BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Western Carolina volleyball opened the month of October suffering a 3-0 setback on Friday night to Samford in Southern Conference action at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs won by the scores of 26-24, 25-22, 25-18.
Western Carolina drops to 4-12 and sits at 1-4 in the SoCon as Samford climbs to 7-10 and is 2-3 in league matches.
Ali Morris and Bailey Hartsough led the Catamounts on the offensive end with eight kills apiece as Morris tallied her fifth straight 10+ dig performance in a row with 13 on Friday which paced WCU. Sarah Janourova led the way with 18 assists as Katie Boney finished with 14 helpers along with a pair of service aces. Julia Gardon made her first start of the 2023 season and totaled 12 digs along with an ace. Logan Carr and Janelle Blue led the block with three rejections apiece.
Samford was led by Kaleigh Merritt and Ally Cordes who both finished with 13 kills in the match to lead all players. The Bulldogs were led by Kayla Keshock who had 24 assists while Lexi Thatcher posted 13 helpers. Kate Morgan led the hosts with 11 digs on the defensive end.
The Bulldogs started fast on Friday with a 9-3 run out of the gates to gain the early advantage in the opening set. WCU battled back with five of the next seven points to cut it to an 11-8 score before the Bulldogs stretched the lead to six, 15-9 at the media break. The two teams went back and forth before the Bulldogs extended their advantage to seven, 21-14 late in the set. WCU fought back with a 7-2 burst to cut it to a 23-21 score and force a Samford timeout. The Catamounts scored three of the first four out of the timeout with the hosts claiming the last two to claim a tight opening set.
The second set started tight with four early ties before a 6-1 spurt from Samford stretched it to a 10-5 lead forcing a WCU timeout. Samford pushed the lead to seven, 13-6 before the Catamounts fought back with a 10-2 run to take a 16-15 lead forcing the hosts to call a timeout. The two teams went back and forth with the score pushing to 19-19 and WCU using a timeout. The home squad closed the set with a 6-3 run to claim the second set by the score of 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Similar to the second set, the third featured numerous early ties before a 4-1 burst from Samford made it 8-5 in the early stages. The Catamounts cut the deficit to two, 9-7 before Samford scored six of the next nine points to take a 15-10 lead at the media break. The Catamounts pushed back and cut the deficit to four, 18-14 in the later stages of set three before the Bulldogs closed scoring seven of the final 11 points to claim the match in straight sets.
The Catamounts conclude the weekend on Saturday night with a 7:30 p.m. first serve in Chattanooga against the Mocs. The match will have live stats will be provided by CatamountSports.com.
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