Oct. 16, 2002
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's volleyball team fought back after a 0-1 deficit to take the final three games for the 3-1 win over East Tennessee State. WCU improves to 16-7 (8-3 SoCon) with the win, while ETSU drops to 5-14 (3-8 SoCon).
The Bucs dominated in the first match and never gave up the lead to the Catamounts. Western challenged near game's end, bringing the score to 29-28 after a block assist by Tricia Eble and Shari Harder, but ETSU posted 20 kills, 18 digs and four total blocks en route to a 30-28 victory over the Cats.
WCU came alive in the second game. Michelle Gorton served four straight points, including one ace, before a kill by ETSU's Nicole Ryan marked the score at 10-8 in favor of the Cats. Sara Komosinski recorded a kill for the next point and stepped back to serve the next three points to set the game at 14-8 before another kill by Ryan. Western went on to win game two, 30-21, after a service error by Ryan.
The two teams battled back and forth in the third game and even tied it at 14-14 after a kill by Katie Ralph. The Catamounts edged ETSU after three Buccaneer attack errors in a row to make the score 17-14. The Bucs brought the game to within one on two occasions before WCU pulled away for good and took the game, 30-22.
Western Carolina took control early in the fourth and never looked back as the Lady Cats were up by as many as 10 points after a kill by Stefanie Peters set the score at 15-5. The Bucs couldn't get in sync long enough to catch up, committing 10 attack errors and only adding 10 kills to give game four (30-21) and the match to Western.
Komosinski posted a great game for the Cats, recording a season-high .514 hitting percentage, leading Western with 18 kills, no errors and 16 digs. She also added a team-high four blocks. Harder posted a new four-game season-high 54 assists, adding 11 digs and three blocks.
Ryan led ETSU with 18 kills and 64 attacks. Renee Vesey posted 48 assists in the match, while Ralph led the team with 17 digs. Kristi Robinson had six blocks for the Bucs.
The Catamounts continue their homestand as they host mountain rival Appalachian State at 7 pm on Saturday (Oct. 19).
