Final Stats

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Western Carolina women’s volleyball and The Citadel battled to the wire, going five sets, before the Catamounts took the match 3-2 (23-25, 27-25, 27-25, 21-25, 15-10) Friday at McCallister Fieldhouse.

The Catamounts improve to 10-18, 4-8 in the Southern Conference while The Citadel drops to 7-20 and 0-10 in conference play. The victory is WCU’s second straight in SoCon play and second consecutive five set match, after defeating ETSU 3-2 Oct. 25. The Catamounts are also 3-2 over the last five games.

Every set was a knock down drag out by both squads with each having strong motives for the overall victory. Western Carolina was looking to add to its SoCon record, as each win in the waning games of the regular season is paramount, improving the Catamounts seed in the upcoming SoCon Championships. The Citadel was looking for its first conference victory. These parameters seemed to dictate the course of each set.

The Cadets took set one, 25-23, after nine ties and three lead changes. Western Carolina battled from being behind to tie it for the ninth time at 21. The Citadel won the last two points on a pair of kills by Megan Sowell.

Western Carolina shook off the first set loss and tied it in the second set having to push the game to 27-25 for the win.

The Catamounts came out of halftime and fended off The Citadel for the win, 27-25, after eight ties. With the game knotted at 15, Western Carolina took its first lead, 16-15, off a Cadet error. Tied at 25 WCU won the final two points at the serving line with The Citadel making a service error for the 26th point and a service ace by Cristina Nazario to seal the game.

The Citadel refused to back down, even down 2-1, winning the fourth set to push the game to a fifth set. Tied at five in the fifth set WCU took the lead and never looked back winning the final set, 15-10. Jo-Leigh Vervelde led WCU with a double-double, 11 kills and 24 assists. Nazario added 23 assists. Katie O’Connor led the charge in kills with 16.

Western Carolina will put its two-game winning streak to the test Saturday traveling to Furman. Match time is set for 3 p.m.