Final Stats

BOONE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team traveled to Boone, N.C., for the first time since Appalachian State left the Southern Conference to join the Sun Belt. WCU was without one of its leaders, sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde, and struggled early in the match. The Mountaineers stormed out to a 1-0 lead but the Catamounts battled them the rest of the way eventually falling 3-0.

Appalachian State hit over .500 as a team in the opening set and held the Catamounts to a negative hitting percentage as the Mountaineers took the first set 25-9. The Catamounts trailed most of the second set but was never behind more than five points. The Catamounts rallied late and even had set point at 24-23 but the Mountaineers rattled off three straight points to take the set 26-24. The third set saw the Catamounts fall behind early but they rallied to tie the set at 13 midway through the period. The Mountaineers eventually forced match point at 24-15 but the Catamounts fought them off three times before Appalachian State took the match 25-18.

The loss moves WCU’s record to 5-7 while the Mountaineers improved to 7-4.

Senior Nicole Ford led the Catamounts offensively as she put down seven kills. Sophomore Kaycey Cermin added five kills and tied for the team-high with three blocks. Sophomore Katie O’Connor also had three blocks to go along with four kills.

Senior Cristina Nazario handled all the setting duties with the absence of Vervelde and dished out 21 assists in the match. Senior libero Elyssa Mulheron and freshman Alyssa Zupan were each credited with 12 digs.

WCU hit .053 as a team over the three sets while the Mountaineers turned in an attack percentage of .302. The Mountaineers had two student-athletes with double-digit kills including Jess Keller (13) and Emily Corrigan (12).

The Catamounts will play their final non-conference tournament of the season this coming weekend at Tennessee Tech. WCU will face Idaho and host Tennessee Tech on Friday, Sept. 18 before finishing the tournament against Towson on Saturday, Sept. 19. All three matches will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network.