocks while the Catamounts mustered 10 kills and six blocks.
The third set was close early on but an 11-3 run by the Bears midway through the period gave them a seven point advantage. Mercer would go on to win the set 25-17. The Bears had six players combine for 17 kills while also adding three blocks. The Cats had just 12 kills in the period and one block.
The fourth set was all Catamounts as WCU cruised to a 25-15 victory. Timmermann led the squad with seven kills while the team combined for four blocks. The Bears relied heavily on Locke who had seven kills of her own while also digging up seven balls.
The fifth and final set saw the Catamounts jump out to a 7-3 lead and never look back. A block by O'Connor and Vervelde ended the match at 15-10. Timmermann once again led the Cats with four kills in the set to go along with a block. The Bears had just six kills and one block and WCU was able to hold Locke to just one kill in the period.
The Bears were led in the match by Locke who finished with 19 kills, 30 digs and five blocks. Caroline Carlton added 14 kills and a pair of blocks.
WCU will hit the road for three-straight match beginning with a trip to UNCG on Tuesday, Oct. 21 for a match at 7 p.m. The Spartans downed WCU 3-0 earlier this season inside the Ramsey Center.