ATHENS, GA. –The Western Carolina volleyball team closed out the first weekend of the 2023 season on Saturday at the Classic City Clash. The tournament host Georgia Bulldogs earned the 3-0 victory in Saturday morning's action before UConn claimed a tightly contested 3-2 decision in the finale at the Ramsey Student Center.
Georgia 3, Western Carolina 0 (16-25, 12-25, 22-25)
Sophomore Ali Morris led the offense for a second straight match in Saturday's opener, finishing with seven kills and also tallied six digs on the defensive end, while Logan Carr totaled six kills and a team-high four blocks. Sarah Janourova finished the match with a team-high 12 assists and added eight digs to her stat line.
Sophie Fischer led Georgia with a match-high 18 kills and added five digs and three blocks. Clara Brower totaled 29 assists while Mallory Downing was credited with 10 digs.
Both teams traded points early in set one before a 6-2 run from the host Bulldogs pushed the match to a 10-5 advantage for Georgia. WCU and UGA continued to go back and forth leading to the media break and a 15-10 Georgia advantage. Georgia came out of the timeout scoring three of the next four points to force a quick Catamounts timeout. After going back-and-forth for three points apiece the hosts closed on a 5-2 burst to take set one 25-16 on Saturday.
Georgia carried the momentum from the end of set one into the second set with an 12-2 advantage out of the gates as the Bulldogs claimed the second set by the score of 25-12.
UGA jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the third set and extended it to a 12-5 edge before a WCU timeout in set three. WCU used an 8-3 run of its own to cut the Bulldogs lead to two, 15-13 forcing a UGA timeout. After the Bulldogs scored the next two points, WCU scored seven of the next 10 points to even the set at 20.
The Catamounts were able to move in front 22-21 before a 4-0 burst gave UGA the set three victory and the match on Saturday morning.
UConn 3, Western Carolina 2 (25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13)
WCU's Ali Morris continued her strong start to the 2023 season as she posted a career-high 18 kills and 15 digs for her second career double-double to pace the Catamounts in the five-set thriller against UConn. Bailey Hartsough claimed her 13th career double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Janourova added a team-high 24 assists and 13 digs to record her 15th double-double, while Katie Boney tallied 19 helpers and 14 assists for her first collegiate double-double.
Carr carried her strong showing on the defensive end from Saturday morning as she had a match-high seven blocks and added her first double-figure kills performance with 10. Eda Yalcinkaya totaled 14 digs and five assists along with a team-high three service aces.
Cera Powell led the way for UConn with a match-high 20 kills and added 10 digs to her stat line, while Taylor Pannell totaled 11 kills and six blocks. Mya Ayro finished with 10 kills for the Huskies. Doga Kutlu led UConn with 28 assists and finished with 14 digs. Karly Berkland had a match-high 30 digs on the defensive end.
In a set that featured three early ties, UConn pushed in front 8-5 before a 7-1 burst from the Catamounts pushed WCU in front forcing a Huskies timeout. WCU scored four of the next six points to increase the lead to 16-11 which forced a second timeout from UConn. The Huskies used a quick 5-0 spurt that tied the set. After each team went on three-point runs, UConn closed the set on a 6-2 run to take the set 25-21.
In set two, the beginning of the match featured nine ties and three lead changes before two kills from Morris and one from Eden Punch allowed the Catamounts to take a 14-11 lead forcing a UConn timeout. WCU kept the advantage down the stretch with UConn only able to get within three, 19-16 before a 6-0 run gave the Catamounts a set win and evened it at a set apiece.
Similar to set two, the third set featured six early ties before a quick three points from WCU pushed it to an 11-8 lead forcing a UConn timeout. The Catamounts pushed it to a 14-10 lead before a 6-2 run evened the score at 16. UConn and WCU went back-and-forth with six ties late in set three before back-to-back points for the Huskies gave them the 25-23 set three victory.
UConn jumped out to the 5-2 lead early in the fourth set with the Catamounts answering with a 10-4 spurt to push in front. Following a Huskies timeout, the two teams traded runs with neither team gaining more than a three-point lead. A 6-1 run clinched set four for WCU and forced the deciding fifth.
Western Carolina jumped out to the early 6-3 lead in the final tally to 15 in Saturday's finale. The Huskies answered out of a timeout, though, with a 7-3 burst of their own. Both teams traded three-point spurts over the next six points before a pair of late kills for UConn gave them the 15-13 win and a 3-2 match win.
The Catamounts return to the court on Friday, September 1 to take part in the Clemson Invitational battling the host Tigers on Friday at 5 p.m. before facing Green Bay and South Alabama on the next two days in Clemson, S.C. All three matches will have live stats with the Clemson match being streamed on ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required).
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).
