Sept. 26, 2010

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Senior Paloma Alvarez posted a match-high 16 kills to lead the Western Carolina volleyball team over Bethune-Cookman in three sets (25-16, 25-17, 28-26) Sunday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

“We had a great balance with every single hitter this afternoon,” said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion. “We had all of our hitters playing stable in the match and our setter helped with that stability.”

Alvarez and Carrie Minouge paced the Catamount (5-11) offense with 16 and 11 kills, respectively. WCU posted a season-high .340 attacking percentage. Sophomore Amanda Chaparro added six kills while Rebecca Stoltz added five in the victory.

After seeing limited action through the team’s first 10 matches, junior Emily Franklin has stared the last six contests as the Catamounts primary setter. The Lexington, Ky., native posted a match-high 38 assists against Bethune-Cookman (4-14) and pushed her average to 9.62 assists per set since starting six consecutive matches dating back to WCU’s non-conference tilt with Presbyterian on Sept. 15.

WCU had an early two-point lead (10-8) against the Wildcats to open the first set before using a 7-3 run capped by a Minogue kill to take a 17-11 advantage. Bethune-Cookman battled back with a 5-2 run to get the Wildcats within three (19-16), but the Catamounts scored five consecutive points to win the first set, 25-16.

Set one only saw the Catamounts commit a total four errors to Bethune-Cookman’s 14 miscues. Alvarez posted five kills in the first set with a .833 attacking percentage to lead the Catamounts.

The Catamounts led by eight (13-5) to open the second set. Bethune-Cookman only got within five points (16-11) from that point on as WCU went on to win the set by a score of 25-17. WCU registered a .273 attacking percentage in set two, led by Alvarez and Minogue who combined for nine kills. Leah Best, Minogue and Stoltz all posted two block assists in the set.

“We have been consistent in our last few matches in the net with our blocking and that has helped us play better overall,” said Concepcion.

The Wildcats jumped to an early 13-7 lead over the Catamounts to open the third set before WCU mounted a comeback with an 8-1 run to take a one-point advantage (15-14). WCU and Bethune-Cookman were tied nine more times in the set with the final tie coming at 26 all. WCU won the final two points of the match on a Kat Agson attacking error and a kill by Minogue.

Set three saw the Catamounts post a .474 attacking percentage, led by Minogue who recorded a .778 attacking percentage with seven kills. WCU nearly doubled its total kills in the match – 24 kills in set one and two – in the third set as the Catamounts recorded 23 kills in set three.

Defensively, Morgan Cochran posted a match-high 21 digs from the back row while Chaparro added five. The Catamounts had eight total team blocks in the win, led by Best who registered five block assists.

“Her confidence has increased and that has made a huge difference,” said Concepcion on the performance of Best. “She is taking great swings and has brought a great perspective to our game. When she is on the floor, we have three blockers in the middle and that has helped us make better stops at the net than we previously had earlier in the season.”

WCU only had 12 attacking errors in the match to the Wildcats’ 23 miscues. The Catamounts committed 11 errors between services and serve receives.

“We have worked on minimizing our errors and we have dramatically decreased our errors from the beginning of the year,” said Concepcion. “Overall, we are playing much smarter.”

The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 29 when they play host to rival Appalachian State at 7 p.m.