Nov. 5, 2004

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina freshman Meredith Harmon recorded a team-high 11 kills as the Catamounts had their three-game winning streak snapped by the streaking Elon Phoenix, 3-0 (30-28, 30-26, 30-22) Friday night in Southern Conference volleyball action.

The victory for Elon was its sixth consecutive and the 18th on the year for the Phoenix. Western, who entered the match looking to tie its longest winning streak of the season at four, falls to 11-14 overall, 7-7 in the conference play.

In the first game, Western Carolina jumped to a six-point lead at 12-6 before Elon outscored the Catamounts 10-4 to tie the game at 16. The teams battled back and forth before Western took another six-point lead at 25-19. Elon tied the game 27-27 on a kill from Emily Lucci and took the lead on an Ashley Ruckert ace. Ahead 29-28, Elon's Emily Hayes notched a kill for the Phoenix giving Elon the game, 30-28.

Western Carolina again took an early lead in the second game, leading by as many as five before Elon tied the game at 16. Elon took the lead and extended it to four before the Catamounts closed the gap to one at 26-25. However, Elon took advantage of Western Carolina errors and closed the game on a kill from Ruckert, 30-26.

Elon led game three from beginning to end, using a 7-0 scoring run to close the game at 30-22 on an ace from MK Spear.

Elon was led offensively by Lucci with 14 kills and only four errors on 24 attempts for .417 hitting percentage. Hayes added 12 kills while Juliena Gigon added 10 kills, seven coming in the second game. Emily Downing led the defense with 11 digs and Natalie Moore added 42 assists.

With her double-digit kill tally, Harmon extends her streak to six-consecutive matches where she has reached double figures in kills. Red shirt freshman Danielle Spitzer added seven kills and two total blocks with classmate Melissa Parana adding six kills with only one error for a .455 attack percentage. Senior Stefanie Peters tallied five kills, eight digs, and a pair of service aces as the most balanced Catamount on the night.

Sophomore setters Kate Willard and Meghan Boyle tallied 17 and 14 assists, respectively. Junior Ellie Talbot led the Catamounts defensively with 12 digs, as well as recording a pair of assists in the loss.

Western Carolina concludes the road portion of their 2004 schedule tomorrow afternoon, November 6, as they visit UNC Greensboro in conference action. The road finale is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm.