Chattanooga 3, Furman 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team clinched a 3-1 win over Furman, which moved the squad to the top of the Southern Conference at 11-3 and 22-5 overall. In front of an electric crowd, UTC closed out home play for the 2015-16 season with its 13th victory in a row at Maclellan Gym.
Furman came out firing, winning the first 25-12 after putting up 17 kills and a .485 hitting percentage.
The second frame went back and forth. After trailing 23-22, Chattanooga claimed the next three points to win the second 25-23.
In the third, UTC went down 8-7 but answered with an 11-point run, including two service aces in a row by sophomore Madison Bergren and two kills back to back by junior Allie Davenport. The Mocs finished off the third 25-15.
At 12-12 in the fourth, Chattanooga put together eight points in a row, making the score 19-12. Furman saved six match points starting at 24-17, until UTC closed it out 25-22.
Davenport paced the squad in kills with 17, while junior Kristy Wieser recorded a team-best .435 hitting percentage off 10 kills. Senior Briana Reid tallied her ninth double-double of the season at 10 kills and 17 digs. Senor Sarah Batterton also hit 10 kills.
Sophomore Lauren Greenspoon made 44 of the Mocs 47 assists and helped the squad to a .244 attack percentage.
Freshman Rachel Petkosh tied her career-best of 19 digs, while senior Catherine Chason and freshman Miranda Elpers posted 11 and 10 respectively.
Senior Lauren Gainer led blocking efforts with five, including four assists and one solo.
The Mocs wrap up regular season next weekend, facing ETSU Friday in Johnson City, Tenn., and Western Carolina Saturday in Cullowhee, N.C.
ETSU 3, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The East Tennessee State University volleyball team snapped UNC Greensboro’s 10-match winning streak Saturday evening at Fleming Gym with a 3-0 sweep of the Spartans (25-21, 27-25, 25-17). With the victory, the Bucs not only swept the season series from UNCG, but they also extended their winning streak to three matches.
Leading the way for the Bucs was sophomore Rylee Milhorn, who notched her 12th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 13 digs. Setting up Milhorn most of the night was Kristen Favre, who totaled 44 assists, which is the most for an ETSU player in a three-set match this season.
ETSU’s front line totaled 11 blocks Saturday, which is third-most for the team this season. Senior Jessica Schafer had a career-high seven blocks, while Khadijah Wiley and AJ Lux had four blocks each.
The Bucs pulled ahead of UNCG early in the third set when it committed a service error, 3-2. Once ETSU gained its lead, it never looked back as it lead by as many as eight points which proved to be the final difference, 25-17. The Buccaneers held the Spartans to a match-low .095 hitting percentage in the final frame.
The Bucs will wrap up the regular season with a pair of matches at Brooks Gym on Nov. 13-14. ETSU will host Chattanooga Friday and Samford Saturday.
The start times for both matches are set for 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 3, Mercer 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina volleyball team picked up its third 3-2 victory over the last four matches as the Catamounts downed the Mercer Bears at home on Saturday. Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde picked up her NCAA leading ninth triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 24 assists and 15 digs while freshman Alyssa Zupan led the way in kills with 15.
Zupan had an outstanding match as she committed just one error on 40 swings as she picked up her 15 kills. She also added four blocks. Vervelde also had four blocks in the match to go along with her triple-double.
All told, four Catamounts reached double-figures in kills while four had four or more blocks. Freshman Savannah Kohlhagen had a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs while picking up a block and a service ace. Sophomore Katie O'Connor also had 11 kills to go along with five blocks.
Senior Nicole Ford led the team with six blocks including one solo stop. She also added six kills and a service ace to WCU’s attack.
Five Catamounts reached double-figures in digs in the match including Vervelde and Kohlhagen. Senior libero Elyssa Mulheron led with 19 while sophomore defensive specialist Lucy Lambert added 17. Senior setter Cristina Nazario had 15 digs to go with her 22 assists.
WCU will be back in action next Friday, Nov. 13 as the Catamounts host Samford at 6 p.m.
Samford 3, The Citadel 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team took a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) decision over The Citadel at home inside the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The Bulldogs (12-11, 7-6 SoCon) found another solid defensive effort from sophomore libero Morgan St. Germain as she tallied 17 digs in the sweep over The Citadel (7-24, 0-13 SoCon). Nine total Bulldogs recorded at least one dig in the match.
Juniors Erin Bognar and Kiahna Wicks supplemented the defensive effort with a concentrated effort on the offensive side as the duo combined for 26 of the teams 50 kill in the match. Bognar paced the team with a total of 15 kills (.387) while Wicks contributed 11 kills (.500).
Samford stayed resolute offensively for a majority of the match as the team hit .414 in the first set and .457 in the final set of the match with the only drop off occurring in the second set where the Bulldogs managed just a .190 attack percentage.
The Bulldogs and The Citadel battle back and forth early on in the first set until Samford broke a 10-10 tie and raced out to a 20-14 lead to get themselves to push time. From there all Samford needed to do was side out to win the set 25-19.
The Bulldogs will face The Citadel once more on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 11 a.m. CST to close out their 2015 home schedule.