Oct. 28, 2004
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. -
After falling behind 1-0, the Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team rallied to win three-straight, knocking off conference rival Chattanooga, 3-1 (24-30, 30-27, 30-26, 30-26) Thursday night at the Ramsey Center. In addition to completing the season sweep of the Mocs, the win improves Western's record to 11-13 overall and pushes the Cats' Southern Conference mark over .500 to 7-6. Chattanooga drops to 6-17 on the season, 3-9 in league play.
Freshman Melissa Parana led the Cat attack with a match-high 20 kills on a .432 attack percentage. She added six digs and a solo block in the win. Senior Stefanie Peters and sophomore setter Meghan Boyle each recorded double-doubles on the night. Peters finished with 17 kills and 15 digs, while Boyle tallied 33 assists and 11 digs.
Despite committing a match-high 11 errors in the game one, the Catamounts stayed close to the Mocs early in a seesaw battle. However, tied at 19, Western gave Chattanooga three of four points on attack errors, giving Chattanooga a four-point cushion from which they would never look back, cruising to the early 1-0 lead, 30-24.
Roles reversed in the second game as the errors that plagued the Cats in the opener bothered Chattanooga as the Mocs committed 10 errors overall. Western rode the service of sophomore Heather Koontz to score six-consecutive points, turning a three-point, 24-21, deficit into a three-point advantage at 27-24. Chattanooga would close to within two points on three occasions before WCU closed out the game to even the match at one apiece.
After the break, Chattanooga came out composed in the third game, racing to a six-point, 11-5 advantage before the Catamounts could recover. Taking advantage of Moc errors, WCU tied the game at 15 and again at 16 before surging ahead on a Parana kill that put the Cats ahead for good at 17-16, then finishing off the game, 30-26.
Game four saw both teams record their best hitting percentages of the night. Chattanooga rebounded to only commit three errors with 17 kills on 34 attacks. Yet the Catamounts found their missing offensive ingredient, pounding home 22 kills with only a pair of errors on 39 total attacks for a .513 attack percentage. Western never trailed in the final game, leading by as many as 10 midway through the game, 22-12.
Chattanooga did rally, closing the gap to three at 27-24. However, following a Western timeout, a pair of Koontz kills and a Moc service error sealed the deal for the Catamounts.
In addition to Parana and Peters, Western Carolina saw freshman Meredith Harmon extend her double-figure kill streak to five matches as she killed a career-high 13 balls on the night. Red-shirt freshman Danielle Spitzer added 11 kills and one and a half blocks for the Catamounts. Junior Ellie Talbot, who seemed to be a target of Moc spikers the majority of the night, finished with a match-high 18 digs, adding a pair of service aces in the victory.
Chattanooga was paced by the double-double efforts of sophomore Amanda Durfee and junior Kelly Ramsay. Durfee finished with a team-high 16 kills and 11 digs, while Ramsay added 15 kills and 16 digs in the losing effort. Setter Bethany Herndon dished out 57 set assists and dug eight balls defensively.
Western Carolina hits the road for its next pair of matches, traveling to Elon to battle the Phoenix, which rank second in the SoCon's North Division, on Friday, November 5. WCU concludes its road portion of the schedule at UNC Greensboro on Saturday, November 6. Chattanooga travels to North Division-leading Appalachian State on Saturday, October 30 for a 7:00 pm match with the Mountaineers.
