UNCG 3, Samford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UNCG volleyball team notched a signature win and did it with style Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Southern Conference’s top team in Samford (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) on its home court.
The victory snapped the Bulldogs’ 11-match winning streak and marked the first-ever win for the Spartans at the Pete Hanna Center. UNCG is also now 4-2 on the road in conference play as three of those triumphs have come via the sweep.
For the second-straight contest, the Blue and Gold executed a clean offense while playing great defensive volleyball. UNCG (14-9, 6-4 SoCon) out-hit Samford (15-8, 9-1) .245 to .131 and out-dug the Bulldogs 52-40. The Spartans also had the better of the blocking 7.0 – 5.0 while tallying more kills (38-31) and assists (34-27).
Freshman outside hitter Ashley Muench wrapped up a solid week by tallying a match-high 13 kills to go along with eight digs. Sophomore setter Sara Hohman picked up her 12th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 12 digs while sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn chipped in with 12 digs, five kills and a block. UNCG served Samford tough in the match as senior middle hitter Kelsey Sidney finished the afternoon with three service aces.
A service error by Chelsi Carter opened the match and put the Spartans in the lead and UNCG would extend the advantage to 8-4 after a kill by Muench. A Bulldog block briefly knotted the score at 10 before another block by the home team left the score at 12-12. The Blue and Gold seized control in the middle of the set, frustrating Samford into calling a timeout with the Spartans in front 19-15. The Bulldogs rallied within 20-17 but reached set point at 24-18 thanks to another kill by Muench. After an attacking error by UNCG, SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Michaela Reesor served a ball into the net to give the Spartans the frame by a 25-19 margin.
The teams battled throughout the early portion of the second set but the Bulldogs were able to establish some breathing room at 12-10. The lead grew to 13-10 after a kill by TJ Russell. However, UNCG was not fazed and ripped off an 11-1 run to push in front 21-14. Samford had no answer after that as a kill by redshirt junior middle hitter Julia Westerbur ended the second set 25-19 in the Spartans’ favor and gave the Blue and Gold a 2-0 overall lead at intermission.
A pair of blocks and a kill afforded UNCG a 4-1 lead to begin set three. Despite the Bulldogs’ best efforts, the Spartans were not about to relinquish the advantage and forced the home side into a timeout after an attacking error by Reesor gave the Spartans a 14-7 advantage. Samford made a push at that point, rallying to within 15-12. However, a kill by senior middle hitter Vicky Harley capped a 6-3 run for UNCG that extended the Spartans’ cushion to 21-15. The Blue and Gold would find itself with a 23-17 lead and on the brink of the sweep but the Bulldogs had one more rally in them. The serve of Carter forced UNCG to use two timeouts as Samford pulled within 23-21 but UNCG stuck together and used kills from Brezwyn and Muench to turn back to Bulldogs and clinch the sweep.
The Spartans return home to Fleming Gymnasium for their next two matches as they will help the UNCG campus celebrate Homecoming. The Blue and Gold will host East Tennessee State Friday on Halloween Night (7 p.m.) before wrapping up the weekend Saturday against Furman (5 p.m.).
Mercer 3, Chattanooga 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Mercer sophomore Jordan Gollon was nearly unstoppable on Saturday evening, racking up 14 kills with only a single error while leading the volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-16, 21-15, 25-27, 25-23, 15-12) victory at Chattanooga.
Mercer’s second win in its last three outings pushed the team to 7-16 (3-7 SoCon) while Chattanooga fell to 12-13 (5-5 SoCon).
Gollon’s career-high 14 kills came on 24 attacks for a .542 hitting percentage. The Stevens Point, Wisconsin native also added five total blocks, two digs and an assist in the winning effort.
Junior Molly Locke registered her fourth double-double in the last five matches with team-high totals of 16 kills and 27 digs. Senior Caroline Carlton reached double-figure kills for the second-straight outing, booking 12 to go along with six total blocks, four digs and an assist.
A hotly contested match saw Mercer and Chattanooga share 30 tie scores and exchange leads 17 times. In the end, the Bears were able to outlast the Mocs for their second five-set victory of the week.
Mercer got ahead early as sophomore Hannah Noon dished out 10 assists and Gollon was a perfect 3-for-3 on attacking attempts in a 25-16 opening set victory.
After Chattanooga claimed the second set by a 25-21 margin, the Bears and Mocs played to a 25-25 tie in the third stanza. The hosts ultimately triumphed, 27-25, after a kill by Kristy Wieser and a Mercer attacking error concluded the frame.
In the fourth set, the teams battled to a 23-23 tie score before the Bears were able to benefit from back-to-back Chattanooga errors.
The deciding frame saw Mercer and Chattanooga split the first 10 points before the Bears broke away with a 6-2 run. Mercer was able to maintain the separation and ultimately secured the match thanks to freshman Emily Krogman’s seventh kill of the evening on the final point.
Noon finished just shy of a double-double with 31 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Tori Penrod and freshman Bailey Noon collected 18 and 14 digs, respectively.
Mercer returns to action with its final non-conference match of the year on Wednesday, traveling to Savannah State for a 6 p.m. first serve.
Wofford 3, Western Carolina 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Led by senior Taylor Baird's match-high 20 kills, the Wofford volleyball team overcame a Western Carolina rally to end a five-match SoCon losing streak in five sets (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 20-25, 15-12) on Homecoming Saturday at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Down 8-6 in the fifth, Wofford scored three straight points to take the lead on a kill by freshman Alex Holland. The Terriers never trailed again and earned three match points when Baird's third kill of the set put Wofford ahead 14-11.
The final point could not have been more dramatic. An 11-hit rally that saw diving saves from attacks on both sides came to an end when the ball hit the floor off a mishandled set by Western's Christina Nazario.
The win ended Western Carolina's (13-12, 6-5 SoCon) six-game winning streak, and also ended a drought of over six years since Wofford (11-15, 3-6 SoCon) last won in five sets at home. Not since defeating The Citadel on Sept. 27, 2008 had Wofford done it. In fact, the last seven times Wofford went to five sets at home, it ended in a loss, including last Wednesday against Mercer and earlier this year versus USC Upstate.
Wofford outpaced Western 67-52 in kills, edging the Catamounts .239 to .228 on the attack. Those 67 kills came with the help of a match-high 55 assists from freshman setter Molly Mayo, who leads the Southern Conference in assists per set.
Despite getting blocked a season-high 16 times for the second straight match, the Terrier attack was able to overcome. In addition to the 15-kill advantage, Wofford had nine aces to Western's five.
Junior Liz Buterbaugh, sophomore Ellie Tallman and freshman Bella Santoro joined Baird with double-figure kills. The senior's 20 came at .298, while Buterbaugh, Tallman and Santoro all had 10. Buterbaugh's was the most impressive, as she hit .692 with just a single error on 13 attempts. The middle blocker also had a team-high five blocks.
On the ground, junior libero Jessica Graham took in a match-high 19 digs and Santoro completed her team-high ninth double-double with 11.
For the Catamounts, George and Jordan Timmermann each had a team-high 12 kills. George hit a team-best .500 (12-2-20) and had six blocks. Katie O'Conner led the match with eight blocks and four Catamounts registered double-figure digs. Jo-Leigh Vervelde earned a double-double of 21 assists and 12 digs.
The Wofford volleyball team takes a short road trip to Greenville next Wednesday to go up against Furman at Alley Gym. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Furman 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Furman used a .384 hitting percentage and kills from nine different Paladins to down The Citadel, 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-10), on Saturday. The win moves the Paladins to 15-6 overall and 8-2 in SoCon play, while the loss drops the Bulldogs to 6-20 overall and 0-11 in the SoCon.
Fifteen Paladins saw action in the match, while Ashton Gregory led the offensive charge with 15 kills, turning in a team-high-tying .667 hitting percentage and adding four blocks. Kasey Hohlen put down nine kills and a .412 hitting percentage, while Taina Joseph added three blocks and six kills. Jo Wilks dished out a team-high 31 assists and Meg DeMaar and Caitlyn Scioscia added two serves aces each. Redshirt freshman Anna Parsons recorded the first two kills of her career, while senior Katie Harrell added a season-high seven digs. The Paladins held the Bulldogs to a .052 hitting percentage, the lowest of all Furman opponents this season.
The Paladins jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set one, before the Citadel cut the lead to one at 4-3. The Paladins then used a 6-2 run to push the lead to 10-5 and force The Citadel’s first timeout of the day. Out of the timeout, the teams traded points until the Paladins pushed their lead to seven at 17-10. The teams continued to trade points until Furman ended set one on a 4-2 run to win 25-15 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Furman again opened up a big lead in set two, this time grabbing an 11-5 lead to force The Citadel’s first timeout of the set. The Paladins then used a 9-6 run to take a 20-11 lead, prompting The Citadel’s second timeout of set two. The Bulldogs outscored the Paladins 6-5 to end the set, but Furman’s lead was too much to overcome as Furman took set two, 25-17, for a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Paladins didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal in set three, as Furman opened up a 9-1 run to force a Bulldog timeout. Following an Ashton Gregory kill, Christen Sikora served eight-straight points to push the Furman lead to 18-2, before The Citadel broke her serve to make it 18-3. The teams then traded points until The Citadel used a 3-0 run to cut into the Furman lead at 23-10, before Furman got kills from Anna Parsons and Ashton Stocker to win set three, 25-10, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action on Wednesday night as it plays host to Wofford in the Paladins annual “Dig Pink” match.