Oct. 17, 2006

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Despite taking early leads in each game, the Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team fell in straight sets to the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, 3-0 (30-20, 30-18, 30-21) Tuesday night in Southern Conference volleyball action.

Junior Meredith Harmon, who averaged 14 kills per match and hit well over .400 last week, was the lone Catamount to reach double-figures offensively, tallying 11 kills and three total blocks. Harmon led WCU in each game, totaling four kills in both games one and three, with three in game two. Freshman setter Katie Hennessey dished out 22 assists and made eight digs in the loss.

"We really struggled offensively and with our recent injury (to Brittny Johnson), we have not been able to put up a solid blocking effort to challenge any of our opponents' hitters," said head coach Stephanie Dragan. "Meredith (Harmon) again was our go-to player and Heather (Koontz) played well in game three, but we need others to step up, especially at the net, to be competitive."

Three Catamounts reached double-digits in digs led by 15 from senior Meghan Boyle and 14 from freshman libero, Liz Rondone. Senior Heather Koontz also reached double figures with 10 digs and was the closest WCU player to a double-double, finishing with eight kills

After leading early in game one, Chattanooga broke open an 8-8 tie with the first of four, four-straight point rallies to pull ahead, 12-to-8. The Catamounts fought back but could only close to within one, 14-13, as the Lady Mocs took the early match lead, 1-0, with the 30-20 game victory.

Behind the serve of Rondone, Western (6-21, 2-9 SoCon) ran off three-consecutive points en route to a 5-1 lead before the Lady Mocs countered. Tied at 12, UTC scored eight points in a row to break open the otherwise close game, taking a 20-12 lead. From the 12-all tie on, Western only scored three points on its own coming off one attack, one block, and one service ace. The Catamounts committed a match-high 12 attacking errors in game two, hitting a dismal -.119, to fall down two games to none.

True to form, Western opened game three with a 1-0 lead, but the advantage was short-lived as Chattanooga again scored in bunches to pull ahead. Western closed to within three, 9-to-6, but that was a close as WCU could get the remainder of the game. Down 28-to-17, Western scored four-straight points to stave off elimination before back-to-back Moc kills ended the game and the match, 30-21.

Western was held to a negative .016 attack percentage while the Mocs hit .242 for the match. UTC also out blocked the Catamounts, 11-to-4 on the night.

Chattanooga (9-13, 7-3 SoCon) put two players in double figures as Leslee Hall tallied 12 kills with four total blocks while Jamie Engle finished with the lone double-double of the match with 11 kills and 11 digs. Libero Laura Newberry led the Lady Mocs defensively with 17 digs with Julianna Martinez finishing with six blocks.

Western Carolina concludes its current five-match road swing this weekend in the Piedmont Triad. The Catamounts travel to UNC Greensboro on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7:00 pm and visit Elon on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6:00 pm.