Final Stats

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team snapped its six match losing streak Friday night inside the Ramsey Center as the Catamounts defeated The Citadel 3-1. Senior libero Elyssa Mulheron returned to the lineup after a four-match absence due to injury and picked up a season high 34 digs.

Mulheron also tied for the team lead with a pair of service aces. Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde came up just shy of her eighth triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 24 assists and seven digs. She also tied for the team lead with six blocks in the match.

The Catamounts used a strong presence at the net and an efficient offensive performance to pick up their second Southern Conference win of the season. WCU improved to 8-16 overall and 2-6 in league play while the Bulldogs of The Citadel fell to 6-17 and 0-7 in conference action.

WCU out-blocked the Bulldogs 12-3 with six different Catamounts picking up blocks. The Catamounts also hit over .300 in both the first and third sets and finished with a team attack percentage of .201 while holding The Citadel to .074.

Freshman Alyssa Zupan had 11 kills on 32 swings with just one error while also picking up five blocks. Senior Nicole Ford also had a productive night with nine kills on 19 swings and one error with a team-high six blocks. Sophomore Katie O'Connor also was nearly flawless with nine kills on 17 swings and one error while blocking four Bulldog attacks.

Sophomore Lucy Lambert came off the bench to pick up 13 digs while senior setter Cristina Nazario dished out 18 assists.

The Bulldogs were led by Megan Sowell who had 11 kills and 16 digs. Moriah Smith, who came into the match fourth in the SoCon in kills per set, was held to just three kills.

WCU never trailed in the opening set as the Catamounts cruised to a 25-15 victory in the stanza. The second set was back-and-forth with both teams holding large leads. The Citadel took the early advantage at 10-5 but a 13-2 run by the Catamounts mostly on the serve of Vervelde gave WCU an 18-12 lead late in the period. The Bulldogs would not go down easy as they battled back and used a 13-4 run of their own to win the set 25-22.

The third set also went back-and-forth with The Citadel opening the period with four straight points. A 13-2 run by the Catamounts opened up a 13-6 lead for WCU but it did not last long as the Bulldogs answered with 12-3 run of their own to retake the lead at 18-16. The two teams battled down the stretch with the Catamounts hanging on for the 25-22 victory.

The fourth and final set was all Catamounts as WCU never trailed in the period and cruised to a 25-16 victory.

WCU will take Saturday off before returning to the court against UNCG on Sunday at 2 pm.