Sept. 24, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina came within two points of scoring its second Southern Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, falling in five games to the Davidson Wildcats, 3-2 (30-21, 26-30, 37-30, 31-29, 15-5) in volleyball action in Reid Gym. Despite the loss, WCU sophomore Danielle Spitzer set a career high with 18 kills to lead the Catamounts, who dropped just their second match out of the last 12 played in Reid.

On a day when the Catamounts honored their volleyball parents, Western fell behind quickly, dropping game one, 30-21, struggling to get the offense going early. However, behind back-to-back solid games hitting the ball, the Cats stood on the threshold of earning the SoCon victory at the end of game four.

After trailing early, 12-6, the Catamounts pulled to within four before Davidson surged ahead by 10 at 20-10. Clawing its way back in, Western fought back, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to tie the game up at 22 apiece. The Catamounts took their first lead at 24-23, and were serving match point at 29-28. However, a pair of attack errors and a Wildcat kill forced the deciding game five.

The Catamounts never could get things going in the deciding fifth, falling behind 9-0 in a rally that saw two service aces by Davidson's Liz Williamson and four attack errors by Western. Davidson capitalized on the quick start to take the game and match, 15-5.

In addition to setting career numbers in kills, Spitzer added three solo blocks on the afternoon for Western. Three Catamounts finished with double-double performances. Senior Ellie Talbot and junior Heather Koontz each recorded the double-tilt with kills and digs, while junior setter Meghan Boyle did it with digs and assists. Talbot killed 10 and dug 21, while Koontz tallied 16 kills and 10 digs and Boyle dished out 45 assists and had 16 digs. Junior Kate Willard led the team with 20 total digs from her libero position.

Using Spitzer's trio of solo rejections and three total blocks from sophomore Meredith Harmon, Western out-blocked Davidson, 8-to-4 in the loss.

Davidson (4-10, 1-0) was led by 21 kills by Williamson, who also served up six aces in the match. Lindsay Paroczai and Katie Pierucci also tallied double-figure kills with 15 and 11, respectively. Lindsey Woeste led the way defensively for the Wildcats, digging 28, with Pierucci, Jenna Dykstra, and Erin Balak each reaching double-digits in digs.

Western Carolina returns to action at home this Tuesday night back in the Ramsey Center at 7:00 pm as it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference play. The Mocs will serve as Davidson's next opponent as the Wildcats visit Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm.