ETSU 3, Mercer 1
MACON, Ga. – Teams always want to be playing their best ball at the end of the season.
The ETSU volleyball team is doing just that.
The Bucs wrapped up regular season play with their sixth straight win as the Blue and Gold defeated Mercer in four sets (25-23, 27-25, 19-25, 25-20) on Saturday inside Hawkins Arena.
Seniors Meredith Hardy and Bethany Gesell led the Buccaneer attack as they totaled 36 of ETSU’s 56 kills, while the setter duo of Kristen Favre and Jamie Rutledge directed the offense. Favre finished with 25 assists, six digs, two kills and two blocks, while Rutledge added 21 assists, two digs and a block. Hardy led all players with 20 kills and pitched in with four blocks, and Gesell hit .414 (16-4-29).
In a match, where the Bears won nearly every category on the stat sheet, ETSU took advantage of Mercer’s unforced errors. Overall, the Bears committed 15 unforced miscues (13 service errors and two ball handling errors), while the Bucs only tallied four. On the flip side, ETSU registered nine service aces as Renzey Rice and Ashleigh Shain totaled three each.
In the end, the Blue and Gold were out-hit .239 (56-22-142) to .324 (58-14-136), while ETSU was minus-3 in digs (50-53) and lost the blocks battle by a half-point, 9.0-8.5.
For the second straight season, ETSU won the season series over Mercer as the Bucs improved to 17-15, 11-5, securing the third straight winning campaign for the Blue and Gold. Meanwhile, the Bears finished the regular season at 10-19, 5-10.
The Bucs now turn their attention to the SoCon Championship, which begins Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.; however ETSU’s seed won’t be determined until Monday when the new NCAA RPI’s are released. Due to conference tiebreaker scenarios, the seeding between the Bucs and UNCG will rely on the rankings based on splitting the head-to-head meeting and having the same outcomes against the rest of the conference foes. The team with the best RPI earns the No. 3 seed, while the other takes the No. 4 seed. Five seeds have been clinched as Furman won the regular season championship and will be the No. 1 seed, Samford is the second seed, Western Carolina is fifth, while Wofford and The Citadel will play the 8-9 game to start the tournament on Saturday morning.
ETSU’s strong serving helped lift the Bucs to a 25-23 win in the opener. The Bucs posted three aces to one error in the frame, while the Bears committed three service errors to one ace. Mercer jumped out to a quick start in the first set as the Bears won seven of the first 10 points, but ETSU answered with a 12-5 run to go ahead 15-12, following consecutive service aces by Renzey Rice. The Bears responded with four straight scores to regain a 16-15 lead, but after three ties (16, 18 and 19), the Blue and Gold won six of the final 10 points to secure the two-point win.
ETSU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match after surviving a 27-25 win in the second. Again, the Bears started strong by winning the first three points, but the Bucs stayed the course and looked to be in good shape when a kill by Hardy gave the Blue and Gold a seven-point lead, 21-14. But Mercer didn't back down as the Bears posted a 10-3 surge to pull even at 24, forcing ETSU to call timeout. The teams traded points after the stoppage of play, but with the score knotted at 25, Gesell gave the Bucs the lead with a kill and Khadijah Wiley and Rylee Milhorn finished the frame by blocking Caroline Carlton's attack attempt at the net. Hardy had five of ETSU’s 11 kills in the frame, while all three of Shain’s service aces also came in the second.
Following the break, ETSU looked to be set for a clean sweep as the Bucs led 9-6 in the third set, but Mercer answered with a 13-3 run to gain momentum and captured a 25-19 win.
However, just like they did Friday night at The Citadel, ETSU stepped up and closed out the match in four sets by earning a match-clinching 25-20 win. The frame was tightly contested for the majority of the stanza as neither team led by more than two points until the Blue and Gold won the final six points to finish regular season play with a win. Hardy was unstoppable in the stretch run as the senior middle blocker had four kills and a block assist to fuel the comeback. The Kingsport, Tenn. native had eight kills in the fourth set, while ETSU hit .364 (17-5-33).
Mercer saw four players record double-digit kills in the setback. Molly Locke finished with a double-double (19 kills/12 digs) and Ellie James also added a double-double by totaling 12 kills and 12 digs.
Furman 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Despite facing deficits in sets one and three, Furman volleyball defeated Chattanooga, 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) on Saturday night in the final game of the 2014 regular season. The win moves the Paladins to 21-6, 14-2 in SoCon play, while the loss drops the Mocs to 13-18, 6-10 SoCon.
Ashton Gregory paced the Paladins with 17 kills and a .448 hitting percentage. Annie Bierman added 10 kills, a .417 hitting percentage, two aces and 10 digs, while Payton Frappier turned in a team-high 11 digs. Jo Wilks dished out 41 assists, as the Paladins recorded 50 kills and a .279 hitting percentage.
Chattanooga opened the match on a tear, jumping out to a 10-3 lead over the Paladins. The teams traded three-point runs until Furman used a 4-0 run to cut the Moc lead to two at 15-13, forcing Chattanooga to take its first timeout. The teams traded points until a Chattanooga kill pushed the Moc lead back to three, prompting the Paladins to call their final timeout of the set. Furman rattled off three-straight points to tie the match at 19, before Chattanooga pushed the lead back to two at 21-19. Three-straight Furman points gave the Paladins their first lead of the set at 22-21, forcing Chattanooga to take its second timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, the teams traded points until two-straight Furman points gave the Paladins the 26-24 set-one victory.
The teams traded points early in set two, until three straight Furman points prompted Chattanooga to call its first timeout of the set, with the Paladins leading 8-5. The teams continued to trade points until consecutive Furman points pushed the lead to four at 19-15, forcing Chattanooga to call its second timeout. Furman then closed out the set on a 6-4 run, taking set two 25-19, for a 2-0 lead in the match.
The teams again traded points in set three, before Chattanooga went on a quick 4-0 run, prompting a Furman timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mocs continued to add to the lead, stretching it to four at 17-13. Furman clawed its way back into the set, however, using a 4-0 run of its own to tie the match at 17. The teams then traded points until Furman used another run, this time at 3-0, to take a 21-19 lead, forcing a Chattanooga timeout. The Mocs came back to tie the set at 21, but Furman used a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action next weekend, beginning play in the Southern Conference tournament on Saturday afternoon as the #1 seed.
Samford 3, Wofford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team ended the regular season a high-note as they rebounded to win 3-0 over Wofford College on Saturday, Nov. 15, inside the Pete Hanna Center. Senior outside hitter Michaela Reesor turned in one of her best performances of the season with 16 kills (.538), four service aces and five digs in the match.
The Bulldogs (17-12, 11-5 SoCon) offense sputtered at the start of the match against the Terriers (12-21, 4-12 SoCon) and trailed midway through the set 16-12 before the team finally found traction. Samford hit its stride and went on a 10-3 run led by Reesor and sophomore Erin Bognar. The Bulldogs eventually won the set 25-23.
The momentum from the first set was carried over immediately into the second as Samford put up the first four points. WC rallied to tie the set early but only managed to do so twice with never capturing the lead.
Samford ran away with the set at the end with sophomore Mattie Newson and freshman J.C. Cornay holding a majority of the serves for the Bulldogs. Cornay capped off the set 25-14 with a service ace.
SU's momentum it had gathered from the previous two sets faded momentarily after the intermission going into the third set but junior Emily Meitz and Reesor willed the Bulldogs to a 25-23 win to clinch the match 3-0. Meitz tallied five kills on seven attempts (.571) in the set.
Meitz finished the day with nine kills (.615) while senior libero Chelsi Carter hauled in 10 digs. The team recorded one of its higher attack percentages of the season with 46 kills on 95 attempts for a .358 average.
The Bulldogs clinched the No.2 seed in the upcoming SoCon Championships and will play on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m. (ET) in Greensboro, N.C.
UNCG 3, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite playing without two starters Saturday, the UNCG volleyball team took care of business and picked up a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) Southern Conference victory at The Citadel in the regular season finale for both teams. The Spartans’ fourth-straight win improves their record to 19-10 overall and 11-5 in SoCon play.
The 11 league wins mark the most in a single season in program history in a 16-match Southern Conference format while the 19 triumphs are the most during the regular season since the 2010 campaign. UNCG ensured itself a second-place finish in the league standings and will share it with Samford and East Tennessee State. Samford will take the No. 2 seed into the upcoming conference tournament that will be hosted by the Spartans. UNCG will serve as the No. 3 seed thanks to having a superior RPI ranking over ETSU.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Betlach led the way offensive for the Spartans with 12 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn also tallied double-digit kills with 11 on the way to hitting .233 in the match and turned in a double-double by adding 11 digs.
Notching her 17th double-double of the season was sophomore setter Sara Hohman as she recorded 42 assists and 13 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Anna Romaniszyn, serving as the libero in the contest, also picked up 13 digs.
UNCG out-hit the Bulldogs .298-.233 and held the upper hand in kills (52-35), assists (49-32), aces (5-1) and digs (50-37) while The Citadel finished with the edge in total blocks 4.0-3.0.
The teams battled to a 7-7 deadlock to begin the first set before a Romaniszyn ace and a Brezwyn kill afforded the Spartans a 9-7 lead. UNCG then took advantages of 13-10 and 19-15 before holding off a late Citadel charge to win the set 25-21.
The Blue and Gold took charge at the beginning of the second set after a kill by redshirt junior middle hitter Julia Westerbur made the score 5-2. The Bulldogs put together a 5-1 run at that point to pull ahead by a point, but another kill by Westerbur capped a 6-3 UNCG run that gave UNCG a 12-10 cushion. The Citadel fought back and tied the frame at 16, however, the Spartans remained unfazed and, with a 22-21 lead, scored the final three points of the set thanks to kills by three different players.
With a 2-0 lead in the match, UNCG used that momentum to race out to a 7-4 advantage in the third set. The Bulldogs notched two-straight points to pull within 7-6, but a kill by Betlach sparked a 4-0 run that put the Spartans ahead by five. UNCG stretched the lead to 17-10 before closing out the stanza and the sweep by a 25-19 margin.
With the regular season now complete, the Spartans will turn their attention to the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship scheduled for Nov. 22-24 at Fleming Gymnasium in Greensboro, N.C. The full bracket, including match times, will be announced upon completion of Sunday’s Mercer-Western Carolina clash in Macon, Ga.