Nov. 16, 2006
Final Stats
Boone, N.C. - Eighth-seeded Georgia Southern scored points in bunches to down the ninth-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts in straight sets, 3-0 (30-20, 30-13, 30-13) at the Holmes Convocation Center in the opening match of first round play in the 2006 Southern Conference Volleyball Tournament.
With the win, #8 GSU advances to face the top-seeded College of Charleston Cougars at 10:00 am on Friday, while Western's season comes to a close with an 8-28 overall mark.
"We could never get our offense rolling today and hats off to Georgia Southern, they took advantage of every opportunity we gave them," said second-year head coach Stephanie Dragan. "Overall, the season did not go the way we had hoped, but there were a lot of positives that point to a bright future. Obviously, the play of freshman Liz Rondone and the maturation of freshmen Lauren Brown, Katie Hennessey and Brittny Johnson bode well for our future. I also felt that Meredith Harmon stepped into her own this season and was a force both offensively and defensively. The goal now is to go into the off-season, get stronger in our mechanics and work towards our season opener next August."
Western was led by junior Meredith Harmon with eight kills, while senior Heather Koontz returned to action to tally seven. Harmon added three blocks to lead WCU defensively at the net with Johnson equaling Harmon's output with three assists of her own.
Freshman setter Katie Hennessey was the closest Catamount to a double-double with 20 assists and a team-high tying eight digs. Her classmate, Liz Rondone, finished with eight digs marking her lowest tally of the season and the only time out of 36 matches this year she did not reach double figures. Even with the Thursday's performance, Rondone had a stellar rookie season, setting both the WCU and SoCon single-season digs record with 770. Also, her 5.97 digs per game average shattered Western's previous per game record of 4.25 held by Robin Langley from 1985.
Western Carolina fell behind early in game one, 16-8, prompting Dragan to take a quick timeout. But GSU continued to fly high following the stoppage, pulling ahead 24-12 before four-straight points behind Hennessey's serve closed the deficit to eight, 24-16. Leading 29-17, the Catamounts fought off three-consecutive game points before bowing out, 30-20, to give GSU the early lead.
In game two, Western took an early, 3-2, lead before Georgia Southern embarked on a 13-1 run to pull out to a 15-4 advantage and never looked back, taking the two games to none match lead with the 30-13 victory.
After back-to-back Catamount points tied the third game at seven, the Eagles again stacked points together in a bunch rattling off 12-straight, including five off WCU attack errors, to lead 19-7. Western attempted to rally, but the early scoring barrage was too much, falling 30-13.
All told, Western committed 22 errors versus only 25 kills for a .026 attack percentage as a team while Georgia Southern hit .333 with 55 kills and just 15 errors on 120 total attacks. Both teams finished with five team blocks apiece.
Georgia Southern put three players in double figures led by a match-high 16 kills from Christy Dowd on a .400 attack percentage, committing just two errors on 35 total attacks. Bailey Coleman tallied the lone double-double of the match with 15 kills on a match-high .481 attack percentage (2 errors on 27 total attacks) and 16 digs, with Jennifer Charles rounding out the Eagle trio with 10 kills.
In addition to concluding the 2006 season, the loss on Thursday also ends the collegiate careers of four Catamounts. Senior Heather Koontz, who missed the final three matches of the regular season including Senior Day, returned to action against Georgia Southern. With her seven kills, she finished her last season with 307 and 990 for her career which ranks 10th all-time. She also ranks 20th in career blocks with 124.
Meghan Boyle, who made the transition from setter to outside and right side hitter this season, concluded her career with 1,958 career assists which ranks seventh on the WCU career charts. One of just two Canadian-born players to every wear the purple and gold, Boyle also set a single-season, career-high with 150 kills this season.
Kate Willard totaled 933 career digs over her four years in Cullowhee to rank 14th all-time. She also holds the second-best, single-season digs mark with 497 in 2005. Krista Neumann, who transferred to Western prior to last season, finished with 168 kills and 253 digs in two seasons at Western.
