Greensboro, N.C. – Merry Gebel led the Western Carolina offense with a career-high 23 kills as the Catamounts claimed a 3-1 win over UNCG in Fleming Gymnasium on Wednesday night. Western Carolina won by scores of 25-23, 25-17, 20-25 and 25-20.

With the win, Western Carolina improves to 12-11 overall and 6-6 in the Southern Conference. The Catamounts swept the season series against UNCG after a 3-0 win in Cullowhee on Sept. 26. UNCG drops to 10-13 and 4-7.

Gebel's 23 kills surpassed her previous career-high of 16 and are the most by a Catamount in a match since Jordan Timmermann's 23 kills against Davidson on Oct. 25, 2013. Abigail Veit had 12 kills followed by Aleah Keaton with a season-high 11. Meagan Sanchez finished with 28 digs followed by Caroline Perret with a career-high 25. Veit and Gebel finished with double-doubles as they were credited with 17 and 16 digs respectively. Hannah Price finished with a team-best 31 assists.

Maria Esch led UNCG with 14 kills followed by Lauren Robeck with 11 and Emily Keilen with 10. Stephanie Meysembourg had a team-best 28 digs.

Leading 13-12 in the opening set, Western Carolina went on an 8-3 lead to claim a 21-15 advantage on consecutive Gebel kills. UNCG would not go quietly as the Spartans scored six of the next seven points to trail 22-21 after a Catamount attack error. The teams would trade the next two points before a Veit kill gave WCU a 24-22 lead. The Spartans again pulled to within a point but Veit ended the stanza with a kill.

Western Carolina opened the second set on a 6-2 run following a Haley Multerer kill. UNCG pulled to within three, 8-5, before the Catamounts stretched their lead to 15-9. After a Mikaela Weidmann kill that made the score 15-10, Western Carolina put the set away by scoring five of the next six points and led by as many as nine points to claim a 2-0 advantage in the match.

UNCG led the third set 9-3 before four straight points brought the Catamounts within two, 11-9. With UNCG holding a 17-14 edge, the Spartans scored eight of the final 14 points to win the set.

Trailing 18-16 in the fourth set, a UNCG service error sparked a 5-0 Catamount run as the visitors scored eight of the next 10 points to lead 24-20. Multerer ended the match with a kill.

Western Carolina is off this weekend and returns to action on Nov. 2 at Wofford. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.