The Citadel 3, Charleston Southern 0
CHARLESTON S.C. – The Citadel volleyball team earned a win against Charleston Southern in its home opener on Tuesday night in McAlister Field House.
The Bulldogs’ victory is the first against CSU since 2012.
The Bulldogs (5-7) claimed the match in five sets, winning the second and third before taking Charleston Southern (3-9) in the fifth with a nail-biting 17-15 win.
Senior Bailey Kernodle led the offensive attack for the Bulldogs, recording a match-high 19 kills and 17 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while earning an impressive .350 attack percentage.
Sophomore Moriah Smith recorded her ninth overall double-double with 17 kills and 16 digs. The outside hitter currently leads the Southern Conference in double-doubles.
Senior Rachel Keefer returned as the starting setter for The Citadel, providing a match-high 41 assists and six digs.
Junior Samantha Espy posted two service aces for the Bulldogs, along with a match-high 28 digs and six assists.
The Citadel will return to McAlister Field house this weekend as they host The Citadel Tournament. The Bulldogs will take on UNC Asheville Friday at 6:30 p.m., North Florida at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and wrap up the tournament against Wright State at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Furman 3, Gardner-Webb 0
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Taina Joseph and Annie Bierman each put down 12 kills and Furman swept Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, 25-13, 28-26, 25-20. The win moves Furman to 5-4 on the season, while the loss drops the Runnin’ Bulldogs to 4-8.
Joseph finished with 12 kills and a team-high .348 hitting percentage, adding four blocks to her stat line, while Bierman added 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Jo Wilks dished out 34 assists and Meg DeMaar added 13 digs. Gardner-Webb did not have a player with double-digit kills and the Paladins held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a .183 hitting percentage on the night.
Furman opened up an early 5-3 lead in the third set and the teams traded points until Gardner-Webb used back-to-back kills to tie the set at 7. Furman then used a 5-2 run to take a 12-9 lead in the set and force the Runnin’ Bulldogs to use their first timeout. Gardner-Webb used a 5-3 run out of the timeout to cut the lead to one at 15-14, but the Paladins used a 3-1 run to open up an 18-15 lead. Gardner-Webb cut the lead to two at 19-17, but Furman used back-to-back points to take a 21-17 lead and force the Runnin’ Bulldogs to use their final timeout of the set. Furman outscored Gardner-Webb 4-3 over the final points of the set to take set three, 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action on Friday night as the Paladins travel to Charlotte, N.C., to face the 49ers in a 6 p.m. matchup.
Mercer 3, Troy 1
DELAND, Fla. – After spending the first three weekends on the road, the Mercer University volleyball team finally returned to Macon to play its first match of the 2015 season. The Bears sent the crowd home happy with a 3-1 win over the Trojans of Troy.
Mercer and Troy split the first two sets with the Bears winning the opener 25-21 and then the Trojans responded with a lopsided 25-13 victory in set two to even the match at one apiece. After being tied at 9-9 early in the third, Mecer took a lead that it never relinquished, going on to win 25-21.
The fourth set was the closest of the evening. The two sides were even at 23-23 late in the frame and then the Trojans earned a set point at 24-23. The Bears would fight off two set points and not convert on one of its own before Mercer was serving for the match at 27-26. A Troy attack error gave the Bears the 28th and final point, sealing Mercer’s 3-1 triumph.
Morgan MacGilvary was the sparkplug that helped the Bears win the first set and gain an early lead, as the sophomore recorded six kills on seven attempts to go along with three digs in the opening frame. MacGilvary finished the night with her third double-double of the season, turning in a team-high 13 kills to go along with 10 digs, four blocks and an ace.
The Mercer block was the difference in the match, as the Bears combined for 11.0 total team blocks compared to Troy’s total of 6.0. Seven Mercer players recorded two or more blocks on the evening. Mercer was led by sophomore Emily Krogman who blocked a season-high six attempts.
With the victory Mercer improves its record to 6-15 against Troy in the all-time series, with five of the wins coming in Macon.
The Bears are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. in Hawkins Arena, as Mercer hosts South Carolina State in a non-conference matchup.
Chattanooga 3, Kennesaw State 0
KENNESAW, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team outplayed the Kennesaw State Owls to a 3-0 shutout win Tuesday, improving its record to 8-2.
This is the best start to a season since 1987 when UTC also recorded eight wins in the first 10 matches. The Mocs are on a four-match winning streak, in addition to claiming their sixth three-set win.
UTC was down for the majority of the first set, until the Mocs took their first lead of the match at 18-17. Chattanooga then claimed the first set 25-21. The Mocs brought momentum from the first set to convincingly win the second set 25-13.
In the third set, the Mocs held the lead for the entire set until the Owls brought the score to 23-22 in their favor. However, UTC won the next three points to clinch the third set 25-23.
UTC recorded 43 kills, in comparison to Kennesaw's 33. The Mocs also posted eight services aces, while the Owls made five. Chattanooga collected 50 digs and 43 assists, and Kennesaw recorded 34 digs and 28 assists.
Lauren Greenspoon made 34 assists against the Owls. She is ranked No. 30 nationally for assists per set. Allie Davenport paced Chattanooga in kills with 12, and Sarah Batterton followed closely with 10. Catherine Chason recorded 19 digs, in addition to hitting a service ace to clinch the match for Chattanooga.
UTC is back on the road for the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., Friday and Saturday. The Mocs are set to play Liberty Friday at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, the team faces host-team Virginia Tech at 10 a.m. and Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Western Carolina 0
BOONE, N.C. – The Western Carolina volleyball team traveled to Boone, N.C., for the first time since Appalachian State left the Southern Conference to join the Sun Belt. WCU was without one of its leaders, sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde, and struggled early in the match. The Mountaineers stormed out to a 1-0 lead but the Catamounts battled them the rest of the way eventually falling 3-0.
Appalachian State hit over .500 as a team in the opening set and held the Catamounts to a negative hitting percentage as the Mountaineers took the first set 25-9. The Catamounts trailed most of the second set but was never behind more than five points. The Catamounts rallied late and even had set point at 24-23 but the Mountaineers rattled off three straight points to take the set 26-24. The third set saw the Catamounts fall behind early but they rallied to tie the set at 13 midway through the period. The Mountaineers eventually forced match point at 24-15 but the Catamounts fought them off three times before Appalachian State took the match 25-18.
The loss moves WCU’s record to 5-7 while the Mountaineers improved to 7-4.
Senior Nicole Ford led the Catamounts offensively as she put down seven kills. Sophomore Kaycey Cermin added five kills and tied for the team-high with three blocks. Sophomore Katie O’Connor also had three blocks to go along with four kills.
The Catamounts will play their final non-conference tournament of the season this coming weekend at Tennessee Tech. WCU will face Idaho and host Tennessee Tech on Friday, Sept. 18 before finishing the tournament against Towson on Saturday, Sept. 19. All three matches will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network.