Furman 3, Samford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Behind double-digit kills from Ashton Gregory and Andrea Fisher, Furman volleyball swept Samford (25-19, 25-16, 25-16) to claim the 2014 Southern Conference volleyball regular season title, the program’s first since 2009. The win moves the Paladins to 20-6, 13-2 in SoCon play, giving head coach Michelle Young her seventh 20-win season. The loss drops Samford to 16-12 and 10-5 in league play.
Gregory led the Paladins offensively, putting down 12 kills with a .500 hitting percentage and adding four blocks. Fisher turned in another double-digit kill performance with 10, adding nine digs. Taina Joseph added a team-high five blocks, while Jo Wilks recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 28 assists and a team-high 12 digs. Furman out-hit Samford .255 to .083, and turned in 10 blocks to the Bulldogs’ five. Samford was led by seniors Michaela Reesor and Chelsi Carter, with 10 kills and 13 digs, respectively.
The Bulldogs opened up a quick lead in set one, taking four of the first five points to hold the early 4-1 lead. Furman battled back to cut the lead to one at 5-4, then the teams traded points until Samford pushed the lead to two at 10-8 and 11-9. The Paladins again battled back to tie the match at 11, before two-straight Paladin points, including a block by Annie Bierman and Taina Joseph, pushed the lead to two at 16-14, forcing Samford to call a timeout. The teams again traded points until Samford cut Furman’s lead to one at 18-17. Furman then closed out the set on a 7-2 run, to take set one 25-19, for a 1-0 lead in the match.
The teams traded points early in set two until, with the Paladins trailing by two at 11-9, Meg DeMaar served Furman on a 14-0 run to push the lead to 23-11. Samford battled back to cut the lead to eight at 24-16, but an Ashton Gregory kill gave Furman the 25-16 set two win, for a 2-0 match lead.
Furman jumped out to an early lead in set two, opening up a four-point advantage at 8-4. The teams then traded points until consecutive kills by the Paladins gave Furman a 15-8 lead, forcing Samford to call its first timeout. Furman continued to add to the lead out of the timeout, pushing it to 11 at 21-10. Samford then used a 6-0 run of its own to cut the lead to five at 21-16, until Furman used four-straight points, including three-consecutive blocks, to take set three, 25-16, and the match, 3-0.
The Paladins are back in action tomorrow at 6:00 pm, as they face Chattanooga for the final regular season match of 2014.
Chattanooga 3, Wofford 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team topped Wofford Friday evening at Maclellan Gym, rolling on to win 3-0 and snap a six-match skid. Sophomore Kristy Wieser lead UTC to victory with an 11-kill, four block performance while senior Melissa Green came up big on defense with 14 of the team’s 38 digs.
The Mocs came out strong in the first set to put Wofford away with an outstanding 25-8 victory. In the first set alone, Wieser and sophomore Nicole Sumida each tallied four kills on five and six attempts, respectively. With 11 kills as a team in the frame, UTC hit an outrageous .524 and held Wofford to a -.217 hitting percentage. The team’s .524 hitting percentage sets a new match record for the Mocs, topping the previous record (.500) recorded in 1999.
The Terriers brought a stronger showing in the second, but still fell victim 25-21 to the Mocs. Wieser was dominant again in the stanza with five kills on seven attacks. On the night, the outside hitter recorded a .647 hitting percentage.
Chattanooga claimed the third and final set 25-17 with sophomore Allie Davenport leading the way with a set-high six kills. The defense also collected two blocks, tying the second set’s total, with Wieser and Sumida each nabbing two assisted blocks.
Chattanooga is in action again Saturday night beginning at 6 p.m. as Maclellan Gym hosts Furman to close out the regular season. The match also serves as senior night for Green and captain Brianna Guzinski. The senior night ceremony is set to begin 10 minutes before first serve.
ETSU 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The ETSU volleyball team picked up its fifth straight win as the Bucs defeated The Citadel in four sets (25-17, 25-12, 25-27, 25-18) on Friday night inside McAlister Fieldhouse.
Playing its final regular season matches of the season, ETSU saw four players post double-digit kills, while the Bucs hit .305 (66-15-167) as a team. Overall, the Blue and Gold were led by senior Ivey Rice as she totaled a match-high 16 kills and fellow senior Meredith Hardy hit .526 (11-1-19) and added five blocks. Freshman Rylee Milhorn collected her second double-double of the year (12 kills/15 digs), while senior Bethany Gesell posted 12 kills and nine digs. Meanwhile, sophomore Kristen Favre and senior Jamie Rutledge quarterbacked the Bucs’ offense as they accounted for 47 of their 54 assists. Favre led the way with 24 assists, five digs and three kills, and Rutledge dished out 23 assists.
To go with its attack percentage, ETSU was plus-24 in kills (66-42), plus-10 in digs (73-63), plus-3 in blocks (9-6) and plus-7 in service aces (10-3). Milhorn had five of the aces for the Blue and Gold.
The Bucs, who improved to 13-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, improved to 16-15, 10-5, while The Citadel moved to 8-24, 0-15.
ETSU’s offense came out firing on all cylinders to start the match, as the Bucs hit .421 (17-1-38) and claimed the opening set, 25-17. The early stages of the first set were tightly contested, but with the Bucs trailing 7-6, ETSU rattled off five straight scores to go ahead, 11-7, forcing The Citadel to call timeout. The Blue and Gold never trailed from that juncture and ETSU extended its lead to six when Favre found Rice for a kill, making it an 18-12 score. The Bucs put the finishing touches on the set by winning the final three points to secure the eight-point win. Hardy had a hand in the final three points as her sixth kill of the stanza jump-started the surge, while also earning a pair of block assists to end the frame.
Like the first set, play was nip-and-tuck early on in the second, but ETSU kicked its play into a higher gear midway through the stanza en route to earning a 13-point victory, 25-12. With the Bulldogs clinging to a 7-6 advantage, the Bucs closed the set on a 19-5 run to register the convincing win. Junior Khadijah Wiley and Milhorn were dominate in the frame as they both recorded five kills, while Gesell added four kills (.500 attack percentage), three digs and two blocks. As a team, ETSU hit .457 (18-2-35) in the second.
Unfortunately, the Bucs couldn’t finish off the Bulldogs in three as The Citadel survived a see-saw battle in the third to extend the match following its 27-25 win. The third set saw 12 ties and five lead changes, but with the score knotted at 25, the Bulldogs got back-to-back kills by Megan Sowell and Ise d’ Angelo to end the frame.
However, after getting off to a sluggish start in the fourth, the Blue and Gold responded and closed out the match with a 25-18 win. The Bulldogs won six of the first seven points of the stanza, but ETSU mounted a 9-3 run to go ahead, 10-9. From there, The Citadel pulled even at 13, but the Bucs strung together four unanswered points to regain control and put the match away. Wiley, Gesell and Favre all posted kills for the Bucs during the spurt, while Rutledge and Milhorn combined for the block, giving the Blue and Gold momentum. Overall, ETSU won 12 of the final 17 points to wrap up the set and match. Six different Buccaneers recorded a kill in the frame – Gesell and Hardy both totaled four.
Senior Katie Muey led all players with 22 digs and Wiley pitched in with eight kills and three blocks. Junior Jessica Schafer came off the bench to add three kills for the Bucs.
Offensively, The Citadel was led by Bailey Kernodle (14 kills) and Megan Sowell (10 kills), while Rachel Keefer finished with 27 assists and 12 digs for a double-double.
The Bucs conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon when ETSU plays at Mercer. First serve is set for 1 p.m.