Western Carolina 3, UNCG 2
GREENBORO, N.C. - Western Carolina volleyball's five set magic continued Tuesday nights as the Catamounts remained unbeaten in five set matches with an epic 3-2 win over host UNCG. WCU is now 6-0 in five set matches on the year and 16-3 all-time under the direction of head coach Karen Glover in five set affairs. The win is also the fifth-straight conference victory for the Catamounts marking the longest conference win streak in program history since 2002 when the Cats won six-in-a-row.
The Catamounts won the opening two sets of the match, 25-18 and 25-22, before dropping set three and four, 25-22 and 25-18. The fifth and final set was an all-out battle as neither team relinquished control. The Catamounts eventually pulled out the victory 26-24.
Western Carolina improves to 12-11 on the year and 5-4 in SoCon play while the Spartans fall to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in SoCon action.
Senior Addy George led the Cats with 16 kills and nine blocks. The nine blocks tied her season and career-highs. Senior Jordan Timmermann added 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks to the effort. Seniors Caitlin Piechota and Brandi Anderson each had eight kills in the victory while freshmen Katie O'Connor and Jo-Leigh Vervelde added four kills each.
Piechota led the Cats with 25 digs while also putting down five service aces. Anderson added four blocks while O'Connor had five. Vervelde turned in another double-double with 24 assists and 20 digs. She also had three service aces.
Junior setter Cristina Nazario also had a double-double with 19 assists and 15 digs.
The Catamounts never trailed in the opening set but their lead never exceeded four points till late in the period. Leading 21-17 late in the set the Catamounts used a 4-1 run to close out the period. A pair of kills by George and two UNCG errors gave WCU the opening set.
The second set was tight throughout but a late spurt once again pushed the Cats ahead. Leading 20-19 after a timeout the Catamounts scored four-straight points thanks to kills from Timmermann and Piechota and a pair of UNCG errors. With the set on the line the Spartans fought off three set points before a Vervelde kill ended the set, 25-22.
The Spartans never trailed in the third set but the Catamounts kept it close. A late surge by the Cats tied the set at 22 on a solo block by George but the Spartans rattled over three-straight points to close the set, 25-22.
The fourth set saw the Spartans pull away midway through the stanza. A 9-4 run gave UNCG a 18-11 lead and the Spartans never looked back as they cruised to a 25-18 victory.
The fifth set was back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than four points. The Catamounts looked to be in control when they scored five-straight points to take a 14-10 lead in the final set. The Spartans were able to fight off three match points and then took the lead at 15-14. From that point on WCU had six match points and UNCG had three but neither team would fold. With the score knotted at 24, back-to-back attack errors by the Spartans gave WCU the match, 26-24.
UNCG was led by Kelsey Sidney and Ashley Muench who each had 19 kills in the match. Muench added 27 digs as well.
WCU will continue its three-match road swing at the Citadel on Friday, Oct. 24. The Catamounts defeated the Bulldogs 3-0 at home earlier this season.
ETSU 3, The Citadel 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The ETSU volleyball team put the finishing touches on another perfect homestand as the Bucs secured their sixth straight home win by sweeping The Citadel (25-13, 25-16, 25-18) on Tuesday night inside Brooks Gym.
Senior Meredith Hardy, who picked up Southern Conference co-Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday, put together a dominate offensive showcase for the Buccaneer faithful as the ETSU middle blocker hit .583 (15-1-24) and also collected seven blocks. Junior Khadijah Wiley, another Buccaneer middle blocker, was also solid on Tuesday night as she hit .312 (6-1-16) and picked up a pair of blocks.
The duo of Jamie Rutledge and Kristen Favre directed the offense as the ETSU setters combined for 37 of its 39 assists, while senior libero Katie Muey used her pin-point serving to close out the match. Rutledge led all players with 21 assists and Favre added 16 assists and four digs. Both players also registered a kill.
Meanwhile, Muey served the Blue and Gold to the final six points of the match, and Jessica Schafer and Rylee Milhorn combined for a block to cap off the sweep.
For the second time in the last three matches ETSU hit over .300 as the Bucs finished with a .337 attack percentage (40-8-95), while the Blue and Gold out-blocked The Citadel, 11.5-2.0.
Rutledge posted three blocks and senior Bethany Gesell totaled five of her own. Muey paced the Bucs’ serving by recording four of their seven aces – two coming in the final five points – and junior Ashleigh Shain add two aces as well.
ETSU, who has won three straight and seven of its last nine matches, improved to 11-13, 5-3 in SoCon play. The Citadel dropped to 6-18, 0-9, and the Bulldogs are now winless in all 12 matches against the Blue and Gold.
The Bucs got off to a strong start offensively as ETSU combined to hit .391 (31-4-69) in the first two sets and led 2-0 at the break.
Hardy and Ivey Rice led ETSU’s offensive attack in the opener as the Bucs eased their way to a 25-13 win. Hardy (seven kills) and Rice (six kills) combined for 13 of the Bucs’ 17 kills in the frame, while the Blue and Gold hit .378 (17-3-37) as a team. With the score tied at four, ETSU used a 9-4 spurt to go ahead by five, 13-8, forcing The Citadel to burn a timeout after the Bulldogs committed an attack error. From there, ETSU saw its load soar into double-digits as Rutledge found Hardy for three consecutive kills, putting the Blue and Gold up, 20-10. Rice put the finishing touches on the set when her sixth kill gave the Bucs a 12-point victory.
From there, the match featured 11 ties, but ETSU never trailed and took control of the contest by capturing a 25-16 win in the second. Again, the Bucs had their way offensively as the Blue and Gold hit .406 (14-1-32) and had four players record three kills in the frame – Wiley, Gesell, Hardy and Rice. ETSU won seven of the first 10 points of the set and the closest the Bulldogs could get is within two, 8-6. The Bucs would eventually win nine of the next 14 points to build a six-point lead, 17-11, forcing The Citadel to call timeout after Shain recorded an ace. The Bulldogs never responded after the timeout as ETSU earned the nine-point set win.
The third set was the closest frame of the night as it consisted of 10 ties, but with the score knotted at 18, the Bucs won the final seven points to complete the 25-18 win. ETSU seemed to have things in control midway through as a service ace by Muey made it a 13-8 score, but the Bulldogs fought back and tied it a 15 following Hardy's only attack error of the night. The teams would trade scores until a block by Wiley and Gesell ignited the 7-0 surge to cap off the match. All four of Muey’s aces came in the final set, while Hardy had five of ETSU’s nine kills in the frame. As a team, the Bucs out-blocked The Citadel, 5.5-2.0, in the third set.
Megan Sowell and Bailey Kernodle both finished with seven kills for the Bulldogs, while Rachel Keefer accounted for 18 of The Citadel’s 28 assists.
The Blue and Gold return to action this Friday as ETSU heads to Birmingham, Ala., for a SoCon match at Samford. First serve is set for 8 p.m. EDT inside the Pete Hanna Center.