Furman 3, UNCG 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind dominant sets one, three and four, Furman volleyball downed UNCG, 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16) on Saturday in Alley Gym. With the win, the Paladins move to 11-4 on the year and remain unbeaten in SoCon play (4-0), while stretching their winning streak to five matches. With the loss, the Spartans fall to 9-7 and 2-2 in the SoCon.
Andrea Fisher led the Paladins with 15 kills on 27 swings, with a .407 hitting percentage and three aces. Ashton Gregory turned in another double-digit kill game with 12, while hitting .320 and added five blocks. Taina Joseph turned in one of the best games of her career, with career highs of eight kills and eight blocks, with a team-high .727 hitting percentage. Jo Wilks added a double double with 45 assists and 11 digs, while Meg DeMaar led the Paladins with 21 digs. As a team, the Paladins out-hit the Spartans .320-.169, added 14 blocks to UNCG’s eight, and totaled seven service aces to UNCG’s zero.
The teams traded points early in set one, until a 3-0 Furman run gave the Paladins the early 10-7 edge, forcing UNCG to call its first timeout. The teams again traded points until Furman jumped out to a 15-10 lead to force UNCG’s second timeout of the set. Furman pushed their lead to six at 20-14, before UNCG cut into the lead at 20-15. Furman then closed out the set on a 5-1 run, taking set one, 25-16. The Paladins hit .531 in set one, while holding UNCG to a .290 hitting percentage.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in set two, before Furman cut the lead to three at 7-4. The teams traded points until UNCG pushed the lead to six at 12-6, forcing a Furman timeout. The teams again traded points until a 4-0 run by the Paladins cut the UNCG lead to one at 17-16, forcing a UNCG timeout. The teams once again traded points until two-straight Furman points tied the match at 19. Furman took a 20-19 lead, but four-straight points by UNCG gave the Spartans the lead back at 23-20. The teams traded points until the Paladins cut the lead to one at 24-23, but UNCG used a kill to take set two, 25-23, and tie the match at one.
Fueled by two blocks from Ashton Gregory, Furman jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in set three, forcing UNCG to take a timeout. Furman stretched its lead to 9-1, before UNCG got a kill to cut the lead to seven at 9-2. The teams then traded points until Furman pushed the lead to 11-3, before UNCG cut into the Paladin lead at 11-6. Furman continued its dominance in set three, not letting the Spartans get any closer than seven points. Furman finished the set on with two-straight points to take set three, 25-14, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Behind two Andrea Fisher aces, Furman jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in set four, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout. UNCG was able to cut into the Paladin lead at 13-9, but the teams traded points before two-straight points from Furman forced the Spartans to use their second timeout, down 15-9. Furman continued to stretch its lead in set four, until UNCG again cut into the Paladin lead at 23-16. Two-straight kills by the Paladins gave Furman the 25-16 set four win, and a 3-1 match victory.
Furman is back in action on Friday night, October 10, as the Paladins host ETSU in a 7:00 PM match in Alley Gym.
Chattanooga 3, WCU 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team pulled its Southern Conference record even Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Western Carolina at Maclellan Gym. UTC’s second straight SoCon win brought its mark to 2-2 in league play and 9-10 overall, while WCU fell to 7-11 and 0-4 in the conference.
Sophomore Allie Davenport and Kristy Wieser led the Mocs offensively with 11 kills each, and junior Catherine Chason manned the defensive effort with 15 digs.
Chattanooga’s defense posted 11.0 blocks while the Catamounts were held to 2.0 total blocks. Six-foot-three sophomore Nicole Sumida totaled seven blocks, including one solo block, and junior Lauren Gainer led the effort with seven blocks with two solos.
The Mocs took the first set 25-23 – the closest margin of the match. Sophomore Anne Bachmann recorded a team-best nine digs in the frame, and both Gainer and Sumida tallied two blocks each. Offensively, Wieser jumped out to a hot four-kill start. Despite the three-point win, Chattanooga hit just .164 for the set.
The hitting stats improved in the second frame for UTC as its hitters boasted a .256 percentage, winning 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead into the break. Wieser and Davenport each downed four kills, while Gainer and junior Julimar Alvarado followed up with three each. Sumida also earned three blocks, giving UTC 4.0 blocks for a second straight set.
The door was slammed on the contest in the third as the Mocs took the third set with an identical 25-22 score from the second. Davenport totaled a set-best five kills as Chattanooga went on to hit .324 – its best percentage of the match.
The Mocs go on the road for the first time in conference play next weekend. UTC visits Wofford Friday at 7 p.m. before meeting with newly-added SoCon foe Mercer in Macon, Ga., Saturday.
Wofford 3, Mercer 0
MACON, Ga. – The Wofford volleyball team used its highest attacking percentage of the season to overpower Mercer in three sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-20), Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action at Hawkins Arena.
The Terriers hit .380 and put down 44 kills. Wofford’s hitting percentage more than tripled Mercer’s mark of .104 and Wofford’s kill count nearly doubled the 24 from the Bears.
The offensive outburst was headed by senior Taylor Baird, who led all players with 12 kills and hit an impressive .391. Freshman Bella Santoro joined Baird in double figures with 11 kills (.333) and added three blocks.
A pair of freshmen in Danni Densford and Alex Holland went for eight kills apiece. More noteworthy, Densford hit a blistering, match-high .583 and Holland came in at .462, which led all players. For Densford – the Southern Conference leader in attack percentage heading into the day (.354) – it marked the middle’s sixth match of the season of .500 or better. Meanwhile, Holland, an outside hitter, posted her third outing of .400 or more.
Wofford (9-10, 2-1 SoCon) also outplayed Mercer (4-11, 1-2 SoCon) on the defensive side in the first ever Southern Conference meeting between the two schools. The Terriers outblocked the Bears 9-7 and came up with 11 more digs (31-20). Densford led Wofford’s block with a match-high five, while Baird, Santoro and redshirt freshman Alyse High all posted three. Junior Jessica Graham went for a match-high 11 digs, which marked her 50th career match in double figures.
It was the first volleyball game between the two schools since 2005 and, with the win, Wofford has claimed three of the last four meetings.
Saturday’s matinee was completely controlled by Wofford from the beginning. The Terriers welcomed one of the SoCon’s newest members to the league by hitting .435 in the first set. Santoro put down a set-high five kills, while Densford, Baird and Holland chimed in with three each. An 8-1 run turned a two-point Mercer lead into an 11-6 Wofford advantage. After the Bears cut the margin back to three, Wofford scored five of the next six points, including four straight, to go on top by seven. It was a runaway from there. A bad set by Mercer’s Hannah Noon made it a 10-point Terrier lead for the first time at 22-12 and Holland slammed the set’s final point to hand Wofford the opener.
The Terriers hit .280 in the second, which was their worst percentage of the match. It was still better than any hitting percentage Mercer posted all day, and certainly outdid Mercer’s negative mark of -.036 in the second. Two kills by Molly Locke helped Mercer begin the set ahead 3-0, but Wofford took the lead for the first time at 10-9 and never looked back. A 5-0 run forced Mercer’s first timeout with the Terriers in front 12-9. Then, a set that was separated by just two points at 14-12 got completely out of hand, as Wofford used an 11-2 run to slam the door for a two-set lead. A kill by Santoro sparked the run and Mercer committed six errors, as Wofford went into the break with a pair of 25-14 sets in its pocket.
The third began with three straight Terrier kills – one from High and two from Baird – but Mercer hung tough and showed the most life it had all day. The Terriers led 6-3 when the home side used its largest run of the match, 7-1, to go on top 10-7.
It was quickly dismissed. Kills by Baird, Santoro and two from Densford won Wofford five straight to regain a 12-10 lead and Mercer never led again; however, the set did remain close. The Bears rallied to tie the third at 17 and again at 20 on a Noon ace. That ace was the last Mercer point of the match and the Terriers closed out their second three-set win of the SoCon season with the final five points.
The Wofford volleyball team returns home for two Southern Conference matchups next weekend. The Terriers meet Chattanooga on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Samford on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both matches will be streamed for free on the SoCon Digital Network.
Samford 3, The Citadel 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team extended its win streak to five games after defeating The Citadel 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-19) on Saturday, Oct. 4, inside the Pete Hanna Center. Three Bulldogs recorded double-digit kills en route to the win.
Sophomore Erin Bognar tallied a team-high 12 kills in the match and was followed closely by senior Michaela Reesor and redshirt freshman T.J. Russell who each notched 11 kills.
Samford (9-7, 3-0 SoCon) hit an astounding .422 on the night which included 49 kills on just 90 attempts.
Several other Bulldogs recorded notable performances as junior Emily Meitz led the team with a .857 attack percentage with six kills on seven attempts. Sophomore setter Erika
Pifer dished out 44 assists while senior libero Chelsi Carter tallied 19 digs and two service aces in the match.
SU jumped out in front early but the Citadel (5-13, 0-4 SoCon) provided staunch resistance as they kept the set close. There were three times in the set where the score was tied before Samford found separation towards the end to take the initial set 25-22.
The Bulldogs took the second set handily as the team hit an incredible .500 to take the second set 25-12 over the Citadel. Meitz was a perfect 5-for-5 offensively for SU to lead the way.
Samford's next opponent is Mercer University; the Bulldogs will welcome the Bears to the Pete Hanna Center on Wednesday, Oct. 8, with the match scheduled to start at 6 p.m.