Sept. 1, 2006
Final Stats
Clemson, S.C. - Led by a trio of seniors, the Western Carolina Catamount volleyball team secured its first win of the 2006 season, rallying from down 2-0 to knock off the Charlotte 49ers in five, 3-2 (25-30, 23-30, 30-25, 30-27, 15-7), Friday evening at the Clemson Big Orange Bash. The win evened WCU's record on the day as the Catamounts were swept by the host Tigers, 3-0, in the morning.
Western (1-5) was led by a career-high 23 kills by senior Heather Koontz in the victory over the 49ers. Koontz posted a .413 attack percentage versus Charlotte, only committing four errors on 46 total attempts. Her classmate, Meghan Boyle, added a double-double performance, killing 11 and recording 10 digs. Also reaching double-digits in kills was senior Krista Neumann, who was seeing her first action of the season on Friday, with 14 and Kate Willard added 10 digs in the win.
"It is wonderful to get that first win of the season, especially against a good team like Charlotte," said second-year head coach Stephanie Dragan, who moved to within one win of 200 for her career. "The team saw tonight what kind of intensity level it takes to win and hopefully that will carry over. The seniors (Koontz, Boyle, and Neumann) did a great job for us offensively and another senior, Kate Willard, and freshman Liz Rondone stepped it up defensively - Liz, especially, in game five."
Rondone led the team with 25 digs, while her freshman counterpart, setter Katie Hennessey, dished out a career-best 54 assists and killed 11 for a second WCU double-double. Junior Meredith Harmon just missed double figures with nine kills with a pair of blocks at the net. Freshman Brittny Johnson led Western with four total blocks, including a pair of solo stops.
Despite hitting .333 (16 kills, 2 errors on 42 attempts) and .400 (19 kills, 5 errors, 35 attempts), respectively, in the first two games, Western found itself in a 2-0 hole to Charlotte and was on the verge of its fifth-consecutive, three-game sweep. However, in game three, the Catamounts only trailed by as many as three, 4-1, early on and led by as many as eight en route to the 30-25 win. Western took the lead for good at 14-13 off a block by Rondone and Boyle to continue the match.
In game four, WCU led early before the 49ers rallied to take the lead. Yet, Charlotte could never pull away by more than three as the Catamounts kept scratching. Back-to-back Koontz kills tied the game at 23, forcing the 49ers to call a timeout. After the stoppage, Charlotte pulled out by two, 25-23, before Western scored seven of the last nine points to win, 30-27, and force a game five.
In the rally fifth, Western broke serve with a Harmon kill and followed with a Neumann service ace to take control early. The Catamounts led by as many as seven before Rondone finished off the comeback with a service ace for the winner.
"Coming back from down two games, especially after the way things had gone in the morning, is extremely difficult. It just does not happen all that often. I am very proud of the way the team dug deep and fought back for the win," Dragan said.
Western opened play in the Big Orange Bash on Friday morning with a 3-0 (30-21, 30-17, 30-7) loss to the host Clemson Tigers. Hennessey led Western with eight kills and no errors in the match for a .571 attack percentage, while also handing out 14 assists. Rondone led both squads with 16 digs in the losing effort.
"We mentally shut down," said Dragan on the loss. "We became hesitant both on offense and defense and played tight. It was almost like we were afraid to make a mistake. But, we had a long talk following the match and I think that helped calm things down and prepared us for Charlotte."
Western concludes play in the Big Orange Bash on Saturday morning, facing the South Carolina Gamecocks at 10:00 am and the Tennessee State Tigers at 3:00 pm at Jervey Gym. Fans can follow all of the action live with GameTracker on www.CatamountSports.com.
