Sept. 20, 2006

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina struggled offensively, hitting just .100 collectively as a team Wednesday night falling in straight sets, 3-0 (30-22, 30-28, 31-29), to the Chattanooga Lady Mocs in front of 220 fans in the Catamounts' Southern Conference opener in the Ramsey Center.

"Our inconsistency offensively hurt us tonight," said head coach Stephanie Dragan. "I felt we played well defensively, but gave away too much on our serve and were not able to finish when we needed it. The key for us now is to regroup. This is just the start of our long conference season and we need to get better and learn from tonight."

Junior Meredith Harmon led the Catamounts with 10 kills, with senior Heather Koontz and freshman Brittny Johnson finishing with eight apiece. Koontz added nine digs. Freshman Katie Hennessey was the only player for WCU to finish with a double-double, dishing out 30 assists and 10 digs.

After falling down 1-0, Western nearly evened the match at one apiece, fighting off four-consecutive game points in game two before bowing out, 30-28. In what proved to be the decisive game three, the Catamounts battled back-and-forth down the stretch. Leading 29-28, however, UTC scored three-straight points to win the game and the match.

Chattanooga (3-9, 1-1) was led by the double-double of junior Jamie Engel who tallied a match-high 14 kills and 11 digs. Her classmate, Bethany Herndon, just missed a double-double with 36 assists and nine digs. A third junior, Kelsey Amundson, led the Lady Mocs with 22 digs in the win.

The Catamounts return to action this Saturday and Sunday in SoCon play, hosting Elon and UNC Greensboro in the Ramsey Center at 2:00 pm. Saturday's contest versus the Phoenix is Pack the RAC with fans admitted free of charge.