Western Volleyball Downed in Straight Sets by Elon, 3-0, on Saturday

Sept. 23, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - Elon's Juliena Gigon and Britany Westphal each reached double figures in kills as the Phoenix won its seventh-straight over Western Carolina, downing the Catamounts in straight-sets, 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-28) in Southern Conference action at the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon.

Western was paced on the afternoon by 13 kills from junior Meredith Harmon, who posted a team-high .344 attack percentage committing just two errors on 32 total attacks. Harmon also added four blocks, including two solo stops. Three Catamounts recorded seven kills apiece as senior Meghan Boyle and freshmen Brittny Johnson and Lauren Brown, who was making her first career start, each finished with seven. Brown's seven kills were a career high for the rookie. Johnson added four block assists in the losing effort.

Freshman libero Liz Rondone continued her strong defensive play racking up 23 digs, with her classmate, Katie Hennessey, dishing out 32 assists in the loss.

After falling behind 2-0, Western (4-14, 0-2 SoCon) raced out to a 5-0 advantage in game three forcing the Phoenix to take a timeout. The Catamounts maintained the lead until midway through the match when Elon rallied to knot things at 16. Momentum see-sawed back-and-forth until the Phoenix pulled ahead by four, 27-to-23, and appeared to have things in hand. However, the Catamounts rallied with four consecutive points off of Brown's serve to tie things up at 27. Tied again at 28, though, Elon managed to score back-to-back points on offense to finish off the game and match, 30-28.

Gigon led the Phoenix with 17 kills and 10 digs for the only double-double of the match, with Westphal adding 10 kills for Elon (5-7, 3-0 SoCon). Libero Brooke Pickard finished with 20 digs for the Phoenix, with Emily Downing adding 10 digs.

The Catamounts conclude their season-long, seven-match home stand on Sunday afternoon, entertaining the UNC Greensboro Spartans at 2:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. Western has won 17-straight over the Spartans. Elon visits Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon.

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