CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Sophomore Bailey Hartsough tied a career-high with 22 kills and Merry Gebel recorded her 14^th double-double of the season with 16 kills and a career-best 21 digs as Western Carolina dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Southern Miss in front of a record crowd of 1,110 boistrous fans on Wednesday night on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Southern Miss won the match by scores of 25-22, 15-25, 25-15, 22-25, and 12-15.
 
The Golden Eagles advance to the semifinals of the NIVC and will face Boston College who edged Xavier in five sets Wednesday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Western Carolina sees its historic season end with a 20-13 record. WCU's 20 wins were the most since a 22-win campaign in 2002.
 
Hartsough equaled her career-best of 22 kills set against Furman in the 2022 regular-season finale. She also tallied a double-double with 14 digs defensively. Gebel concludes her incredible collegiate career with 69 double-doubles, 1,693 kills, and 1,461 digs. Senior Johnna Robinson led the Catamounts with four solo blocks and eight total blocks. Junior Destinee Dorsey had a career-best 33 digs. Sophomore Sarah Janourova distributed a team-best 25 assists followed by fifth-year senior Sydney Carlson with 21.
 
Cara Atkinson paced Southern Miss with 19 kills followed by Mia Wesley with 18 and Reagan Leinen with 10. Megan Harris had a team-best 32 digs. Kenzie Smith dished out a match-high 56 assists.
 
The opening set featured five lead changes and 10 ties. The Catamounts grabbed a 17-14 lead in the middle stages of the set before the Golden Eagles evened the frame at 20 thanks to a Leinen kill. After Southern Miss evened the set at 22, a Livi Weidmann kill put WCU ahead 23-22 before WCU relied on a solo block by Robinson followed by a combined stuff by Robinson and Weidmann to close out the set and take an early lead in the match.
 
Southern Miss rode early momentum in the second set to tie the match, jumping out to a 10-3 advantage and led by no fewer than nine points down the stretch as they evened the match at one apiece.
 
Tied at six in the third set, a Southern Miss error sparked a 4-0 WCU spurt. After a Wesley kill brought the Golden Eagles within three, 11-8, the Catamounts used an 8-1 run capped by a Gebel kill to gain separation. WCU led by 10 points in the frame as a Robinson kill clinched the set and gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Following a Robinson block that cut the Southern Miss lead to 16-15 in the fourth set, the Golden Eagles scored five of the next six points to lead 21-16. WCU battled back, pulling within two, 21-19 on a Robinson block before a Wesley kill gave the Golden Eagles set point at 24-20. WCU took the next two points before a Gillian Hidalgo kill closed out the stanza and forced a fifth set.
 
WCU led at the midpoint of the decisive fifth, 8-7. However, with the score evened at nine, an Atkinson kill followed by a WCU error put Southern Miss ahead 11-9. An error by the Golden Eagles brought WCU within one, 12-11, but a WCU serving error and a Leinen kill gave the Golden Eagles match point, 14-11. A long rally ended with a Golden Eagle error to make it 14-12 before Leinen ended the match with a kill. The fifth set had two lead changes and five ties.
 
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