Sept. 7, 2002

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina's women's volleyball team fell to Villanova, 3-0, then turned in a second come-from-behind victory for the weekend, this time against Georgia State, 3-1, en route to winning the third annual Catamount Clash. WCU (4-3) went 2-1 in the tournament as well as Tennessee (6-1). However, since the Cats defeated UT in head-to-head competition, they were named the champions.

In Western's first match of the day against Villanova, neither team seemed to get into an offensive flow, but the Wildcats started pulling away and eventually swept WCU, 3-0. There were many errors on both sides as the two teams failed to take advantage of several scoring opportunities. Shari Harder proved to be the glue that held the Catamounts together, leading them in digs (14) and assists (16).

In the team's second match of the day, Western faced a hungry Georgia State squad, led by a powerful front line and strong back court, recording 195 attacks and 67 digs for the match. Western fell in the first game (27-30) before coming back to take the next three (30-23, 30-24, 30-27). The team was led by tournament MVP Sara Komosinski and sophomore Tricia Eble, who provided 16 kills each.

Making the All-Tournament team along with Catamounts' Komosinski and Harder were Tennessee's Michelle Piantadosi and Kelli Scott, Villanova's Kerri Sullivan, and Georgia State's Kumi Ishiyama.

"I was real proud of the team in their win against Georgia State," said head coach Angell Benson. "They really showed great teamwork. I'm also excited for the success of the tournament. It was real competitive and it prepared us well for our upcoming conference schedule. I'm proud of Shari and Sara for making the All-Tournament team and their leadership throughout the weekend."

The Catamounts travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on East Tennessee Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6:00 pm.