Sept. 29, 2010

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team battled mountain-rival Appalachian to five sets (12-25, 25-16, 15-25, 27-25, 15-7), but lost a nail-bitter 3-2 on Wednesday night at the Ramsey Center.

“The excitement was unbelievable tonight,” said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion. “Every player had something to contribute tonight and was full of energy.

“Looking at the statistics, people might think we played average,” said Concepcion. “However, the girls played with so much passion and it was great to put on a show for the tremendous turnout of fans we had.”

Freshman Leah Best recorded a career-high 11 kills in the loss while classmate Kelcie Randazzo posted her team-leading sixth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 11 digs.

“Those two are playing with so much confidence and it is contagious to their teammates,” said Concepcion about his freshmen Best and Randazzo. “Kelcie took swings tonight that she hasn’t taken all year and Leah was playing fast the entire match. They (Best and Randazzo) opened up the offense for our outside hitters and Leah’s court presence also makes the job easier for the setter and makes our offense more productive.”

Junior Carrie Minogue recorded seven kills and posted a team-high four blocks (one block solo, three block assists). Sophomore Amanda Chaparro added 10 kills and a match-high three service aces. Emily Franklin had 40 or more assists for the second time this season, recording 40 assists on the night to go along with 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. Freshman Morgan Cochran posted a team-high 21 digs.

Set one saw the Catamounts (5-12, 0-2 SoCon) trail early, 11-5, before going point-for-point with the Mountaineers (11-4, 2-0 SoCon) over the next six-points to make the score 14-8 in favor of Appalachian State. A 3-0 run by the Mountaineers made the score 17-8, but a Best kill and a service error by Lauren Swecker got WCU within eight (18-10). The Catamounts could not hold off the Appalachian State attack as they used 7-2 run to win the set, 25-12.

WCU responded in set two by taking an early 13-6 lead to start set two before Appalachian State responded with a 4-1 run to get the match within four (14-10). The Catamounts mounted a 4-1 run to take an 18-11 advantage and force the Mountaineers to burn a timeout. It was all WCU coming out of the timeout as they took advantage of four Appalachian State miscues coupled with a Chaparro kill and service ace and a Randazzo kill to win the set handily, 25-16.

The Catamounts used a balanced offensive attack in set two as three players had three or more kills in the set. Chaparro led the group with four while Randazzo and Abbey Scroggins both added three kills each. The Mountaineers returned the favor by jumping out to and early 11-point lead (17-6) to open set three. The Catamounts battled back, out scoring the Mountaineers 9-8 in the final 17 points of the set, but the early deficit proved to be costly as they fell 25-15.

Looking defeat in the eye as they trailed two sets to one, the Catamounts opened set four with a 10-8 lead over their rival. Four consecutive points by the Mountaineers made the score 12-10 and forced WCU to use a timeout. The Catamounts responded by going on a 7-4 run to take their largest lead of the set (20-16) and force Appalachian State to use a timeout to regroup. WCU again led by four (22-18) again as the two squads exchanged points before the Mountaineers took advantage of four WCU miscues and two kills by Kelly Rhein to take a 23-22 lead. The Catamounts used a 3-1 run to get to set point (25-24), but an attacking error by Minogue tied the set at 25. A kill by Chaparro made the score 26-25 before Minogue made up for her mistake by picking up a service ace, giving WCU the set (27-25) and take the match into a fifth set.

Best led the Catamounts in set four, recording a .714 attacking percentage with six kills. Franklin dished out 11 assists in the set. Set five saw WCU and Appalachian State tied at four before the Mountaineers went on an 11-3 run to win the match and improve to 2-0 in Southern Conference action. Appalachian State only committed two errors in the set to WCU’s six.

Both team’s struggled in their offensive attack as Appalachian State posted a .182 attacking percentage to WCU’s .081 clip. The Catamounts recorded two more service aces (5-3) than the Mountaineers. Appalachian State’s Kelly Rhein posted a match-high 17 kills.

“From our two conference matches we have established a reputation that our opponents have to come and play hard against us,” said Concepcion. “It is not going to be like the past where teams came Cullowhee to play and it was easy. We have earned the respect of our SoCon opponents and we are going to take every opportunity they give us and play with them the entire match.”

The Catamounts return to action with two home contests against UNC Greensboro (Oct. 2) and Elon (Oct. 3). Both matches are slated to begin at 3 p.m.