CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After playing its first 12 regular-season matches away from home in a myriad of early-season tournaments, the Western Carolina volleyball team opens both the home portion of its schedule as well as Southern Conference play this weekend as the Catamounts welcome Samford on Friday and Mercer on Saturday for a pair of 6 p.m. matches on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Admission to all volleyball matches is free of charge with the entrance to the Ramsey Center located on the ground level near the truck tunnel which is adorned by the WCU logo. An autograph session with the volleyball team will follow each match. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+
(paid subscription required) with free live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
WCU is 7-5 overall on the year through nonconference play after splitting a pair of matches at the Hokie Classic last weekend. The Catamounts earned a thrilling 3-2 win over rival Appalachian State on Thursday before dropping a 3-0 decision to tournament host Virginia Tech on Friday. Fifth-year senior
Merry Gebel and junior
Destinee Dorsey were named to the all-tournament team.
Heading into this weekend's action, the Catamounts rank third in the SoCon in kills (12.98 k/set) on a .212 attack percentage (4th) and defensively rank fourth in blocks (1.73 b/set) and fifth in digs (14.20 d/set). Gebel is seventh in the league in kills per set with 3.30 and 10th overall in hitting percentage at .257, while Dorsey is sixth in digs per set with 3.54.
Picked second in the preseason SoCon polling, Samford is 5-7 on the season following a 3-1 win over Murray State on Sunday afternoon as part of the Samford Invite. In addition to Murray State, the Bulldogs have wins over Little Rock, Jackson State, UAB, and Nicholls State with losses coming against LSU, Rice, Houston, Kennesaw State, South Dakota State, Jacksonville State, and Clemson. Kayla Keshock leads the SoCon with 10.49 assists per set and Kate Morgan paces the league with 22 service aces. The teams split the 2021 regular-season series with each team earning a 3-1 win on its home court.
Mercer is 4-8 overall and enters the opening weekend of league play on a four-match losing skid as the Bears visit UNCG on Friday evening. The Bears have wins over Alabama A&M, Queens University, Bethune Cookman, and SIU Edwardsville along with losses against Lehigh, Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss, Charleston Southern, Stetson, Maryland, Virginia, and East Carolina. Anne Karle is second in the SoCon in kills with 3.84 per set. The Bears swept the season series against WCU in 2021.
Following the short stay at home, WCU hits the road next weekend, traveling to reigning SoCon Tournament champion The Citadel on Friday followed by a visit to 2021 SoCon regular-season champion Wofford on Saturday.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
