Western Carolina 3, Wofford 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina volleyball team used an all-around effort to down visiting Wofford in both programs Southern Conference opener Friday night inside the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts had five individuals reach double-figure kills and five reach double-digit digs.
Senior Nicole Ford had her breakout match of the season as she tied for the team lead with 13 kills and also led the Catamounts in blocks with six. She hit .320 after committing five errors on 25 attacks.
Freshman Savannah Kohlhagen tied Ford for the team lead in kills with 13 while posting a double-double with 18 digs.
The final Catamount with double-digit kills was sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde who completed her NCAA leading sixth triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 30 assists and 18 digs. She also had four blocks and a team-high three service aces.
With the fifth set tied at 10 the match was up for grabs. Wofford struck first, but a pair of kills by WCU and a Wofford attack error gave WCU a 13-11 advantage. The Terriers would not go down easy as they answered with a kill and a service ace which forced WCU to call a timeout with the set tied at 13. Following the timeout, Zupan and Ford went back-to-back with kills to end the match in the Catamounts favor, 15-13.
The win gives WCU a 1-0 start to Southern Conference play and improves the Catamounts overall record to 7-10. The Terriers fell to 7-9 overall and 0-1 in SoCon action.
Furman 3, ETSU 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind a .350 team hitting percentage, Furman volleyball downed ETSU, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) to open SoCon play Friday night in Alley Gym. The win moves the Paladins to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play. The loss drops ETSU to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play.
The Paladins put down 46 kills to ETSU’s 27, and held the Buccaneers to a .122 hitting percentage. Annie Bierman led the team with 13 kills and 12 digs, and turned in a .500 hitting percentage. Christen Sikora put down 12 kills and eight digs, while Amelia Bohlander added eight kills. Jo Wilks dished out 40 assists and Carris Campbell recorded a team-high three blocks.
ETSU was led by Briana Allmon with 10 kills, while Hailey Aguilar turned in nine digs.
Furman took an early 9-6 lead in set three, before ETSU cut the lead to one at 9-8. Furman pushed the lead back to four at 13-9, but ETSU again cut into the lead at 13-11. The Paladins again pushed the lead to four at 15-11 and the teams then traded points until the Buccaneers cut into the lead at 19-16. Furman then used three-straight points to open up a six-point lead at 22-16, before ETSU used four-straight to cut the lead to two at 22-20. After an ETSU service error, Furman used a kill by Christen Sikora and an ace by Caitlyn Scioscia gave the Paladins the 25-20 set three win and 3-0 match victory.
Furman is back in action tomorrow night as it plays host to Mercer in Alley Gym at 7:30 p.m.
The Terriers were led by Bella Santoro who had a match-high 17 kills and 18 digs. Alex Holland added 15 kills while Danni Densford had 14 kills and four blocks.
The Catamounts will not have long to celebrate their hard fought victory as they hit the road tomorrow, Sept. 26 to face Chattanooga at 6 p.m. The game will be carried on the SoCon Digital Network.
Chattanooga 3, UNCG 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team defeated UNCG 3-1 at Maclellan Gym to open Southern Conference play. UTC improves to 12-2 for the first time since 1986 and continues its win streak to eight in a row, the longest since 1999.
Chattanooga started the match strongly by convincingly winning the first set 25-16. In the second frame, the Mocs were never down by more than three points, pulling out a 25-21 victory.
The Spartans responded with an impressive 25-17 third frame, while the fourth set went back and forth. At 22-22, junior Allie Davenport hit a service ace followed by a kill. UNCG made an attack error and senior Sarah Batterton wrapped up the match with a kill.
UTC posted 10 blocks compared to UNCG's five. Senior Lauren Gainer paced the team with seven block assists and one solo.
Davenport led the squad in kills with 15 and a .429 attack percentage. Junior Kristy Wieser had 12 kills, and Batterton recorded 11.
Senior Catherine Chason had a strong performance from the backcourt, posting 37 digs. Sophomore Lauren Greenspoon racked up 48 assists on the night.
The Mocs hit the court at Maclellan Gym again Saturday to face Western Carolina at 6 p.m.
Samford 3, Mercer 1
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University volleyball squad opened up its 2015 SoCon schedule on Friday evening at Samford in Birmingham, Ala. The Bears battled the Bulldogs but fell in a four-set decision, 3-1.
The loss ends Mercer’s three-match winning streak and drops its record to 4-8 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. Samford improves to 6-5 in 2015 and starts league action with a 1-0 record.
Mercer fought off two set points in the opening set at 24-22 and managed to level the score at 24-24. However, Samford quickly regrouped and won the next two points to take the first set 26-24. The Bulldogs continued their momentum into the second and claimed the stanza 25-18.
Mercer faced a match point in the third with the score 24-23 but managed to rally and win the next three points to force a fourth set and draw within one at 2-1. The Bears gave the hosts all they could handle in the fourth frame, but the Bulldogs outlasted Mercer and held on to win 27-25 to take the match by a final of 3-1.
Ellie James turned in her best performance of the season at Samford. The junior notched her first double-double of the season and ninth of her career with 11 kills and 12 digs. The 11 digs were tied for the team-high on the night. James also helped the Bears in other areas, adding two aces and a block to complete her evening.
The Bears travel east to Greenville, S.C. on Saturday for another SoCon road match, as Mercer takes on Furman. The match is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.