Catamount Volleyball Downed by Lady Paladins on Senior Day, 3-0

Nov. 12, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - Furman put three players in double-figure kills en route to downing Western Carolina in straight sets, 3-0 (30-22, 30-21, 30-23), spoiling senior day on Sunday afternoon in the Ramsey Center. Prior to the match, WCU honored its four seniors, Meghan Boyle, Heather Koontz, Krista Neumann and Kate Willard.

"Obviously we would like to have won the last home match for our senior class. I wish that Heather (Koontz) could have played today on her senior day. But, it was good to have all three of our seniors who dressed out on the court playing together in game three," said head coach Stephanie Dragan.

Junior Meredith Harmon led the Catamounts with nine kills and four total blocks, while senior Meghan Boyle and freshman Brittny Johnson added eight kills apiece. Defensively, WCU was led by freshman Liz Rondone with 21 digs, with her classmate, Lauren Brown, adding eight in the loss. A third rookie, setter Katie Hennessey, finished with 26 set assists and two block assists.

"Brittny (Johnson) did a nice job with eight kills - a lot from a different position - coming back after what we thought was a season-ending injury. I also felt that Katie (Hennessey) did a nice job distributing the ball and Lauren (Brown) did well defensively playing all-around today. We will regroup and look forward to a tough week of practice in preparation for the Southern Conference tournament," Dragan said.

Furman (19-10, 14-3 SoCon) was paced by 10 kills apiece by Ally Hock, Nicole Palazzo, and Kerry Wooten. Hock hit a match-high .643 with just one error on 14 total attacks while Wooten hit .600, committing one error on 15 attacks. Kim Tonkin led the Lady Paladins defensively with 17 digs while Chibuzo Aguocha, who led the SoCon with 4.49 kills per game entering the match, tallied 11 digs but was limited to seven kills.

Western Carolina will now turn its focus to the 2006 Southern Conference Volleyball Championships this Thursday through Sunday in Boone, N.C. Western will be seeded ninth and will face the eighth-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles in the first match of the tournament at 10:00 am on Thursday, Nov. 16. WCU split with GSU this season, rallying to win in five games in Statesboro before falling in four in Cullowhee.

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