Furman 3, Western Carolina 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Jo Wilks set a new school-record in career assists and Furman downed Western Carolina, 3-1 (25-8, 24-26, 25-15, 25-13) on Saturday in Alley Gym. The win moves Furman to 16-6 on the year and 10-2 in SoCon play, while the loss drops Western Carolina to 10-19 and 4-9 in SoCon play.
Wilks came into Saturday’s contest needing just five assists to set the school record and finished the game with 54 assists, adding four aces and 12 digs. Annie Bierman led the Paladins with 18 kills, while Jamila Johnson set another new career-high in kills with 17, while also hitting .571. Meg DeMaar turned in a team-high 20 digs and Amelia Bohlander added 11 kills and three blocks. The Paladins out-hit the Catamounts .344-.137 and put down 68 kills to Western Carolina’s 33.
The Paladins came out on fire in the first set, hitting .615 as a team and putting down 16 kills with no errors. Jo Wilks served Furman on a 6-0 run to start the set, then Annie Bierman served ten-straight to push the Paladins’ lead to 17-1 and force a Western Carolina timeout. Out of the timeout, Furman pushed the lead to 20-2, before the Catamounts used a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 22-7. Furman capitalized on Western Carolina errors to take the set, 25-8.
Furman again jumped out to an early lead in set three, opening up a 15-5 lead that Western Carolina could not overcome. The teams traded points and Furman used back-to-back kills by Annie Bierman to take set three, 25-15, for a 2-1 match lead.
Set four was all Furman, as the Paladins opened up a 17-5 lead, forcing Western Carolina to take both of its timeouts. Out of the timeout, the Catamounts cut the lead to 18-9, but the Paladins finished the match on a 7-4 run to take the fourth set, 25-13, and the match, 3-1.
Furman is back in action on Friday, Nov. 6, traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for a 6 p.m. matchup with Samford.
Chattanooga 3, Wofford 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team beat Wofford 3-1 Saturday in Maclellan Gym. The win is the Mocs’ 20th on the season moved the squad to 9-2 in Southern Conference play.
The first set was full of big runs on both sides. The Mocs won five points in a row to take the lead 15-8. The Terriers went on an eight-point run to bring the score to 21-21. After saving two match points, Chattanooga won the first 28-26. UTC dropped a close second frame 26-24.
After the intermission, Chattanooga convincingly won the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-18.
Two Mocs recorded double-doubles. Senior Briana Reid tallied 12 kills and 17 digs, while sophomore Lauren Greenspoon racked up 51 assists and 10 digs.
Junior Kristy Wieser led the squad in hitting percentage for the second match in a row with a .303 clip. Senior Sarah Batterton had a team-high of 15 kills.
Senior Catherine Chason made 26 digs, while freshman Miranda Elpers posted 22.
The Mocs travel to Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday to face Samford at 7 p.m. Next weekend is Chattanooga's last home matches. UTC faces The Citadel on Nov. 6 for Senior Day and Furman on Nov. 7 in Maclellan Gym.
ETSU 3, Mercer 1
MACON, Ga. – The East Tennessee State University volleyball team snapped a two-match losing streak Saturday afternoon when it knocked off Mercer, 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-22). With the win, the Bucs improve to 16-9 overall and 7-5 in league play. ETSU’s 16 victories are one shy of last season’s total.
The Bucs were led in the victory by Briana Allmon and Rylee Milhorn, who had 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Setting up Allmon and Milhorn was Kristen Favre, who notched her third double-double of the season with 44 assists and 12 digs.
The match started well for ETSU as it scored five of the first six points. However, the Bears rallied and eventually pulled ahead with a 6-0 run to turn the score from a 16-12 lead for ETSU to an 18-16 advantage for the Bears. After the Bears pulled ahead of the Bucs, they did not relinquish the lead as they won the first set, 25-21.
ETSU answered back with one of its best offensive sets of the season in the second. The Bucs had 17 kills in 35 attempts with no attack errors for a .486 hitting percentage in the frame. Leading the way were Allmon and Milhorn who had 12 kills on 19 attempts combined with no attack errors (.632 hitting percentage). The work by the Bucs’ offense was enough for them to even the match at one a piece with a 25-22 set victory.
Mercer and ETSU exchanged points throughout the fourth stanza until the score was 22-22. After that, the Bucs scored the last three points to finish off the Bears, 25-22. Like in the third set, the Buccaneers totaled five service aces in the fourth and freshman AJ Lux (Shelbyville, Ind.) had five of her six kills in the fourth to seal the victory for the Blue and Gold.
The Bucs will continue their three-match road swing Wednesday when they travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on Wofford. The Terriers defeated ETSU earlier this season, 3-1, at Brooks Gym. The start time for Wednesday’s tilt is scheduled for 6 p.m.
UNCG 3, The Citadel 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball team continued its winning ways Saturday night as the Spartans ran their winning streak to nine-straight games with a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory over The Citadel at McAlister Field House. The victory improves the Spartans to 19-8 overall and 9-3 in Southern Conference play as they return home for their final two home matches next weekend.
UNCG placed three in double figure kills in the victory with sophomore Ashley Muench leading the way with 13 kills and 10 digs. Redshirt freshman Jasmine Jones added 11 kills and three blocks while senior Julia Westerbur posted a .364 hitting percentage with 10 kills in the victory. The Spartans as a team hit .216 for the match, including a .378 percentage in the third and final set as they tallied 17 kills.
The Spartans were also strong on the defensive end as they posted 78 digs in the victory. Senior Katherine Santiago led the way with 17 digs while freshman setter Allison Penne added 15 digs to go along with her 37 assists.
The Spartans opened set one slowly, trailing 11-10 early on before posting a 6-1 run to take a 16-12 lead. Junior outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn (Darien, Ill./Hillsdale South) led the way with three straight kills to ignite the run. The Citadel pulled within one at 23-22 but Brezwyn sealed the set victory with a kill on the final point. She finished with four kills in the first set while Muench also added four kills.
The Spartans and Bulldogs were closely knotted in set two at 9-9 before the Spartans posted a 5-1 run to gain some breathing room. Anna Romaniszyn (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek) gave UNCG some energy off the bench with a pair of kills. UNCG was able to close out the set two victory as it went to work in the middle with Jones and Westerbur each recording five kills apiece to lead the way.
The Spartans closed out the three-set victory as it weathered a push by the Bulldogs. The Citadel held an 18-17 lead in set three but UNCG was able to claw back and close out the victory as Westerbur recorded two kills late to end the threat. The Spartans also went to Muench in set three as she finished with eight kills in the deciding set.
Moriah Smith led The Citadel (7-21, 0-11 SoCon) with 11 kills and 10 digs, hitting at a .450 clip in the loss. Bailey Kernodle chipped in 10 kills for the Bulldogs while Samantha Espy led the way with 19 digs.
UNCG returns to action Friday night as the Spartans host Mercer. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Fleming Gymnasium where UNCG is 9-0 this season.