Box Score Chattanooga, Tenn. – Merry Gebel recorded her 10th double-double of the season as Western Carolina claimed its eighth straight win with a straight-set, 3-0 defeat of Chattanooga on Saturday at Maclellan Gymnasium. The Catamounts won by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-20.
Western Carolina improves to 10-7 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference. WCU's current eight-match winning streak ties its longest since also winning eight straight in 2002.
Gebel had a team-best 13 kills along with 17 digs in the double-double effort while senior Abigail Veit tallied seven kills, surpassing the 1,000 career kills mark in the first set. She is the 14th player in program history to accomplish this feat and just the 11th to record both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. Meagan Sanchez had a team-high 18 digs and Hannah Price dished out 30 assists.
Dani Szczepanski paced the Mocs with 11 kills followed by Glyian Finch with 10 who added 11 digs to post the double-double. Megan Kaufman tallied a team-best 16 digs for UTC.
A back-and-forth first set saw 10 ties and two lead changes. After the Mocs evened the frame at 20, a Gebel kill sparked a 5-1 WCU run to clinch the opening set.
A Gebel kill gave the Catamounts a 12-8 lead in the second set before the Mocs scored four straight points to even the frame. Back-to-back Gebel kills broke a 20-20 tie before a Finch kill brought the hosts within one. The Catamounts wrapped up the set with a Haley Multerer kill, a Gebel service ace and a kill by Aleah Keaton.
WCU opened the third set on a 10-3 run before a Maia Rackel kill brought the Mocs to within two, 12-9. Western Carolina quickly pushed its lead back to five points, 16-11, only to have the Mocs again trim the advantage to two, 18-16. However, Chattanooga got no closer the rest of the way as the match ended on a Price kill.
The Catamounts return to action by opening a three-match homestand on Friday, Oct. 11, hosting The Citadel at 6 p.m.
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