Western Carolina 3, Samford 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina volleyball's four seniors opened senior weekend with a bang as they took down Southern Conference leader Samford University Friday night inside the Ramsey Center. The win marked the first victory over the Bulldogs in Cullowhee in program history. The Catamounts gave Samford all they could handle over the opening two sets but WCU still found itself down 2-0 after losing set one 27-25 and dropping the second set 29-27. The final three sets would be another story as the Catamounts never gave up and took the match 3-2.
WCU's four seniors led the way in the match. Caitlin Piechota had one of the best performances of her career as she tied a career-high with 20 kills without committing an attack error on 50 swings. She also added 18 digs to achieve her 51st career double-double. Addy George unleashed a career-high 18 kills while swinging with a .519 attack percentage. She added a team-high eight blocks including three solo stops. It was the 46th time in her career that she had achieved four or more blocks in a match. Jordan Timmermann had 16 kills and 12 digs for her 30th career double-double. Brandi Anderson came up just one block short of tying a career-high as she stopped five Bulldog attacks. She also had three kills on the day.
A pair of freshmen also had a big match as Katie O'Connor registered a career-high eight kills on 11 swings without an error for a team-best .727 hitting percentage. She also had three block assists in the match. Jo-Leigh Vervelde had seven kills, 36 assists, 16 digs and two blocks while hitting .429.
Junior libero Elyssa Mulheron led the team with 20 digs while junior setter Cristina Nazario added 27 assists and four digs.
The win moved WCU's record to 15-13 overall and 8-6 in SoCon action. The Bulldogs fell to 16-10 and 10-3 in SoCon matches.
The first set featured 13 tie scores and four lead changes as both teams battled for the early advantage. The Bulldogs had a pair of set points but WCU would not relinquish the set. With the score tied at 25, the Bulldogs picked up back-to-back kills to take the opening period, 27-25.
The Bulldogs led most of the second set but a late 7-1 run gave WCU set point at 24-22. Back-to-back kills by the Bulldogs ended WCU's threat and tied the set at 24. George gave WCU another set point at 25-24 but once again the Bulldogs answered with a kill. Piechota then stepped up a picked up a kill to give WCU a 26-25 advantage but once again it would not last as back-to-back kills by the Bulldogs swung the momentum in Samford's favor. Piechota once again stepped up and put a ball down to tie the set at 27. After a Bulldog kill, Samford's top server, Chelsi Carter, put down an ace to end the set, 29-27.
The third set was all Catamounts as they held the lead almost the entire period. Piechota had six kills in the period while George added three kills and four blocks. Piechota and George combined for WCU's final five points of the set as they took the period, 25-17.
The fourth set was much like the third but the Bulldogs kept the score a little closer. WCU trailed just once in the period and that was at 1-0. The four seniors combined for 14 of WCU's 17 kills in the set with Piechota leading the way with five.
The Catamounts jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the fifth set before Samford called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs went on a 6-2 run to tie the period at nine. A kill by Piechota and a block from Anderson and O'Connor forced Samford to use its final timeout at 11-9. Timmermann came out of the break with back-to-back kills to push WCU's lead to 13-9. After a WCU error and Samford kill, Timmermann put down another ball to give WCU match point at 14-11. Samford's final attack went long giving WCU its first win over Samford in Cullowhee in seven tries.
Samford was led by Erin Bognar who had 23 kills, 16 digs and two blocks. Michaela Reesor added 17 kills and 13 digs while Emily Meitz had 14 kills.
WCU now has wins over every member of the Southern Conference this season except Wofford. The Catamounts will get their chance to change that tomorrow afternoon inside the Ramsey Center at 3 p.m. WCU will honor its four seniors prior to the match.
UNCG 3, Mercer 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Mercer entered Friday night’s Southern Conference volleyball match having won four in a row, including a victory over then league leader Samford, but the UNCG volleyball team would have none of it. The Spartans swept the Bears in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-22) to kick off Senior Weekend inside Fleming Gymnasium.
UNCG (17-10, 9-5 SoCon) won its eighth contest in its last 11 tries while denying Mercer (10-17, 5-8) a chance to move up the standings with the conference tournament looming in a couple of weeks. The Blue and Gold also improved to 8-3 at home and 13-1 when winning the first set.
A few of the statistical categories actually slightly favored the visiting Bears as Mercer out-hit (.257-.237) and out-dug (52-47) the Spartans, but UNCG won the blocking battle (7.0-6.0) and recorded more service aces (6-3). The teams were even in kills (43 apiece) while the Blue and Gold committed one more attacking error (15-14).
Senior middle hitter Kelsey Sidney had a very solid match, tallying a team-best 12 kills on 22 attempts with just two errors to hit .455. Additionally, sophomore setter Sara Hohman turned in her 15th double-double of the season with 36 assists and 10 digs. Defensively, junior libero Katherine Santiago led the way with 12 digs. Molly Locke paced Mercer with 13 kills and 11 digs while Tori Penrod, along with Ellie James, picked up a match-high 16 digs.
The teams battled through a couple of ties and lead changes in the early going, but the Bears put together a 3-0 run with the score tied at six to force a UNCG timeout. The Spartans called another timeout when a kill by Cara Tripp put Mercer ahead 13-7. However, UNCG recovered and used a kill by redshirt junior middle hitter Julia Westerbur to spark a 7-2 run that drew the Spartans within 15-14. The Bears netted three of the next four points to push in front 18-15, but UNCG knotted the score at 19 after an attacking error by James.
With the Spartans trailing 22-21 later in the set, Sidney took over and notched three-straight kills to put the Blue and Gold at set point 24-22. A kill by Locke briefly extended the frame, but senior middle hitter Vicky Harley put a kill down to end it in UNCG’s favor.
The Spartans raced out to a 7-3 lead in the second stanza, forcing an early Mercer timeout. UNCG did not let up as an attacking error by James put the Spartan advantage at 12-5 and prompted the Bears to burn their final timeout of the frame. A service ace by sophomore defensive specialist Mackenzie Moughon made the score 16-9 and UNCG looked well on its way. Mercer settled down from there, however, scoring nine of the next 14 points to pull within 21-18. An ace by James made things interesting as the Bears drew within 23-22, but a kill by sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn and an attacking error by Emily Krogman allowed the Blue and Gold to clinch the set 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
The teams traded points for much of the early third set and finally settled for a 9-9 deadlock. UNCG seized the momentum as a kill by Brezwyn sparked a 5-1 run that made the score 14-10 in the Spartans’ favor. Mercer used a timeout but could not stop the momentum. A block by Harley and freshman outside hitter Ashley Muench stretched the cushion to 20-13. The Bears could not close the gap in the end as the home team took the third set by a 25-22 margin and completed the sweep.
UNCG wraps up its regular season home schedule Saturday at 5 p.m. The Spartans will honor their three seniors before the match.
ETSU 3, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The ETSU volleyball team completed the season sweep over Wofford as the Bucs defeated the Terriers in four sets (25-21, 23-25, 28-26, 25-19) on Friday night inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Six different Buccaneers posted at least five kills, while Kristen Favre quarterbacked ETSU’s offense as sophomore setter finished with 28 assists, five digs and three service aces. Senior Meredith Hardy finished with a team-high 12 kills and added five blocks, while freshman Rylee Milhorn added five kills, five blocks and 10 digs for the Buccaneers. Senior Bethany Gesell totaled nine kills and sophomore Briana Allmon and Ivey Rice both compiled eight of their own. Junior Khadijah Wiley also totaled six kills and four blocks, while senior Katie Muey led all players with 26 digs.
Despite Wofford being plus-6 in kills (56-50), plus-8 in assists (52-44), and plus-16 in digs (75-59), ETSU managed the Terriers to hit into 13 more attack errors (32-19) and the Bucs outhit Wofford, .196-.144.
With the win, ETSU completed the season sweep of the Terriers and the Bucs improved to 14-15, 8-5 after securing their third straight win. Wofford dropped to 12-18, 4-9.
Both teams split the first two sets, but the Blue and Gold won the final two sets to earn the road win.
ETSU got off to a slow start in the opener, but after losing five of the first seven points, the Bucs rallied to take a lead midway through en route to winning the set, 25-21. The Terriers lead 5-2 early on, but the Blue and Gold used a run to open a two-point lead, 17-15, when Favre found Hardy for the kill. Wofford managed to pull even at 17-all, but ETSU won eight of the final 12 points to secure the four-point win.
Following the win in the opener, ETSU couldn’t grab further momentum as Wofford evened the match with 25-23 victory. The Bucs got off to a strong start by winning 10 of the first 16 points, but the Terriers mounted a 10-1 run to gain a 16-11 lead, forcing the Blue and Gold to burn a timeout. Despite going ahead 19-18 on a service ace by Renzey Rice, ETSU couldn’t build on its lead as Wofford rallied for the win.
However, after trailing for the majority of the third set, the Bucs continued to battle and pulled out 28-26 win to gain a 2-1 lead in the match. The Terriers stormed out to an eight-point lead in the frame, 12-4, but ETSU mounted a 13-6 run to inch within a point when another kill by Hardy made it an 18-17 score. From there Wofford went ahead by three, 20-17, but after dodging set point at 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25, the Bucs rallied by winning the final three points to gain the comeback win. Gesell, Hardy and Milhorn all collected kills during the final stretch run to earn the critical third-set victory.
After rallying for the come-from-behind win in set three, ETSU got off to a strong start in the fourth and cruised to a match-clinching six-point win, 25-19. The Bucs won six of the first eight points of the frame – and after Wofford fought back to tie things at 12 – ETSU closes the match on a 13-7 run to register the four-set road win. Rice led the Blue and Gold with four kills in the stanza, while Gesell (three kills) and Wiley (two kills) also committed zero attack errors in the final set. As a team, the Bucs outhit Wofford, .323-.083 in the fourth.
The Terriers had three players record double-digit kills as Taylor Baird finished with a match-high 18, while Bella Santoro (11 kills/10 digs) and Molly Mayo (46 assists/12 digs) posted double-doubles in the losing effort.
The Bucs return home Saturday to host Samford at 3 p.m. for Senior Day.
Furman 3, The Citadel 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind a match-high 17 kills from senior Andrea Fisher, Furman powered past The Citadel, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-15), on Friday night in Alley Gym. The win moves Furman to 18-8 and 11-2 in SoCon play, while the loss drops The Citadel to 8-23, 0-14 in SoCon play.
Fisher recorded her second double-double of her senior season, adding 10 digs to go with her 17 kills and .367 hitting percentage. Ashton Gregory turned in eight kills and a .438 hitting percentage, along with a team-high three blocks. Taina Joseph and Amelia Bohlander combined for 11 kills and no errors, while libero Meg DeMaar tied the team-high with 10 digs. The Citadel was led by freshman Moriah Smith with nine kills, while libero Samantha Espy turned in a team-high 12 digs.
The teams traded points early in set one, until, with the score tied at eight, Furman used a 5-1 run to open up a 13-9 lead and force The Citadel’s first timeout of the night. The teams traded points out of the timeout, until the Paladins pushed the lead to five at 20-15. After Furman took a 22-16 lead, forcing another Bulldog timeout, Furman used two-straight points to take a 24-16 lead. The Citadel would not go down quietly, however, as the Bulldogs rattled off six-straight points to cut the Furman lead to two a 24-22, but an Ashton Gregory kill ended the threat and gave the Paladins the 25-22 set one victory.
Furman opened up an early lead in set two, forcing The Citadel to take a timeout after the Paladins took a 6-2 advantage. The Citadel cut the lead to three out of the timeout, but the Paladins rattled off six-straight points to take a 12-3 lead. The teams then traded points until Furman used a 5-2 run to push the lead to 11 at 20-9, before the Bulldogs cut the lead to eight at 20-12. Furman closed out the set on a 5-2 run, which included a Martha Robinson solo block, to win set two, 25-14, for a 2-0 lead in the match.
The teams again traded points early in set three, before Furman pushed the lead to six at 12-6, forcing The Citadel to take a timeout. The Bulldogs cut the lead to four at 13-9, but five-straight Furman points gave the Paladins an 18-9 advantage. The Citadel again cut into the lead at 18-11, then again at 21-14, before Furman closed out the match on a 4-1 run to take set three, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm, as it hosts Mercer in the regular season home finale, where the seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony.