Nov. 10, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - On a night honoring her final home appearance in Cullowhee, senior Ellie Talbot led the Western Carolina Catamounts with one of two double-doubles on the team. However, the strong offensive performance by UNC Asheville proved too much as the Bulldogs swept the Catamounts, 3-0 (30-18, 30-25, 30-25) Thursday evening in non-conference volleyball action at the Ramsey Center.

Talbot was honored during a pre-game ceremony with her parents, Western first-year head coach Stephanie Dragan, and WCU athletics director, Chip Smith. She currently ranks fifth on WCU's all-time career digs lists, poised to make a run at the top two positions before the year concludes. Thursday night, Talbot recorded 13 kills and 15 digs defensively to lead the Catamounts.

"Ellie has meant a great deal to this program and has been very beneficial to me during this first season at Western," said Dragan. "I hate we could not close out her home career with a victory and capitalize on an otherwise good night for her. But we, her included, still have a lot of volleyball left to play. We are going to concentrate on finishing the season strong and build some momentum heading into the conference championships next week."

Sophomore Meredith Harmon was the only other Catamount to reach double-figures on the night, recording 12 on a .556 attack percentage, committing just two errors on 18 total attacks. Her classmate, Danielle Spitzer, added seven kills, while junior Heather Koontz finished with six, adding 15 digs in the loss. Krista Neumann led the Cats with five service aces in the match.

Trailing by two in game one, 8-6, UNC Asheville used a 4-0 spurt to stretch its advantage to six, 12-6. The run continued for the Bulldogs despite intermittent points by the Catamounts to the tune of 10-5, giving UNCA an 18-11 lead. Down the stretch, the `Dogs out scored Western by a count of 12-7 to keep the Cats at bay.

In the second game, Western fell behind early, but managed a feverish rally behind the service of Neumann. Trailing 25-to-16, the junior transfer from Downers Grove, Ill., served six-consecutive points, including a pair of aces, to close the deficit to three, 25-22. Yet, the Bulldogs scored five of the final eight points to grab the two-game lead.

Game three was Western's to lead early, climbing out to an early 10-7 advantage. The Catamounts managed to maintain their advantage, building it to a high of five points, 15-10, before UNCA made a run. The Bulldogs rattled off ten-straight points behind the serve of senior Krysti Havens, helping to silence the boisterous Ramsey Center crowd, which was the largest of the season. From the midway point of game three through its conclusion, UNC Asheville outscored Western 20-to-10 to win the match and complete the seasonal sweep of the Catamounts.

UNC Asheville was led by junior Elif Unlu with a dozen kills, adding 15 digs and a pair of service aces in the win. Senior Allison Lambert added 10 kills for the Bulldogs, while her classmates Talia Ogle and Rose Butler added nine and eight kills, respectively.

Western Carolina travels to the Piedmont of North Carolina for a pair of matches to conclude the 2005 regular season. The Catamounts visit Elon at 7:00 pm Saturday evening before wrapping up the season with a 2:00 pm match on Sunday at UNC Greensboro.