Sept. 3, 2010

Box Score

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -The Western Carolina volleyball team lost a five-set match with Montana State on Friday afternoon in the first match of the Drury Inn ISU Classic.

"It was a game defined by good rallies and unforced errors to counterpart that," said Western Carolina head coach Manuel Concepcion. "Montana State expected to breeze by us and got their hands full with us this afternoon."

The Catamounts (2-2) won the first set, 25-12, before the Bobcats (4-1) took set two, 25-21. Set three went to Western Carolina, 25-20, before Montana State picked up the fourth set, 25-17.

In the final set, the Catamounts were defeated, 15-11. WCU led 4-3 early in the first set before Montana State bounced back to take its largest lead of the match, 15-10. The Catamounts responded by rattling off eight consecutive points to make the score 18-15. Meghan Albiston got the Bobcats within one (21-20), but an Amanda Chaparro kill capped a Catamount 4-2 run to win the set.

Set two saw the Catamounts trail by as much as six (8-2) before getting the score within one (13-12) on a Paloma Alvarez service ace. Montana State pushed its lead to five (18-13) before WCU scored five straight points to get within one again (18-17) and causing the Bobcats to use a timeout. Montana State responded by going on a 4-1 run, taking a 22-18 advantage. A Morgan Cochran service ace got the Catamounts back within one (22-21), but two kills by the Bobcats and a WCU attacking error gave Montana State the set.

The Catamounts responded by jumping out to a 14-8 lead in set three. Montana State could only get within two (17-15) before WCU took advantage of seven Bobcat miscues plus a Cochran service ace to finish the set on an 8-5 run to win the set.

After taking a 12-11 advantage on an Alvarez kill in set four, Montana State retaliated to take a 16-14 lead. WCU called a timeout to regroup, but could only muster three more points in the set as the Bobcats took advantage of seven Catamount errors en route to a 25-17 win.

Set five saw the Catamounts rally back from an early 6-1 deficit, getting within two points (12-10) due to kills by Alvarez and Abbey Scroggins and a Bobcat attacking error. Montana State took a 14-10 lead on an attacking error by Scroggins and a bad set by Kelcie Randazzo before an Alvarez kill brought the set to 14-11. A Brittany Lysik service error on the final play of the match proved costly as the Catamounts dropped the final set, 15-11.

Alvarez posted a team-high 12 kills and 23 digs in the match while Chaparro added 11 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Randazzo had a match-high 30 assists in addition to 10 digs while her freshman teammate Cochran chipped in 19 digs. Carrie Minogue recorded five kills and Rebecca Stoltz registered four kills in the loss.

"I'm pleased with the job our bench is doing for us," said Concepcion. "We just need to improve our consistency in serve receive in order to be able to side out more often.

"The top quality competition we face this weekend and next will help us grow mentally, especially the freshmen who are getting a lot of playing time," said Concepcion.

The Catamounts return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4 against tournament host Indiana State before facing SIU-Edwardsville at 4:30 p.m.