North Florida 3, The Citadel 0
Wright State 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel Tournament game to a close on Saturday evening with The Citadel volleyball team dropping its final two games of the tournament.
In the first game of the day, the Bulldogs (5-10) fell to North Florida in three sets.
Bailey Kernodle and Moriah Smith led the way for the Bulldogs with eight and seven kills, respectively. Samantha Espy had 10 digs. As a team, The Citadel has 10 blocks.
In the second match of the day, The Citadel fell to Wright State, 3-1.
Junior Megan Sowell had 15 kills and senior Bailey Kernodle had 11 to lead the offensive attack for The Citadel. Junior Samantha Espy led the Bulldogs with 20 digs followed by Rachel Keefer who had 16. Keefer also had a team high 33 assists, while Espy was named to the all-tournament team.
The Bulldogs return to action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Savannah State and then return home to host their first conference game on Saturday at 4 p.m. against ETSU.
ETSU 3 , Akron 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The ETSU volleyball team notched its fifth consecutive win as it knocked off Akron, 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-18), Saturday at the Comfort Inn-Vitational. With the victory. ETSU not only improves to 8-4 this season, but also clinches its first non-conference tournament title since 2011 when it won the Country Inn & Suites Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Bucs’ offense was rolling in the first set against Akron as it put together a match-high .409 hitting percentage in 22 attempts. Khadijah Wiley and Rylee Milhorn both posted five kills with no errors in the stanza.
ETSU struggled with attacking errors during the second. The Bucs committed 10 errors in the frame and the Zips took advantage of them as they evened the match at one, 25-21. Akron had a pair of 4-0 runs to fuel its victory.
The Bucs turned in a 10-1 run midway through the third set, which proved to be enough for them to regain the lead, 25-17. Freshmen Mariah McPartland and AJ Lux sparked ETSU off the bench in the third. McPartland had a kill and a pair of blocks, while Lux added two kills.
Senior Jessica Schafer led the Bucs with three kills in the fourth set. Schafer and the rest of the Bucs got out to a 10 point lead on the Zips, which proved to be enough as ETSU finished off the set, 25-18.
The Bucs will make the long-awaited home debut Tuesday evening when they host Tennessee State at Brooks Gym. The first serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Mercer 3, South Carolina State 0
MACON, Ga. – Mercer remained unblemished when playing in Hawkins Arena in 2015, dispatching of South Carolina State by a score of 3-0 for its third win of the season.
The Bears pulled out a tight opening set, pulling away at the end to win 25-21. Mercer then dominated the Bulldogs in the second stanza, coasting to a 25-16 victory. The third set was close throughout, much like the first, as Mercer claimed the final frame 25-20 to complete the sweep.
Morgan MacGilvary finished with double-digit blocks for the fifth time this season, leading the Bears with 11 in the victory over the Bulldogs, despite only playing in the first two sets. The sophomore was fairly efficient on the day, recording the 11 kills in 22 attacks to finish with a hitting percentage of .364. The Plano, Texas, native also added three digs, two aces and two blocks to complete her performance.
As it has been for much of the season, Mercer’s service game was an asset for the Bears on Saturday afternoon. The team totaled nine aces to South Carolina State’s five. Six different Mercer players recorded at least one ace with MacGilvary, Ellie James and Tori Penrod each posting two. The nine aces are tied for the second most the Bears have produced in 2015.
With the win the Bears improve to 3-7 on the season and 2-0 in Hawkins Arena. South Carolina State falls to 0-8 in 2015.
The Bears wrap up their three-match homestand with a showdown against Alabama A&M from the SWAC. The match is scheduled for Tuesday with a start time set for 6 p.m. in Hawkins Arena.
Baylor 3, UNCG 0
Stephen F. Austin 3, UNCG 0
WACO, Texas – The UNCG volleyball team fell to Stephen F. Austin in three sets (23-25, 17-25, 16-25) Saturday afternoon in its final match of the Baylor Classic inside the Ferrell Center. The Ladyjacks improved to 7-8 overall while the Spartans dipped to 10-5 heading into Southern Conference play.
In the early match, UNCG matched up against Big 12 member Baylor in Waco Saturday morning and fell 3-0 (17-25, 19-25, 13-25) to the Bears.
Against Baylor, junior outside hitter Alexis Mourier came off of the bench to lead the UNCG offense with eight kills while classmate and outside Jessica Brezwyn followed with seven. Freshman setter Allison Penner just missed a double-double tallying 23 assists and nine digs. Katie Staiger and Shelly Fanning led the Bears with 11 kills apiece.
Baylor limited the Blue and Gold to a .059 hitting percentage (28k/22e/102ta) while hitting .303 (41k/11e/99ta) itself. The Bears also had the upper hand in digs (47-35) and total blocks (9.0 to 3.0).
In the late match, SFA hit .333 in the match off of 41 kills on 99 attempts with only eight errors. UNCG played a pretty clean offensive match as well in terms of hitting percentage checking in at .229 after knocking down 42 kills on 118 swings with 15 errors. The contest was a dead heat in many other statistical categories as the Ladyjacks held the slimmest of advantages in digs at 42-41 and points earned at 49.5 to 49.0. The Spartans tallied five total blocks as compared to SFA’s 4.5.
Following its 15-match nonconference schedule, the Spartans will take the week to prepare for their SoCon opener at Chattanooga. That match is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.
Samford 3, Morehead State 0
MOREHEAD,Ky. – The Samford University volleyball team bounced back on the final day of the Comfort Inn-Vitational to defeat host institution Morehead State University 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-21) inside Wetherby Gym on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (5-5) concluded the invitational with a convincing win over the Eagles (3-10) thanks to an overall solid outing from Samford in all facets of the game.
Junior outside hitter Erin Bognar paced the Bulldogs with 13 kills (.281) and turned in seven digs along with pair of service aces. Bognar was named to the Comfort Inn-Vitational All-Tournament Team along with redshirt-sophomore middle blocker T.J. Russell.
Russell tallied 21 kills (.304) over the weekend with six coming in the final match against Morehead.
Offensively Samford hit .267 overall as a team and was consistent from set to set as the team hit .250 in the first set, .261 in the second and .290 in the third. The team was 35-of-55 (.630) in sideout opportunities.
Samford took control at the net as senior Emily Meitz and junior Gabbi Greenwald shut down the Eagles offense. Meitz tallied five total blocks, one solo and four assisted, while Greenwald chipped in three total blocks on the day.
The Bulldogs open Southern Conference play on Friday with their home opener against Mercer University at the Pete Hanna Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Chattanooga 3, Virginia Tech 2
Chattanooga 3, Middle Tennessee 1
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team swept the Hokie Invitational after a 3-2 win against Virginia Tech and 3-1 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday. UTC improves to 11-2 and are on a seven match winning streak.
This is the best start for Chattanooga since 1986 when the team went 12-1 to start the season.
The Mocs posted an exciting five set win against host Virginia Tech. This is the first win for UTC against a power five school since Sept. 18, 2004 when the squad posted a 3-2 win over North Carolina State.
Senior Briana Reid and sophomore Lauren Greenspoon each posted double-doubles. Reid recorded 15 kills and 18 digs, and Greenspoon added 50 assists and 11 digs. Senior Catherine Chason tallied 17 digs. Miranda Elpers followed with 16, while Sarah Batterton made a big offensive impact after recording 15 kills.
Against Middle Tennessee, UTC dropped the first set and then won the next three. In both the second and third frames, the Mocs didn't allow the Blue Raiders to get above 19 points. The fourth was a nail-biter with Chattanooga clinching the final set 27-25.
Three Mocs were featured on the Hokie Invitational All-Tournament team, including senior Lauren Gainer, Reid and Greenspoon as Most Outstanding Player.
Chattanooga is back at home in Maclellan Gym next weekend to open Southern Conference play. The Mocs are set to play UNCG Friday at 6 p.m. and Western Carolina Saturday at 6 p.m.
Towson 3, Western Carolina 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Western Carolina volleyball team dropped its final match of the Golden Eagle Invitational to Towson 3-1 Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde was named to the All-Tournament squad following the match. She once again led the team with 10 kills in the loss while dishing out 16 assists and digging up six balls.
The Catamounts won the opening set 25-20 before falling in the final three 25-16, 25-11 and 26-24.
Sophomore Kaycey Cermin continued her strong blocking performance as she led the team with five putbacks while adding nine kills. Senior Nicole Ford came off the bench to provide six kills and a block.
Senior setter Cristina Nazario had 18 assists and eight digs while senior libero Elyssa Mulheron dug up 13 balls.
WCU hit .129 as a team in the match while the Tigers of Towson swung at a .299 clip. The Tigers had four players reach double-figure kills including Jocelyn Kuilan (22), Haley Pa’akaula (14), Jessica Lewis (13) and Julymar Otero (10).
The Catamounts will be back in action Tuesday when they host High Point University in their fifth home match of the season.
Wofford 3, East Carolina 1
South Carolina 3, Wofford 1
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Led by sophomore Danni Densford’s all-tournament team performance, the Wofford volleyball team finished the Carolina Classic with two victories in its three matches. The Terriers concluded the tournament by defeating East Carolina in four before falling in the title match to South Carolina in three on Saturday at the Carolina Volleyball Center on the campus of South Carolina.
Densford smacked 32 kills and hit .373 on the weekend, also going for a total of 17 blocks. She averaged 2.67 kills per set and 1.41 blocks per set to earn her second all-tournament honors of the 2015 campaign.
With Saturday’s split, Wofford moves to 7-7 on the season. South Carolina went 3-0 on its home tournament and jumped to 7-5.
Wofford kicked off day two of the Carolina Classic with a four-set victory over East Carolina Saturday morning at the Carolina Volleyball Center on the campus of South Carolina.
Sophomore Danni Densford was the highlight of Saturday morning’s victory. The Sellersburg, Indiana product hit a blistering .458 on her way to a match-high 14 kills. Densford was also a threat on the block, earning a season-high six rejections.
Densford helped the Terriers outhit East Carolina (6-4) .175 to .085. Wofford also recorded a season-high 13 blocks, its most in a match since 2012 against Charleston Southern, while the Pirates had just three.
Wofford could not muster enough offense to outduel tournament host South Carolina, though. The Gamecocks posted 50 kills to Wofford’s 30 and outhit the Terriers .343 to .184 to earn the title at their home Carolina Classic.
Darian Dozier had a match-high 13 kills for the Gamecocks at a blistering pace of .688. Sarah Blomgren didn’t provide much less with 10 kills at .526. Koko Atoa-Williams finished with 12.
The Carolina Classic marks the final tournament on Wofford’s non-conference schedule. The Terriers return to action on Tuesday just a few miles from campus at USC Upstate. The match is slated for 7 p.m., and came be watched on ESPN3.