Chattanooga 3, Western Carolina 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs volleyball team beat Western Carolina in a three-set match, making the squad 2-0 in Southern Conference play. UTC improves to 13-2 for the first time since 1986 and is on a nine-match winning streak, the longest since 1999.
Chattanooga didn't allow the Catamounts to reach above 18 points in any set. In the second frame, Western Carolina only put up 12.
The Mocs got off to a great start, posting six kills in the first eight points of the match.
In the third frame, UTC went down by five at 8-3 but climbed its way back. After 15-15, the Mocs only lost three points, including four kills in a row to clinch the match 25-18.
Chattanooga had a strong offensive performance, recording a .384 attack percentage.
Junior Allie Davenport made a big impact by making 17 kills paired with a .395 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Lauren Greenspoon set the attackers 45 times. Senior Catherine Chason racked up a team-high of 14 digs and four aces.
The Mocs continue league play on Tuesday as they travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to face Wofford at 7 p.m. UTC is back at home Friday to play Mercer in Maclellan Gym at 6 p.m.
Samford 3, UNCG 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University volleyball team capped off its opening home weekend with its second Southern Conference victory after it won 3-0 over UNCG on Saturday inside the Pete Hanna Center.
The Bulldogs (7-5, 2-0 SoCon) used a balanced effort to take down the Spartans (10-7, 0-2 SoCon) and hit an even .200 on the match with 46 digs which outpaced the opposing team's .176 and 42 digs.
Offensively, it was senior Emily Meitz who sparked the Samford offense and scored three of Samford's last four points to put away the deciding third set 29-27. Meitz committed zero attack errors in the match where she tallied 11 kills on just 20 attacks (.550).
The Bulldogs had to rally in the second set of the match as they found themselves down 20-13 to the Spartans but surged back behind the tough serving from freshman Alana Schouten to set the stage for the comeback 28-26 victory in the set to go up 2-0 going into the intermission.
Junior Erin Bognar matched Meitz for a team-high 11 kills while also chipping in six digs and a service ace. Sophomore transfer libero Morgan St. Germain paced the Bulldogs defensively with 10 digs in the match.
After sitting out the first month of competition the Bulldogs saw the return of junior Mattie Newson to the lineup. Newson provided much needed support for Samford at the serving line and on the back row defensively. She tallied one ace and dug four balls in the match against the Spartans.
Samford hits the road again next weekend for a pair of SoCon matches against Wofford College and The Citadel.
ETSU 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The East Tennessee State University volleyball team won its first conference match of the season Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over The Citadel (25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18).
With the win, the Bucs remain unbeaten against The Citadel in the all-time series (14-0).
Briana Allmon led the Bucs with 21 kills, which is her second match this season with at least 20 kills. Senior Khadijah Wiley tallied 14 kills with two errors in 24 attempts (.500 hitting percentage) to go along with three blocks and Kristen Favre dished out 51 assists (12.75 per set).
The tone of the first set was set by the hot-hitting by the Buccaneers. ETSU hit a combined .378, which was its highest mark in the match. Allmon, Wiley and Rylee Milhorn combined for 11 of ETSU’s 16 kills overall as it won the first frame, 25-17.
Despite falling behind early, 6-1, ETSU worked its way back to tie the score at 14-14. After they tied the score, the Bucs used a combination of four Bulldog errors to go along with three kills from Allmon, Milhorn and another from Mariah McPartland to take a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-21.
Like in the second frame, the turning point was when the score was knotted at 14-14. However, in the third it was the Bulldogs that put together a run to take a set, 25-18. The Bulldogs got their offense rolling in the third hitting a match-high .321 with only a pair of miscues.
Neither team had its ‘A’ game in the fourth and what proved to be the deciding set as the two teams combined for 13 attack errors in the set. Despite the miscues by ETSU, it still opened a 10-point lead on the Bulldogs, 23-13. The deficit proved too large for The Citadel, however, as it fell in the fourth, 25-18.
ETSU will return to Brooks Gym for a pair of matches this week as it takes on UNC Greensboro Wednesday and Mercer Saturday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Furman 3, Mercer 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Fueled by a set two comeback win, Furman volleyball defeated Mercer, 3-0 (25-20, 30-28, 25-22) on Saturday night in Alley Gym. The win moves Furman to 2-0 early in the SoCon schedule (8-4 overall), while the loss drops the Bears to 0-2 in the SoCon and 4-9 overall.
Annie Bierman led the Paladins with 12 kills and 19 digs for her eighth double-double of the season, while Amelia Bohlander put down 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Jo Wilks dished out 33 assists and turned in 10 digs, while Taina Joseph added a team-high five blocks.
Mercer was led by Emily Krogman and Morgan MacGilvary with eight kills each, while libero Tori Penrod turned in a match-high 20 digs.
The teams traded points in set three until Furman used a 4-0 run to open up a 17-14 lead over the Bears. Mercer and Furman continued to trade points until Furman got a kill by Sikora and a block by Bierman to stretch its lead to three at 22-19 and force a Mercer timeout. Furman had its first set-point opportunity at 24-20, but Mercer got a kill from Paige Alsten to cut the lead to three at 24-21, then used a block to cut the lead to two at 24-22. Furman would not be denied, however, and Bierman put down her 12th kill of the match to take the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action on Wednesday as the Paladins travel to Cullowhee, N.C., for a midweek matchup with Western Carolina.