UNCG 3, ETSU 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball team won its third-straight match Friday evening, recording a sweep (25-16, 25-20, 25-19) of East Tennessee State inside Fleming Gymnasium to kick off the Homecoming festivities on campus. The victory avenged a 3-1 setback to the Bucs in Johnson City a couple of weeks ago and gave the Spartans a season series split with ETSU.
It was a pivotal win for UNCG (15-9, 7-4 SoCon) as the Buccaneers (11-15, 5-5 SoCon) entered the match just one half game back of the Spartans for third place in the league standings. With the victory, UNCG now has a 1.5 match lead over ETSU in the standings and also holds the tiebreaker due to its 3-0 win at Samford last weekend.
The Spartans tallied more kills (45-30), assists (41-28), digs (57-43) and blocks (4.0-3.5) in the match while the Bucs only had the advantage in service aces 5-3. ETSU entered the contest as the top blocking team in the league but was held in check by UNCG in that regard. The Blue and Gold hit .287 (45k/14e/108ta) and limited the visitors to .128 (30k/16e/109ta) efficiency.
The reigning SoCon Freshman of the Week, outside hitter Ashley Muench, led UNCG with 10 kills while sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn and senior middle hitter Kelsey Sidney checked in with nine. Sophomore setter Sara Hohman recorded her 14th double-double overall and seventh in conference play with 35 assists and 13 digs. Muench also notched a double-double as she added 13 digs to her 10 kills. Redshirt junior middle hitter Julia Westerbur was error free offensively, tallying eight kills on 19 attempts to end up at .421. She is the current SoCon leader in hitting percentage.
UNCG came out on fire in the first set as an attacking error by Bethany Gesell made the score 8-2 in favor of the Spartans. ETSU was forced to call a timeout trailing 13-6 in an attempt to stop the Blue and Gold’s momentum but it would not work. A kill by Sidney stretched the Spartan lead to 17-8 and the Bucs would not threaten again. Another attacking error by Gesell ended the stanza with UNCG on top 25-16.
The second set was much more competitive early on as a service ace by Kristen Favre forced the Spartans to use a timeout trailing 10-7. Unfazed, UNCG rode the serving of sophomore defensive specialist Mackenzie Moughon to knot the score at 11. The teams battled back and forth before, with the score tied at 16, a kill by Westerbur sparked a 3-0 run to afford the Spartans a 19-16 advantage. ETSU attempted the rally, pulling within 21-20 on a kill by Meredith Hardy, but UNCG buckled down and won the final four points of the set to head into intermission with a two sets to none lead.
East Tennessee State raced out to a 3-0 edge to begin the third frame but two kills by Westerbur and kill from Brezwyn quickly deadlocked the score at three. A kill by Sidney capped a 10-6 run that gave UNCG some breathing room at 13-10 but the Bucs stayed close and forced the Spartans to take a timeout after drawing within 17-15. An attacking error by Muench then cut the UNCG lead to one. However, Hardy committed a service error on the next rally. The Spartans were able to put the match away with a 4-2 run that made the score 22-18. An error by Gesell pushed the advantage to 23-18 before a kill by Brezwyn sealed the set 25-19 and clinched the sweep.
UNCG faces another tough test tomorrow, hosting current SoCon second place Furman to continue the Homecoming celebration. First serve is slated for 5 p.m.
Western Carolina 3, Chattanooga 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Freshman Jo-Leigh Vervelde has been knocking on the door of a triple-double all season for the Catamounts. Throughout the year she has fallen just one or two kills or digs short to accomplish the feat but Friday night inside the Ramsey Center the first triple-double in recorded Catamount volleyball history occurred. Vervelde notched 10 kills, 30 assists and 15 digs in a four-set win over Chattanooga including four kills in the final set to achieve the mark.
After dropping the opening set, the Catamounts found their groove and won three-straight sets to knock off the Mocs who had swept WCU earlier this season in Chattanooga. UTC won the opening set 25-21 before the Cats won 25-16, 25-19 and 25-23 to seal the victory.
UTC falls to 12-15 on the year and 5-7 in SoCon play while the Catamounts improve to 14-12 overall and 7-5 in conference action.
The win was a total team effort as four Catamounts reached double-figure kills and five reached double-figure digs. Seniors Jordan Timmermann and Caitlin Piechota led the Catamounts with 14 kills each. They both secured doubles-doubles with 10 and 14 digs, respectively. Timmermann added three service aces while Piechota had a pair of blocks.
Senior Addy George chipped in 12 kills and two blocks while senior Brandi Anderson had seven kills and a block.
Junior libero Elyssa Mulheron led the team with 18 digs while junior setter Cristina Nazario added 23 assists and 10 digs.
The Catamounts took an early 3-0 lead in the opening set but a 14-4 run by the Mocs gave UTC control of the opening set. The Cats battled late to cut the lead to three but UTC hung on to win the period 25-21. Kristy Wieser led the Mocs with seven kills in the period while Piechota had four for the Catamounts.
In the second set, the Catamounts opened up an early lead and eventually extended the early advantage to a 20-10 lead late in the set. The Mocs worked to cut the lead to 23-16 but a kill by O'Connor and a block from O'Connor and Anderson ended the set, 25-16. George led the charge in the second set with five kills on five attacks. Briana Reid had six kills for the Mocs.
The third set was extremely tight the entire way with neither team taking more than a three point lead until late. Leading 20-18 late in the period the Catamounts used a 5-1 run to close out the set that featured two kills and a block assist from George. Piechota and George ended the period with four kills while Reid and Allie Davenport led the Mocs with three kills each.
The fourth and final set looked to be Chattanooga's until a late rally by the Catamounts swung the momentum. The Mocs held a 17-12 lead midway through the period when the Catamounts began to fight back. With the score in favor of the Mocs 20-17, WCU went on a 3-0 run following a timeout to tie the set at 20. A kill by Reid ended WCU's run but Piechota answered back with a kill of her own to tie it at 21. A Vervelde service ace and a Catamount attack error knotted the match at 22. Back-to-back kills by Piechota and Timmermann gave WCU its first match point of the night at 24-22. Lauren Gainer tried to keep UTC's hopes alive with a kill by another Timmermann kill ended the set 25-23. Timmermann led the Cats with six kills in the final period while Gainer had six for the Mocs.
UTC was led by Reid's 16 kills and 14 digs while Wieser added 11 kills and four digs.
WCU will hit the road for a single match at ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. before returning home for senior weekend Nov. 7-8.
Mercer 3, The Citadel 1
MACON, Ga. – Mercer sophomore Tori Penrod registered the second double-double of her career on Friday night, posting 10 service aces and 14 digs as the volleyball team topped The Citadel, 3-1 (25-19, 25-7, 17-25, 25-21).
Mercer’s third-straight victory pushed the Bears to 9-16 (4-7 SoCon) while The Citadel fell to 7-21 (0-7 SoCon).
Seven of Penrod’s service aces were earned at the start of the second set, when the sophomore took the opening 13 serves of the frame while the Bears busted open a 13-0 lead. Penrod’s 10 service aces marked the highest total for a SoCon athlete this year.
In addition to her digs and aces, Penrod also notched six assists and a kill to lead the Bears to their first SoCon home victory. Junior Molly Locke also earned a double-double, knocking down 17 kills to go along with 12 digs.
Senior Caroline Carlton topped the 10-kill mark for the fourth consecutive time, crushing 12 with just five errors on 33 attempts. Carlton also contributed three total blocks and a pair of digs in the win.
After assuming the match lead with a 25-19 victory in set one, the Bears put away the Bulldogs early in the second set thanks in large part to Penrod’s services. After a Locke kill gave the Bears control of the serve, Penrod delivered five-straight service aces to begin her 13-serve stretch.
With Mercer leading 2-0, The Citadel came out strong at the open of the third stanza. The visitors jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Mercer pulled even at 10-10. The Bulldogs would retaliate with a 5-1 run and never surrendered the lead thereafter.
A determined Mercer bunch closed out matters in the fourth set, breaking away from a 20-20 tie with four-straight scores. At the end, Locke’s 17th kill of the evening put sealed the victory.
Sophomore Ellie James earned 14 digs on the back line while also tallying two kills and an assist. Freshman Gabbi Meyering contributed valuable minutes off the bench, with two block solos and a block assist in the crucial final set.
The Bears continue SoCon play on Saturday, hosting Samford at 1 p.m.