The Citadel 3, South Carolina State 1
New Orleans 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON S.C. – The Citadel volleyball team defeated SC State in four sets Saturday afternoon at the final day of the UNC Asheville Invitational.
The Bulldogs (4-6) triumphed against South Carolina State, earning the win in four sets (17-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-16).
Junior Megan Sowell led the Bulldogs’ attack, posting a match-high 18 kills and 12 digs. Junior Samantha Espy paved the way for The Citadel’s defense, recording a match-high 24 digs while sophomore Logan Smith had 41 assists.
The Bulldogs dropped their second game of the day to New Orleans, falling in four sets (9-25, 27-29, 27-25, 22-25).
Sophomore Moriah Smith recorded a double-double with a match-high 21 kills and 10 digs, earning an attack percentage of .347. Espy posted another match-high 21 digs, while Smith provided 42 assists.
The Citadel volleyball team returns to McAlister Field House to take on Charleston Southern on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
ETSU 3, Presbyterian 0
CLEMSON, S.C. – A day after sweeping USC Upstate, the ETSU volleyball team collected another sweep Saturday against Presbyterian College in the final day of the Clemson Classic. The Bucs took the three frames by scores of 28-26, 25-13 and 25-20. With the win, ETSU improves to 4-2 in its last six matches and 5-4 overall.
Setter Kristen Favre (Plano, Texas) collected 36 assists (12.0 per set) in the win over the Blue Hose. Favre has collected at least 36 assists in four consecutive matches after having one such match in the first five tilts.
The Bucs have already surpassed their win total in neutral site games from last season. In 2014, ETSU was 3-7 in neutral-site tilts and this season it holds a 5-1 mark.
Freshman Hailey Aguilar (Oswego, Ill.) led the Bucs with 14 digs against Presbyterian. Aguilar has led the team in digs in seven of the nine matches.
ETSU, now 5-4, will return to the court in its final non-conference tournament of the season next weekend when it competes in the Comfort Inn-Vitational hosted by Morehead State. The Bucs will face the Eagles, Marshall and Akron at the event.
Western Kentucky 3, Furman 0
Bowling Green, Ky. – Annie Bierman and Taina Joseph each led the Paladins with five kills, but Western Kentucky hit a blistering .330 and downed Furman, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-15) in the Paladins’ final game of the Holiday Inn University Plaza Invitational, hosted by the Hilltoppers in Bowling Green, Ky.
Joseph added two blocks to her stat line, while Amelia Bohlander put down four kills for the Paladins. Meg DeMaar was the only Paladin with double-digit digs with 14.
The teams traded points early in set two, before Western Kentucky opened a two-point lead at 10-8. The Hilltoppers continued to hold all the momentum, using an 11-2 run to open up a 21-10 lead over the Paladins. Furman couldn’t overcome the deficit and dropped set two, 25-15, to give Western Kentucky a 2-0 lead in the match.
Western Kentucky continued to hang on to the momentum into the third set, opening a 16-9 lead and forcing Furman’s first timeout. The Paladins would get no closer than six, dropping set three, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action on Tuesday night, traveling to Gardner-Webb for a non-conference matchup.
Florida International 3, Mercer 0
DELAND, Fla. – The Mercer University volleyball team fell to the Panthers of Florida International in the final match of the Stetson Invitational by a score of 3-0.
FIU claimed the first set by a mark of 25-18 to gain a 1-0 lead in the match. The second stanza was highly contested, as the score was deadlocked at 24-24 late before the Panthers managed to win the next two points and take the set 26-24. FIU was too much for Mercer in the third, winning the frame 25-13 to take the match 3-0.
Junior libero Tori Penrod was named to the Stetson Invitational All-Tournament team for her defensive efforts against FIU and last night versus Stetson. Penrod led the team on Saturday with 17 digs and also recorded two assists and an ace. The 17 digs give the junior 50 for the two-match invite.
Mercer comes home to Hawkins Arena to play Troy in the Bears' home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. to open up a three-match home stand.
UNCG 3, North Carolina A&T 0
UNCG 3, Alabama State 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Behind another solid offensive performance, the UNCG volleyball team swept Alabama State 25-15, 25-14, 25-23 to win the Spartan-Aggie Invitational championship Saturday evening inside Fleming Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold moves to 9-2 overall and is off to its best start to a season since the 1995 UNCG squad also won nine of its first 11 matches. The Hornets drop to 3-7 with their second-straight setback. The Spartans did not drop a set over the weekend on the way to the tournament crown.
Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Muench was named the tournament’s MVP after an outstanding three-match stretch during which she averaged 5.67 kills per set and went off for a .467 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Julia Westerbur and freshman setter Allison Penner were also named to the all-tournament team.
Muench led all players with 17 kills and hit a team-best .429 while junior outside Jessica Brezwyn fell just short of double figures with nine kills and a .258 hitting percentage. Freshman defensive specialist Christina Gregory made her first career start at libero and came through with a team-high 14 digs. Penner turned in her second double-double of the campaign as she checked in with 40 assists and 12 digs.
The UNCG offense was clicking once again as the Spartans tallied 50 kills and made just 13 errors in 114 attempts for a .325 hitting percentage. The Blue and Gold also compiled 51 digs and 4.0 total blocks. Meanwhile, Alabama State hit .194 and notched 32 kills as well as 42 digs and six total blocks.
The Blue and Gold returns to action this coming Wednesday when UNCG makes the short trip over to Elon for a non-conference contest at Alumni Gym. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Houston Baptist 3, Samford 2
South Alabama 3, Samford 0
MOBILE, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team dropped the final two matches of the Jaguar Invitational to Houston Baptist University and the University of South Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 12, inside Jag Gym.
The Bulldogs (3-4) opened the day's competition against the Huskies (6-4) and nearly pulled off their third-straight five set victory. HBU took the first set of the match 25-19 and forced Samford to play from behind for the fourth-straight match.
Freshman outside Krista Boesing jump started Samford's offense in the second set with a 7 kill (.538) performance and led the way to a 25-22 win in the set. Boesing later was named to the Jaguar Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Samford continued to rally in the third set and eventually took it 25-21 over Houston Baptist.
From there the Bulldogs would drop the next five sets with the first two being the deciding factors in the 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 25-18,16-14) loss to the Huskies.
South Alabama (5-4) capped off the night by taking down Samford in three-straight sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-17). Boesing again paced Samford with 11 kills to finish the invitational with 40 total kills (3.08 k/s) on the weekend.
The Bulldogs return to action for their final road swing when they travel to the Morehead State Invitational on Friday, Sept. 18.
Chattanooga 3, Gardner-Webb 0
Chattanooga 3, Austin Peay 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team clinched the Scenic City Showdown tournament title after going undefeated on the weekend.
The Mocs posted two 3-0 wins on Saturday against Gardner-Webb and Austin Peay, which improve their record to 7-2. The two wins marked Chattanooga's fifth three-set win of the season.
In both matches, Allie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) led the team in kills, with 15 against Gardner-Webb and 13 versus Austin Peay, in addition to posting a .500 attack percentage in both. She helped the Mocs reach a collective 91 kills throughout the two matches.
UTC also recorded impressive marks from the service line. Against Gardner-Webb, Lauren Greenspoon hit two service aces in-a-row in the first set, while Catherine Chason posted the same in the third set against the Bulldogs. In the match against Austin Peay, Kristy Wieser also served two aces-in-a-row.
Three Mocs were featured on the all-tournament team, which included Batterton, Greenspoon and Chason as MVP.
Austin Peay beat out UAB 3-0 in the first match on Saturday. Later in the afternoon, Gardner-Webb won a 3-1 match over UAB. Austin Peay placed second in the tournament, followed by Gardner-Web and UAB.
UTC hits the road Tuesday to face Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Ga. at 6:30 p.m. The Mocs then travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Hokie Invitational Sept. 18-19, where they are set to play Liberty, Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee.
Western Carolina 3, East Carolina 1
Western Carolina 3, Hampton 0
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Western Carolina volleyball team earned a pair of victories on the final day of the East Carolina Invitational. The Catamounts opened the day by downing host ECU 3-1 before sweeping Hampton 3-0.
Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde picked up her fourth triple-double of the season in the 3-1 win over ECU while a well-balanced attack led to the 3-0 win over Hampton. Vervelde put down 14 kills, dished out 17 assists and dug up 11 balls in the win over ECU.
The pair of wins improved WCU’s record to 5-6. The loss was just ECU’s second of the season at 5-2 while Hampton stayed winless at 0-9.
Against Hampton none of the Catamounts reached double-figure kills but five had five or more kills in the match. All 14 Catamounts saw action in the match with O’Connor leading the way with nine kills and two blocks. Senior Nicole Ford chipped in eight kills and a block while sophomore Kaycey Cermin added six kills.
The Catamounts hit .308 as a team and had six service aces and just one service error. Mulheron dug up 21 balls in the three set affair while Nazario dished out a team-high 25 assists.
WCU won in straight sets 25-16, 25-13 and 25-21.
The Catamounts will be back in action Tuesday night at former SoCon rival Appalachian State. WCU and Appalachian State will take to the court at 6:30 pm. The match will be carried live on ESPN3.
College of Charleston 3, Wofford 0
Jacksonville 3, Wofford 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team closed out the CofC Invitational with a pair of losses on Saturday at TD Arena in Charleston, dropping three-set decisions to host College of Charleston (19-25, 18-25, 17-25) and 2014 Atlantic Sun Tournament champion Jacksonville (28-30, 21-25, 21-25).
Wofford (5-6) had a near chance to take a one-set lead on Jacksonville in the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader. The Terriers had set point at 24-23, 26-25 and 28-27, but could not convert on either of their three chances. JU (3-6) got consecutive kills from Kelly Koop and Jizzyan Gesualdo to finish off the set, 30-28 and put the Terriers away.
Sophomore Bella Santoro tallied her fourth double-double of the season in the loss to the Dolphins, tying a career-high with 18 digs and polishing off a team-high 15 kills (.256). Three other Terriers joined Santoro with double-figure digs, as senior libero Jessica Graham went for 18, sophomore Reagan Petty had 12 and redshirt freshman Lauren Miller had 11.
In the front end, Wofford fell victim to College of Charleston’s (6-4) .435 attack percentage. It marked the highest by a Wofford opponent this season, while the Terriers countered at just .162 to fall in three. Melissa Morello led the Cougars with a match-high 17 kills, hitting an impressive .500 (17-3-28). Devon Rachel had 11 kills at .348.
Wofford competes in its final preseason tournament next weekend in Columbia, where it will battle Charleston Southern, East Carolina and host South Carolina at the Carolina Classic, presented by Hyatt Place. The Terriers get the action started Friday, Sept. 18, at 4:30 p.m. versus the Buccaneers.