Oct. 30, 2010

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sophomore Abbey Scroggins posted a career-high 11 kills with a .276 attacking percentage to pace the Catamounts in a 3-0 loss to The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse.

“Abbey played her most aggressive match since she has been at WCU and was the main reason why we played them close,” said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion. “She took swings that gave us key points in key moments, as well as ‘bettering’ the ball in/out of system sets.”

WCU dropped the opening set, 18-25, before losing a close set two, 26-28. The Citadel went on to win the final set (19-25) and sweep the Catamounts, recording its first Southern Conference match of the season.

”We need to go from doing enough to play our opponents close, to taking over matches with the ability to play emotionally consistent and mentally strong,” said Concepcion.

The Catamounts opened the first set with a commanding 10-5 advantage before the Cadets went on an 11-4 run to take a two-point lead (16-14). After a WCU point got the match within one (16-15), The Citadel scored four straight points to take a 20-15 advantage. The Citadel scored five of the final eight points in the set, winning the opening stanza 25-18.

WCU led 15-13 midway through set two before The Citadel scored three consecutive points to regain the lead (16-15) for the first time since the opening point of the set. The two teams battled and exchanged points until the Catamounts pulled ahead to a 24-22 advantage on a kill by Amanda Chaparro – forcing set point – but the Cadets scored two consecutive points to tie the match at 24 all. A Paloma Alvarez kill on the next play made the score 25-24 in favor of WCU before The Citadel finished the set on a 4-1 run to win the set in dramatic fashion, 28-26.

The Citadel jumped out to a 14-6 advantage to open the third set before three straight WCU points made the score 14-9. An 8-4 run by the Cadets made the score 22-13, but the Catamounts continued to fight as they scored three consecutive points to cut their deficit to six (22-16). WCU scored three of the final five points – and six of the final nine points – but couldn’t overcome their early deficit as they dropped the final set, 25-19.

Alvarez led the Catamount defense with 11 digs to go along with her eight kills. Junior Carrie Minogue added five kills with a .273 attacking percentage in addition to her team-best two kills. Junior Emily Franklin posted a match-high 24 assists.

The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 3 when they travel to Boone, N.C., to face Appalachian State at 7 p.m