Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team clinched its second 3-2 come from behind win in a row at Western Carolina to make UTC the 2015-16 regular season Southern Conference Champions. Chattanooga improved to 24-5 and 13-3 in the league.
This is the first time since 1998 the Mocs have won the regular season title and the first time the program has reached 24 wins in regular season play.
Saturday was a similar story to Friday's match, where UTC dropped the first two sets. However, UTC fought back with convincing 25-14 and 25-17 wins in the third and fourth.
Reid posted her 11th double-double of the year with a personal season-best of 29 digs.
Junior Allie Davenport collected 26 kills for the second match in a row paired with 15 digs, marking her third double-double of the season. Junior Kristy Wieser recorded 16 kills and a team-best .333 hitting percentage.
Senior Catherine Chason tallied 35 digs, 23 of which came in the first two sets, while freshman Rachel Petkosh followed with 17.
Sophomore Madison Bergren posted her first double-double as a Moc with 42 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Lauren Greenspoon had 27 assists. Both setters helped UTC to a .216 hitting percentage.
The Mocs return to Cullowhee, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2:30 p.m. as the No. 1 seeds for the Southern Conference Tournament. UTC plays the winner between Western Carolina and The Citadel.
Furman 3, UNCG 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Annie Bierman put down 31 of Furman’s 63 kills and the Paladins powered past UNCG, 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 25-19) on Senior Night in Alley Gym. The win ends Furman’s regular season with a 18-8 overall record and 12-4 record in SoCon play, while the loss drops UNCG to 21-10 on the season, ending 11-5 in SoCon play. Furman and UNCG now await seeding for next weekend’s Southern Conference Tournament. Saturday’s win gives Furman an unblemished record in Alley Gym, finishing the season 11-0 at home.
Bierman led Furman with a career-high 31 kills, the first 30-kill game of her career, hitting .333 and adding nine digs, a service ace and a block. Meg DeMaar turned in a season-high 25 digs, while Jo Wilks dished out 52 assists, further adding to her Furman career assists record. The Paladins out-hit the Spartans .252-.178, putting down 63 kills to UNCG’s 54. Furman also tallied 81 digs, with Christen Sikora contributing a career-high 17.
In set three, Meg DeMaar served Furman on an 8-0 run to give the Paladins a 9-2 lead. The teams then traded points until Furman used back-to-back kills by Bierman to open up a 14-7 lead and force a UNCG timeout. The teams continued to trade points out of the timeout, until Furman used a 5-1 run to grab set point at 24-15. UNCG would not go away quietly, however, rattling off five-straight points to cut the lead to 24-20. Out of a Furman timeout, Furman went back to Bierman, who ended the UNCG rally and gave Furman the 25-20 set three win for a 2-1 match lead.
It was UNCG that opened up an early 8-5 lead in set four, before the Paladins used an 8-3 run to take a 13-11 lead and force a Spartan timeout. Furman continued to pour on the pressure, extending the lead to 21-14 before the teams traded points and Annie Bierman put down her 31st kill of the match to give the Paladins the 25-19 set four win and 3-1 match victory.
Furman returns to action this weekend, traveling to Cullowhee, N.C., for the Southern Conference Championship, which begins Saturday, Nov. 21.
Samford 3, ETSU 1
JOHNSON CITY, N.C. – The Samford University volleyball team concluded the regular season with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-19) victory over ETSU on Saturday, Nov. 14, inside Brooks Gymnasium. The win marks the 10th SoCon victory of the season a feat that has been achieved for five consecutive years.
The Bulldogs (15-11, 10-6 SoCon) started the match sluggish which allowed the Buccaneers (18-11, 9-7 SoCon) to jump out to a commanding 111-2 lead that could not be overcome. Samford rallied on a 7-1 run in the middle of the set to close down the ETSU lead 17-14 but a pair of errors from the Bulldogs allowed the Buccaneers to extend their lead out to 19-14 which they eventually closed out the set 25-16.
Samford hit .088 in the set compared the ETSU's .314.
In the second set juniors Erin Bognar and Kiahna Wicks came alive to lead the Samford offense to a 25-23 victory which evened the match 1-1. Wicks tallied five kills (.714) while Bognar put down four (.300) of her own. As a team Samford managed 17 kills for an astounding .516 attack percentage.
The Bulldogs continued to thrive after the intermission as the team put pressure on the Buccaneers through tough service and an improved blocking performance at the net. Samford tallied four service aces and three team blocks. Freshman Alana Schouten picked up a pair of aces while Bognar and redshirt freshman Kate Neisler each chipped in one in the set.
Bognar took control of the fourth set of the match to secure the victory for the Bulldogs. The St. Louis, Mo. native racked up eight of her 17 kills in the final set and hit .583 to lead Samford to another 25-19 set decision. She ended the night hitting .350 and scooped out 17 digs for her third consecutive double-double and fourth out of her last six matches.
Morgan St. Germain continued to lead from the libero position for Samford as she notched 14 digs in the match.
The Bulldogs next challenge is the Southern Conference Championship Tournament which takes place on Nov. 21-23, in Cullowhee, N.C., on the campus of Western Carolina inside the Ramsey Center.
Wofford 3, The Citadel 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team earned a 3-0 win over The Citadel at Benjamin Johnson Arena on Saturday night. The Terriers swept the match (25-21, 25-13, 25-21) as they recognized seniors Liz Buterbaugh and Jessica Graham in the final home game of the season.
With the win, the Terriers move to 16-17 overall and 7-9 in the Southern Conference. The Terriers will be the sixth seed for the upcoming SoCon Tournament. The Citadel falls to 7-27 and 0-16 in the league.
The Terriers had a .311 attack percentage to the Bulldogs’ .149. Wofford had six service aces, while The Citadel had only two. Alex Holland led the Terriers with 13 kills and a .346percentage, along with two service aces. Bella Santoro added 10 kills, with Lauren Miller recording 12. Molly Mayo had a team-high 37 assists, while Jessica Graham had 19 digs.
For The Citadel, Bailey Kernodle had eight kills, Rachel Keefer recorded 22 assists, and Moriah Smith had ten digs to lead the squad.
Wofford won 16 games in the regular season, its highest win total since going 18-14 in 2009. The seven SoCon wins are tied for the second-most in Wofford’s 19 seasons in the league. The Terriers defeated The Citadel for the 18th time in the last 19 meetings, including both matches this season.
The 2015 Southern Conference Tournament Championship is scheduled for November 21-23 and will be hosted by Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C. The Terriers are the sixth seed and will face the No. 3 seed UNCG on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.