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VB Senior Night Photo - FRONT
Autumn Robinson
3
Winner Samford SU 13-13,8-6 SoCon
2
Western Caro. WCU 9-16,6-8 SoCon
Winner
Samford SU
13-13,8-6 SoCon
3
Final
2
Western Caro. WCU
9-16,6-8 SoCon
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Samford SU 25 22 20 25 15 (3)
Western Caro. WCU 18 25 25 23 12 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Volleyball Falls in Five on Senior Night

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Junior Bailey Hartsough was one of four Catamounts with double-digit kills, but Western Carolina came up short on senior night against Samford, suffering a 3-2 defeat on Saturday night at Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Samford claimed the match by the scores of 25-18, 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-12.  
 
Before the first serve on Saturday night, WCU honored its 2023 senior class, which included Julia Gardon, Ali Schreiber, Livi Weidmann, and Eden Punch. 
 
Hartsough led the offensive attack, totaling her 11th double-double of the season as she had a team-high 15 kills and 12 digs. She also added three assists and three aces to her stat line. Sophomore Ali Morris tallied her 12th double-double on Saturday as she had 12 kills and a team-high 19 digs on the defensive end. Sarah Janourova led the Catamounts with 36 assists to go along with eight digs, as freshman Katie Boney totaled 17 assists and six digs. 
 
Punch finished her Catamount home career with 11 kills and no attack errors, hitting .524 in her senior night match. Weidmann also tallied 10 kills, three digs, and a pair of blocks. Schreiber also was strong on the offensive end, with eight kills and three digs in her home finale. 
 
Samford was led on the offensive end by Kaleigh Meritt and Ally Cordes, totaling 15 kills apiece in the Bulldogs victory. Gracie Lynn Butler added 11 kills, and Greer Golden tallied 10 to help propel the Samford attack. Kayla Keshock had a team-high 28 assists, and Lexi Thatcher had 22 helpers and seven digs. On the defensive end, Kate Morgan led the way with 20 digs as Kate Wonus had a match-high seven blocks. 
 
Western Carolina (9-16, 6-8 SoCon) jumped out to the early 6-4 edge over the Bulldogs, and after the two teams traded the next couple of points, Samford answered with a 9-5 run to claim a 15-12 edge at the media break. WCU pushed across four of the next six points to even the set at 17 before a quick three points from Samford (13-13, 8-6 SoCon) allowed the guests to claim a 20-17 edge, leading to a Catamounts timeout. The Bulldogs scored five of the final six points to claim a set victory 25-18. 
 
WCU started fast in set two with a 7-4 burst out of the gates to gain the early edge before the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run that pushed the lead to 15-9 at the media break. The Catamounts answered fast out of the media timeout with a 6-1 run that cut the deficit to one, which forced a Samford timeout. Western Carolina kept the pressure on the Bulldogs with a 6-2 run to gain the 21-18 lead and force the guests to use another timeout. The two teams went back and forth to the finish, but WCU hung on for the 25-22 victory in the second set. 
 
Samford got out to the early advantage in the third set with an 8-4 run as the Catamounts could whittle the deficit to two before the Bulldogs took a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. WCU came out fast from the timeout with a 6-2 spurt that pushed the hosts in front 18-17, forcing a Samford timeout. The Catamounts closed on a 7-3 run to claim the set 25-20, leading WCU to a 2-1 edge in the match.
 
In a must-win fourth set, the Bulldogs opened fast with a 6-3 burst to take early control of the set from WCU. The Catamounts responded with a 7-4 run to even the set at 10 apiece before the two teams traded points, leading to the halfway point with the Bulldogs leading 15-14. WCU pushed across the following three points to force a quick Bulldogs timeout. Samford responded with a 5-1 run to take a 20-18 lead and force a WCU timeout. The two teams went back and forth down the stretch, but the Bulldogs could hold on for a 25-23 victory, forcing a decisive fifth and final set. 
 
The fifth set started fast for WCU with four of the first six points to gain the early edge on the Bulldogs. Samford responded with a 5-3 spurt to even the set at seven before a Punch kill gave the Catamounts an 8-7 lead at the changeover. Samford finished fast to claim the match with an 8-4 run to defeat WCU in the fifth set.  
 
The Catamounts hit the road one final time during the 2023 regular season as WCU heads to Wofford (Nov. 10) for a 6 p.m. start before squaring off with UNCG (Nov. 11) with a 5 p.m. first serve. Both matches will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats on CatamountSports.com.
 
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).
 
 
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