Sept. 27, 2008

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina volleyball (2-12, 0-1 SoCon) dropped its opening Southern Conference match to UNC Greensboro (10-5, 2-0 SoCon) 3-2 (25-14, 15-25, 25-21, 12-25, 11-15) Saturday in the Ramsey Center.

A pair of Catamounts reached double figures in kills. Amanda Kerr had 16 kills in the match and freshman Carrie Minogue had 12.

In game one, Western Carolina came out on fire. The Catamounts had the Spartans on their heels and quickly built a 20-8 lead. UNCG did battle back six points to WCU's five in the final points of the match, but Western Carolina had built a comfortable lead to win the game easily. The club was assisted in game one by just one error to UNC Greensboro's seven and UNCG also had three service errors.

Game two was all UNCG, as after committing seven errors in game one, the Spartans had just one in the second frame. Western Carolina, however, suffered from the error bug with six.

Western Carolina battled from behind in game three to tie the game at 13 before UNCG reclaimed the lead winning three straight points before Katie Hennessey's kill stopped the Spartan run. After being down 19-16, Western Carolina went on a 3-0 run that was capped off by a kill by freshman Brittany Lysik to tie the match at 19. With UNCG up 20-19, Lysik struck again with her seventh kill of the match to tie the game again. The Catamounts took the lead 21-20 on a kill by Amanda Kerr but again the match was tied at 21 with a kill by Spartan Kayren Finney. A kill by sophomore Kara Lynzee Brooks and a UNCG error put Western Carolina and another kill by Kerr in the run put Western Carolina at game point, 24-21. Freshman Rebecca Stoltz's solo block gave Western Carolina the win in game three.

UNCG came out and dominated the fourth game, quickly building a 12-3 lead and never looking back. The Spartans capitalized on Catamount miscues and some big kills that were a swinging point in the game. Western Carolina hit -.087 in the game to UNCG's .312.

In the deciding game five, UNCG continued their scorching jumping out to a 4-0 lead before WCU scored a point off a kill by Stoltz. A pair of UNCG errors WCU to within one, 4-3, and then a net violation by the Spartans tied the game at four. Three straight kills by UNG put the Spartans up 7-4. A block by Kerr and Katie Hennessey stopped the UNCG run and a kill by Minogue pulled them within one. UNCG answered with a kill and lead 8-6 when the teams switched sides. A Spartan service error again pulled WCU within one, 8-7, but a WCU error put UNCG up by two again. Down 10-12, a UNCG miscue put Western Carolina back in the match yet again, with the club down 11-12. The Spartans answered with a kill to pull ahead by two and then a block by the Spartans gave them a three point advantage. UNCG won the match on a service ace by Catherine Hanners.

Western Carolina will be back in the Ramsey Center at 3 p.m. Sunday to take on the Elon Phoenix.