Box Score Sept. 9, 2014

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - For just the 18th time in Western Carolina volleyball program history a Catamount has reached the 1,000 career digs milestone. Senior Caitlin Piechota needed 19 digs heading into Tuesday night's home opener against Charlotte to reach 1,000 digs. Piechota not only hit the mark but turned in a career-high 29 digs to lead the Catamount back line.

Piechota's 1,000th dig came during a critical third set which gave the Catamounts a 2-1 lead in the match. Piechota now needs just 93 kills to join an elite group of nine Catamounts who have 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills.

The Catamounts have now won three-straight matches including back-to-back five-set affairs. Western is now 3-3 on the year while Charlotte fell to 5-4 overall.

Senior Jordan Timmermann, who was honored prior to the match for reaching the 1,000 career kills milestone, led the offensive side of the ball with 15 kills. She also turned in 13 digs for another double-double. Sophomore Courtney Ireland hit a career-high with 12 kills while Piechota had nine kills to go along with a team-high 29 digs.

Defensively, junior Elyssa Mulheron added 24 digs to the effort. Freshman Jo-Leigh Vervelde and junior Cristina Nazario once again split the setting duties turning in 23 and 22 assists, respectively. Nazario added a team-high five service aces to the mix as well.

The Catamounts won the first, third and fifth sets by scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 15-8 while the 49ers won the second and fourth sets, 25-14 and 25-16.

The match was eerily similar to Sunday's showdown against High Point with the momentum changing every set. WCU dominated the opening set while Charlotte struggled to find its rhythm offensively. The 49ers hit just .023 as a team while also turning in three service errors.

The roles would reverse in the second set as Charlotte hit .424 and blew by the Catamounts, 25-14. The most competitive set of the match came in the third as the score was tied nine times and the lead changed hands four times. Both teams hit in the mid-200s but it was Western who jumped out to a 5-0 lead. The 49ers battled back to tie the set at seven and the back-and-forth action would continue from there. Down 21-20, the Catamounts rattled off five of the next six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set was a struggle for the Cats as they suffered five service errors and hit just .182 as a team as the 49ers took a 25-16 victory to tie the match.

With their backs against the wall, the Catamounts came out swinging in the fifth set and took an early 6-3 lead. The 49ers cut the lead to one before a service error by Charlotte and a kill by Piechota sent the score to 8-5 and forced the teams to switch sides of the court. The 49ers responded with a short 2-0 run but five-straight points by the Cats gave Western match-point at 14-7. The 49ers fought off one match point but a kill by Timmermann finished the match at 15-8.

The Catamounts will be back in action this weekend as they travel to the Skyhawk Invitational hosted by Tennessee-Martin. The Cats will face Valparaiso, Drake and host Tennessee-Martin.