Western Carolina 3, Elon 2

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After defeating Western Carolina earlier this season, the Elon volleyball team was not able to repeat, falling 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 13-15) in the Ramsey Center. The heartbreaking loss drops the Phoenix to 16-11 (4-7 SoCon), while the Catamounts improve to 11-16 (6-5 SoCon).

The first set remained close with the Catamounts and the Phoenix trading points. After a kill by Smith tied the set at seven-all, the Catamounts scored four straight to go up 11-7. The Phoenix would then go on a 3-1 run to pull within one of WCU, 12-11. With the Catamounts up by four, 18-14, Elon was forced to call its second timeout of the set. Out of the break, two kills in three plays by freshman Kris Harris cut the Phoenix deficit to three, 19-16. WCU would claim the momentum from there and earn a 25-21 first-set win.

Kills by Lemke and junior Allison Johnson helped Elon to a early four-point lead, 9-5, in the second set. The Catamounts then used a five-point run to tie the score at 10. With the set tied 13-all, the maroon and gold went on a 4-1 run, which included a kill from junior Celia Rose Eddy, to take a 17-14 lead. The Phoenix held the lead at 20-16, but WCU slowly climbed back, pulling within one, 21-20. With Elon holding a  22-21 advantage, a kill by Smith and an ace by sophomore Maggie Reichard extended the maroon and gold lead to three, 24-21. The Phoenix went on to tie the match at one set apiece with a 25-22 win.

WCU started the third set with a 9-2 lead before the Phoenix closed the gap to five, 10-5. Down six, 16-10, Elon used kills from Smith and Harris to pull within three, 17-14. However, the Catamounts’ strong start was too much for the Phoenix to overcome as WCU went on to win the set, 25-21, and take the 2-1 match lead.

Elon stormed out to a 7-0 start in the fourth set off two kills each by senior Traci Stewart and junior Carly Ledbetter, an ace by Deatsch and a block by Lemke and Stewart. A kill by Smith later capped a 7-4 run by the Phoenix, which put the maroon and gold up by ten, 14-4. With Elon still up by double-digits, 22-12, the Catamounts scored six of the next seven points to cut the Phoenix lead to six, 24-18. But the Phoenix would hold on and force a deciding fifth set with a 25-18 win.

In the fifth and final set, a kill by Lemke and a block by Lemke and Ledbetter put the Phoenix up 6-2. From there, WCU went on a 5-1 run to tie the set at seven-all. A kill by Smith put the maroon and gold up by two, 11-9, but two unanswered from the Catamounts tied it once again, 11-11. With the set still tied, 13-all, the Catamounts took the next point for a match-point opportunity. WCU earned the final point winning the set, 15-13, for the 3-2 match victory.

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Volleyball responded from a Friday night loss to the College of Charleston with a three-set win over The Citadel on Saturday night, October 29th, at Hanner Fieldhouse. Prior to the match, Georgia Southern honored its four seniors, Hannah Nelson, Bethany Stanford, Hayli Ketner and Parker Small.

The Eagles posted the sweep over the Bulldogs to improve to 15-13 overall and 7-5 in the SoCon. The visiting Bulldogs drop to 7-18 overall and 0-11 in conference play. Georgia Southern won the opening set, 25-20 and cruised to a 25-16 second set win. The Bulldogs rallied in the third, but Georgia Southern took the victory with a 25-23 win in the final set.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- After a quick road trip and a win yesterday, Samford returned to the Pete Hanna Center on Homecoming weekend for a 3-0 sweep over Wofford Saturday, pushing their undefeated home record to 10-0 this season. 

As a team, Samford (23-3, 10-2 SoCon) hit their second-highest percentage of the season, hitting .438 (42-10-73) with Katie Murphy again leading the charge with a .625 clip (11-1-16).  The Wofford (13-15, 2-9 SoCon) offense earned the highest hitting percentage Samford has allowed in nearly a month, earning a .241 clip (31-12-79).  Blocks were even at four a piece while Samford held the edge in digs, 30-18, and assists, 39-29.  Casey Garvey continued what has been a stellar season pacing the attack, tallying more assists (33) than the entire Wofford offense.  The duo of Murphy and Elizabeth Neisler led the team in kills with 11 each and libero Alexis Bauer was the digs leader with 11, her fourth straight match with double digit digs.

Down 1-2 early in set one, a Terrier service error tied the game and gave Samford possession, allowing Garvey to serve up four in a row to jump ahead 6-2.  The Bulldogs maintained the four-point lead and up 12-8, went on a 6-1 run, including two kills and three successful serves by Garvey, to double up the Terriers, 18-9.  Each team scored seven after that, giving Samford the win with a final score of 25-16.

The Bulldogs got off to an even hotter start in set two, with Bauer and Garvey spurring extended runs to jump ahead 10-1.  Samford caught Wofford’s defense off-balance, as five of those ten points were service aces.  Despite such a large early deficit, the Terriers fought back, chipping away at the lead to eventually draw within four, down 10-14.  Samford began to pull away again during the next stretch, going up 19-13 but the Terriers had a comeback in mind, drawing within three, down 18-21.  Samford’s starting offense came back on the court late to try and close the game out and they succeeded, as a 4-2 run sealed the 25-20 win.

It was Samford who was on the losing side of an early deficit in game three, as Wofford came out with good energy following the ten minute break to jump ahead 9-4 early.  The Bulldogs didn’t waste any time coming back, as a Wofford service error gave Samford the point and possession, followed by Taylor Chao serving four in a row to tie the match up at 9-9.  Up 12-11 shortly after, Chelsi Carter knocked in a kill and followed that up with an impressive seven consecutive serves, including three aces, to build a substantial 20-11 Bulldog lead.  Samford reached set point with a 4-3 run and after giving up two points to Wofford, a Terrier service error gave the Bulldogs the final point to seal the sweep with a 25-16 victory.

DAVIDSON, N.C. - College of Charleston won its second straight five-set match as the Cougars defeated Davidson, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 31-29, 22-25, 15-11).

College of Charleston moved to 19-9 on the season and 9-2 in conference. The Cougars are now 4-4 in five-set matches this season. Davidson fell to 13-11 and 3-8 in Southern Conference play.

Freshman Sloane White continued her strong weekend with a career-high 20 kills on .326 hitting. Seniors Sarah Havel and Elyse Chubb each tallied double figures with Havel getting 11 kills and five blocks while Chubb made 10 kills and hit .300. Sophomore Madelyn McGinnis came off the bench to make nine kills.

Four different players reached double figures in digs led by redshirt-junior Emily Shelton's 22 digs. Sophomores Taeler Davis and Kallie McKown each tallied double-doubles with 11 digs and 29 and 25 assists, respectively. Freshman Lizzie Theesfeld also made 11 digs.

Davidson's Caroline Brown made a match-high 22 kills on 68 swings along with 18 digs. Erin Lupfer and Tindall Sewell each made 13 kills.

Davidson built a 17-12 lead midway through the first set off of kills from Brown. However, the Cougars slowly fought back and eventually tied the game at 23 after a block from Havel and White and an attack error from Davidson's Christine Perzinski. However, Davidson won the next two points with blocks from Madison Benedict and took the first set, 25-23. Brown finished with six kills to lead the Wildcats in a .324 team attack percentage.

College of Charleston wasted no time building a lead in the second set, racing to a 10-2 lead off of Wildcat errors. Davidson eventually got to within 19-16, but a kill from Havel stopped Davidson's run. A late kill from White and block from Havel and White gave the Cougars a 25-17 set victory.

The third set tested the nerves of both teams as it featured 14 ties and nine lead changes. Similar to the first set, Davidson got out to a 16-11 lead and eventually led 18-14. However, College of Charleston mounted a furious rally, winning the next five points to lead 19-18, sparked by kills from White, Theesfeld, and sophomore Kallie McKown. Both teams traded points to a tie at 25 and the set continued. White was clutch in the extra points, nailing three kills including the set winner to give the Cougars a 31-29 game three victory. White made seven kills in the set, while McGinnis, who started the set, made six kills.

College of Charleston found itself down again in the middle of the set as the Wildcats built a 17-12 lead capped by a kill from Christine Perzinski. The Cougars chipped at the lead again and pulled to within 22-21 after kills from Chubb and Havel. However, Davidson came out strong after a timeout, winning three of the next four points to win the set, 25-22.

The Cougars jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set, but Davidson came right back out of a timeout to tie the game at six. But the Cougars retook the lead and Davidson could not tie the game again. A block from Havel and McGinnis ended the match for the Cougars as CofC won the fifth set, 15-11.