CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball begins its quest for the 2023 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship on Friday night when the Catamounts battle No. 3 seed Wofford in the final match of the quarterfinal round. The first serve is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Spartanburg, S.C., with the winners squaring off on Saturday in the semifinals before the championship is set for Sunday at 4 p.m.
The match will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online through CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: #6 Western Carolina (10-17, 7-9 SoCon) at #3 Wofford (20-7, 11-5 SoCon)
Date: Friday, Nov. 17
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB
WCU closed out the regular season with a 3-0 sweep of UNCG on the road last Saturday. Bailey Hartsough led the offensive attack against the Spartans with 15 kills, hitting .308 with four assists and four digs. Freshman Katie Boney tallied a pair of team-highs with 12 assists and five aces for the Catamounts. In the victory, Sarah Janourova finished off her team-best 15th double-double with 10 assists and 11 digs in the match.
In the two regular-season meetings with the Terriers, Wofford picked up a 3-0 win in Cullowhee and a 3-1 decision last week in Spartanburg. Senior Livi Weidmann tallied a team-high 21 kills in the two contests just ahead of Hartsough who finished the two matches with 20 kills. Janourova led the way for WCU with 55 assists.
On Thursday, middle blocker Logan Carr earned SoCon All-Freshman Team honors as the league announced its annual postseason awards. Carr was among the conference leaders in blocks with 86 rejections, the eighth-most in the SoCon, and created one of the best 1-2 blocks in the league with senior Eden Punch, who totaled 91 blocks. She picked up a pair of seven-block performances against UConn (8/26) and UNCG (10/13) while adding six stops in the regular season finale against the Spartans last Saturday. Carr finished the 2023 campaign with multiple blocks in 24 of 27 matches for WCU.
Wofford begins the championship with a 20-7 overall record along with an 11-5 SoCon mark as the Terriers have won five straight. Sarah Barham, a first-team all-conference honoree leads a balanced offense for Wofford with 232 kills as Mary Emily Morgan has 210, and Millie Loehr who earned second-team honors on Thursday has tallied 196 kills. Sarah MacLean has a totaled 193 kills and Addison Foote has 170 and the group is rounded out by Bri Mahoney with 110. Emily Hodson leads the Terriers in the assist column with 580 helpers as Taylor Pecht has recorded 458. The Terriers are led defensively by Barham who leads the SoCon with 123 blocks as Loehr has 100 rejections while Abbey Richman has a team-high 411 digs.
Western Carolina holds a 28-23 edge on Wofford in the all-time head-to-head series. WCU looks to break a 13-match skid in Spartanburg as the Catamounts haven't earned a win over Wofford on its home court since 2006. It's the second time in the last three SoCon tournaments that the Catamounts and Terriers have squared off.
The winner of Friday's quarterfinals advances to the semifinals against either #2 Mercer or #7 Chattanooga. The semifinal would be slated for a 7:30 p.m. first serve on Saturday from Spartanburg.
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)
