Sept. 24, 2006

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Despite four players with double-figure kills, including a career-high 20 by freshman Brittny Johnson, Western Carolina could not fend off the UNC Greensboro rally, falling in five games, 3-2 (31-29, 21-30, 27-30, 30-27, 16-14) Sunday afternoon in the Ramsey Center.

The loss snaps Western's 17-match winning streak over the Spartans which dated back to 1998, and relegates the Catamounts to their third-consecutive conference defeat.

Down 14-to-12 in fifth game, Western Carolina fought off back-to-back match points to tie things at 14, prompting a Spartan timeout. After the stoppage, though, UNCG managed back-to-back points, including the final kill which just clipped the far right corner to end the match.

"Today's loss hurts because we had several individuals do good things for the team and you really want to be able to associate that with a team win," said head coach Stephanie Dragan. "I am proud of the way we fought in every game and never gave up."

She added, "It's hard to pull out any one or two individuals because so many did good things today. But, Brittny (Johnson) played phenomenal, as did Meredith (Harmon) at the net for us and Liz (Rondone) was again solid on defense."

Senior Krista Neumann finished with 12 kills on the afternoon, adding four blocks for Western, while her classmate, Heather Koontz, celebrated her birthday with a double-double of 10 kills and 10 digs, adding a team-high two service aces.

In addition to a match-high 20 kills, Johnson added six total blocks, including three solo stops, in the loss. Junior Meredith Harmon recorded a double-double with 11 kills to accompany her 10 total blocks, which included two solo stops. As a team, the Catamounts accounted for 20 total blocks, which was just two shy of the school record set in 1991.

For the third time this season, freshman Liz Rondone recorded 30 digs from her libero position as four Catamounts reached double-digits in digs. Senior Meghan Boyle was strong defensively, tallying 17 digs, while her classmate, Kate Willard, added a dozen. Freshman setter Katie Hennessey just missed her second career triple-double, dishing out 42 set assists and just missing double figures with nine kills and nine digs.

Western stayed close in the opening game, trailing by as many as four, 15-to-11. The Catamounts rallied to tie on several occasions, and finally managed to pull ahead on a service ace by Meghan Boyle, 23-22. Tied at 24, UNC Greensboro rattled off four-consecutive points to surge back in front, 28-24, but the Cats clawed their way back to again knot the scoreboard at 28. UNCG managed to take the early 1-0 match lead by scoring back-to-back points from a 29-all tie to win, 31-29.

In the second game, Western (4-15, 0-3 SoCon) hit a match-high .317 (16 kills, 3 errors, 41 attacks) for the most lopsided win of the match. Tied at nine, Western earned six-straight points behind Hennessey's serve to take a 15-9 lead. The Spartans closed to within one, 19-to-18, but from that point forward, Western out scored the opposition 11-to-3, including five-straight points by Hennessey and four by Koontz to close the game and even things up at one apiece.

The hot-hitting continued for Western after intermission as the Catamounts pounded out 15 kills with just four errors for a .297 attack percentage in winning game three, 30-27. UNC Greensboro flipped the script in game four with a 30-27 win of their own despite only hitting .019 collectively as a team.

In the fifth, UNCG built an early lead and managed a point cushion in the see-saw affair before pulling ahead by four, 10-6, capitalizing on WCU attack and serve receive errors. The Catamounts rallied, though to close within one point twice, both 11-10 and 12-11, setting up the match-point heroics before UNCG closed the match with the 16-14 win.

UNC Greensboro (11-6, 2-3 SoCon) had five players reach double-figures on Sunday afternoon, led by 18 kills from senior Theresa Hart, who also added 15 digs in one of two Spartan double-double efforts. Freshman setter Lisa Fawell passed out 59 assists and dug 13 for the other. Her classmate, Catherine Hanners, led UNCG with 22 digs in the match.

Western returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 pm when it visits rival Appalachian State in Boone in the annual "Battle for the Pitcher," a mock of the football "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug."