Oct. 22, 2002

Final Stats

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Western Carolina scored the final three points of the match to record a thrilling five-game win over homestanding UNC Asheville Tuesday night at the Justice Center. The Catamounts won the match, 22-30, 30-24, 30-27, 28-30, 17-15.

WCU (18-7) was led by Sara Komosinski with a career-high 25 kills, adding 19 digs, while Stefanie Peters also recorded a career-high 24 kills with 17 digs. The Lady Cats got 24 digs each from Michelle Gorton, a career-high, and from Shari Harder, one dig shy of her career-high, set at the Coastal Carolina match earlier this season. Harder added 61 assists before going down early in the fifth game with an injury. Alex Arendell entered the match in Harder's place and got seven assists in the fifth game to help keep WCU in the game. The Cats also posted a season-high 138 digs in the match.

UNC Asheville (17-7) lost for the first time at home this year breaking a seven-game win streak at the Justice Center. The Bulldogs were led by senior Leslie Whitfield's outstanding defense as she recorded a school-record 50 digs. The 50 digs is believed to be the most by an individual in an NCAA Division I match this season. Rose Butler led the Asheville offense with 19 kills and added 21 digs. Kelly Budnik had 16 kills and contributed 24 digs. Frida Sigurdardottir pumped in 17 kills. Jessica Jones added 10 kills and five blocks.

The key game was the third,in which the teams were tied 1-1 as UNCA built a 26-19 lead. But the Lady Cats roared back and won the game, 30-27.

The Bulldogs fought back to force a fifth, and deciding, game with a close, 30-28 win in the fourth.

The fifth game went back and forth before three straight points from the Cats put them in front, 12-10. Back came the Bulldogs behind Budnik and Sigurdardottir to grab a 14-13 lead. The teams traded points for a 15-14 advantage, but the Cats got three straight kills, two from Komosinski, to win the match and earn their fourth straight victory.

"UNCA is a really good team," praised WCU head coach Angell Benson. "They played very well, but it was our team's aggressiveness that earned us the win. We scored points when we needed to and the girls had the determination to win. That gave us the edge we needed."

The Catamounts leap back into SoCon action Saturday (Oct. 26) as the team travels to UNC Greensboro to take on the Spartans at 7 pm.