Oct. 1, 2006

Final Stats

Statesboro, Ga. - Led by 20 kills by junior Meredith Harmon - including six in the decisive game five alone - the Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team burst into the win column in Southern Conference play, winning a five-game thriller over the home standing Georgia Southern Eagles, 3-2 (30-27, 17-30, 20-30, 30-22, 16-14) Sunday afternoon at the Hanner Field House.

It was the second-time this season that Harmon has reached the 20-kill plateau and the win snapped Western's six-match losing skid to Georgia Southern.

"To get our first conference win on the road against a tough Georgia Southern team is great and should do nothing but help build our confidence," said head coach Stephanie Dragan. "Meredith Harmon put us on her shoulders down the stretch and refused to let us lose today. She played brilliantly, as did Brittany (Johnson) and Katie (Hennessey) was passing nails."

Harmon hit a match-high .389 in recording her 20 kills, which is two shy of her career-high set earlier this season versus High Point. Joining the Villa Hills, Ky., native in double figures was freshman middle Brittny Johnson who hammered home 15, adding a team-high four blocks at the net. Seniors Heather Koontz and Krista Neumann just missed double-digits tallying eight kills apiece in the win.

Freshman setter Katie Hennessey dished out 45 assists for WCU, while her classmate Liz Rondone recorded 26 digs with senior Meghan Boyle tallying 19 digs.

Western (5-16, 1-4 SoCon) raced out to the early lead in the match with a 30-27 win in game one, out-hitting GSU .308-to-.227 with 19 kills en route to the victory. But the Eagles (8-5, 2-3 SoCon) rallied back with two convincing victories in games two and three, 30-17 and 30-20, holding Western's offense to (-.023) and .000, respectively.

Down two games to one, the Catamounts rallied to force the decisive game five with a 30-22 win in game four. WCU broke open a 2-2 tie and would eventually lead by as many as nine, 19-to-10, to cruise to the game victory.

In game five, Western fell behind 5-to-1 plagued by two attacking errors and could not capitalize on a GSU service error, falling down 6-2 and forcing Dragan to call a timeout. After the stoppage, the Eagles managed a block to run the lead to five, 7-2, before the Catamounts rallied. Behind the serve of Boyle, Western clawed back with three-straight points including an ace, a Harmon kill, and a Harmon/Hennessey block.

But Georgia Southern countered, breaking WCU's serve and pulling back out by four, 9-to-5 before Harmon put one down to bring the Cats back within three, 9-to-6, and start a six-point rally behind the serve of senior Kate Willard. Harmon recorded three-consecutive kills, broken up by an Eagle timeout, but when the dust had settled, Western led 12-to-9. But again Georgia Southern rallied, pulling even at 14. However, after a Johnson kill, Hennessey put the finishing touches on the match with a service ace winner.

Georgia Southern had four players reach double-figures in kills including a match-high-tying 20 from Christy Dowd. Defensively, Mae Chabra had 30 digs, while Natalie Rodriguez recorded 22 in the loss, which is the Eagles' second league loss in a row.

"This is tough for us because we fought so hard last night and this afternoon and we came up short both times," said first-year Georgia Southern head coach, Nicole McCray. "Again, it comes down to the little things and Western Carolina made some great plays in crunch time and was able to finish a well fought match between both teams."

Western Carolina returns to action this weekend, hosting the College of Charleston on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7:00 pm and on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 2:00 pm. Both matches will be played on-campus in the Ramsey Center.