Oct. 2, 2010

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team used a balanced attack to upset UNC Greensboro in five sets (29-27, 25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 15-11) on Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

The Catamounts (6-12, 1-2 SoCon) snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Spartans (14-4, 2-1 SoCon) dating back to the 2005 season when WCU defeated UNC Greensboro in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament.

“Our girls had control of the game when the ball was on our side of the court,” said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion.  “When you see how many digs we had, it shows that the teams can’t put us away. We are getting more and more second chance opportunities because of this.”

Sophomore Amanda Chaparro paced the offense with 16 kills with a .282 attacking percentage. Senior Paloma Alvarez recorded 14 kills (.250 attacking percentage) while Kelcie Randazzo and Rebecca Stoltz both added 11 kills in the victory.

“Amanda Chaparro and Paloma Alvarez really kept their errors down,” said Concepcion. “They had so many touches in the block and that gave us more second chance opportunities this afternoon.

“Rebecca Stoltz had a huge game for us as well,” said Concepcion. “She recorded a .400 attacking percentage and was everywhere on the court. We saw leadership from her this afternoon and that helped us win.”

Junior Emily Franklin posted a career-high 47 assists. Freshman Morgan Cochran led the defense with a match-high 25 digs while classmate Randazzo recorded a career-high 20 digs to go along with her aforementioned 11 kills, her seventh double-double of the season. Chaparro also chipped in 14 digs and three block assists. Stoltz also added six block assists to pace the Catamount blocking attack.

After trailing 9-3 early in the opening set, the Catamounts went on an 8-1 run to take their first lead of the set, 11-10. The rest of the set was back and forth as the two teams exchanged leads with neither team leading by more than one point until WCU took a two-point advantage at the 23-21 mark on an Alvarez kill. UNCG rattled off two points after using a timeout to get to set point (25-24). The Catamounts and Spartans were tied three more times down the stretch until back-to-back kills by Minogue and Stoltz gave WCU the first set, 29-27.

Chaparro recorded a .500 attacking percentage in the first set with six kills and zero errors while Franklin posted 15 assists. Randazzo also had .500 attacking percentage in set one, collecting four kills.

The beginning of the second set started similar to the first as WCU trailed early, 11-7, before using 10-2 run capped by an Alvarez kill to take a 17-13 advantage. The Catamounts never looked back after pulling ahead, never trailing in the rest of the set to win, 25-22.

The Catamounts led 1-0 to open set three, but that would be the only time they led as UNCG went on a 13-7 run to take a 13-8 advantage. WCU went on a 4-2 run to get within three (15-12) before the Spartans used a 9-3 run, making the score 24-15. The Catamounts rattled off three consecutive points to give UNCG a scare, but Ariel Newman recorded a kill on the final play of the set to give the Spartans a 25-18 victory.

WCU led by two (11-9) early in the third set and tied UNCG twice – with the final tie at 13 all – before the Spartans scored five consecutive points to take a 18-13 lead and force WCU to use a timeout. Alvarez and Randazzo both picked up kills to get the match within three (18-15), but UNCG ended the set on a 7-3 run to take the match into a fifth set.

Set five saw the two squads tied seven times - with the final tie at 11 – before the Catamounts used a Chaparro kill and service ace paired with three Spartan miscues to score the final four points of the match and upset UNCG.

WCU recorded four more service aces than the Spartans (6-2) and had four less service receive errors in the contest (6-2).

“We are serving very aggressive,” said Concepcion. “Our service receive has come a long way and we are making our opponents stay out of system.”

Statistically, the two teams looked similar as WCU posted 63 kills to UNCG’s 62. Both teams recorded 79 digs in the contest and the Spartans recorded three more assists (60-57) than the Catamounts.

The Catamounts return to action on Sunday, Oct. 3 when they play host to SoCon foe Elon at 3 p.m.

“We need to have another day in the office tomorrow,” said Concepcion. “This win can’t be the best win of the season for us. This should be the beginning of great things to come.”