CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After opening the season on an extended 15-match road swing that included its first two regularly scheduled home dates pushed, Western Carolina volleyball finally opens its home slate this weekend with a pair of matches on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.

The Catamounts welcome instate Southern Conference foe UNCG to western North Carolina on Friday with first serve at 6 p.m. Then in the backend of a doubleheader Saturday, which has been dubbed "Hike & Spike," the Catamounts host 2023 SoCon Tournament champion Wofford at 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center. Saturday's match is preceded by a 2:30 p.m. kickoff for Western Carolina football against The Citadel. 

Admission to both matches – and all home matches throughout the 2024 season – is free of charge, presented by First Bank. Both matches against the Spartans & Terriers will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com. 

MATCHUP: UNCG (5-11, 0-4 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (7-8, 1-1 SoCon) 

Date: Friday, Oct. 11
Time: 6 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB

MATCHUP: Wofford (11-5, 3-1 SoCon) vs Western Carolina
Date: Saturday, Oct. 12
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB 

Back to Serve:
After Hurricane Helene's impact forced the Catamounts back on the road to stretch the season-long road swing to 15 matches, WCU finally kicks off its 2024 home slate on Friday. The Catamounts are the final NCAA Division I team to play a home contest. UNCG visits on Friday before the "Hike & Spike" twinbill on Saturday with football hosting The Citadel and volleyball entertaining Wofford.

Western Carolina volleyball closed its extended road swing on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat last Friday night against the Samford Bulldogs at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Junior Ali Morris paced the Catamounts with eight kills as the Knoxville, Tenn. native also totaled eight digs. Senior Bailey Hartsough and sophomore Logan Carr finished with seven kills apiece, as Hartsough added seven digs to her stat line and Carr posted a pair of blocks. Senior Sarah Janourova and sophomore Katie Boney both passed out 10 assists with Janourova finishing with seven digs and an ace, while Boney picked up six digs. Sophomore Eda Yalçinkaya had a team-high 15 digs, while junior Janelle Blue joined Carr with a pair of blocks.

With her 10 helpers against the Bulldogs, Janourova passed Kim Hartsell (1,949, 1988-89) for 12th in the program's career record book for assists now with 1,951. Hartsough moved to 15th in the program's career record book for kills with 1,010 as she passed Kim Spruill (1,008, 1985-88).

Western Carolina enters Friday's home opener with UNCG among the league leaders in blocks, averaging 2.51 rejections per set thus far in 2024. The Purple & Gold are led by Janelle Blue who has totaled a conference-high 70 blocks and leads the league with 1.32 blocks per set. Junior Samantha Jo Mikosky sits second on the team and fifth in the league with 54 blocks and is fourth in the SoCon with 1.2 blocks per set. Logan Carr ranks ninth overall with 47 stops as the team ranks among the top teams nationally with 135.5 total blocks.

Adding to the Catamount defense, the squad has also been strong defensively in the backend through the opening 15 matches totaling 943 digs, fourth in the SoCon while averaging 17.46 digs per set that ranks third in the league and top 15 nationally. Hartsough is eighth in the league with 213 digs and is seventh with 3.94 digs per set. She's joined in triple digits by sophomore Eda Yalcinkaya with 192 digs followed by Morris at 185 digs and Janourova has 148 digs to round out the quartet.
 

Catamount Career Record Watch:
Senior Sarah Janourova (1,951 assists, 902 digs, 88 aces):
The Prague, Czech Republic native enters the week needing just 49 assists to become the 11th player in program history to surpass the 2,000 helper mark ... Janourova is looking to become the first Catamount to eclipse 2,000 career assists since Hannah Price (2017-20) who totaled 2,324 assists in her time at WCU ... Janourova finished 2023 fifth in the SoCon with 731 assists to pace the Catamounts ... She also sits within striking distance of the 1,000 dig plateau needing 98 of those to surpass that mark ... Janourova also needs just 12 service aces to eclipse 100 for her career as she looks to become the 16th WCU student-athlete to reach that mark – chasing that benchmark along with classmate Bailey Hartsough.

Senior Bailey Hartsough (1,010 kills, 966 digs, 97 aces):
Hartsough became the 16th Catamount in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills with her 18 kills on Wednesday night in the Catamounts five-set win over The Citadel ... She is the most recent student-athlete for WCU to eclipse 1,000 kills since Merry Gebel (2018-22) who finished in the No. 2 spot in career kills with 1,693 ... A product of LaGrange, Ind., Hartsough currently sits with 966 career digs, needing just 34 to climb to the 1,000 dig mark for WCU ... Hartsough needs three service aces to eclipse 100 for her career looking to become the 16th student-athlete in Catamount volleyball history to reach that mark – chasing that benchmark along with classmate Janourova.

UNCG (5-11, 0-4 SoCon in 2024) – (1-27, 0-16 in SoCon in 2023) – RPI 240 in 2024
In-state league rival UNCG serves as Western Carolina's home opener on Friday as the Catamounts look to continue their strong work against the Spartans. WCU has won each of the past four matches over UNCG in straight sets, leading the squad to a 14-11 lead in the all-time series in Cullowhee including wins in four of their past five matches from the Ramsey Center.

UNCG is 5-11 on the year after falling in four sets to The Citadel and in straight sets against Wofford. The Spartans sit winless in four SoCon matches which include facing the preseason No. 1 (The Citadel) and No. 4 (Furman). In nonconference play, UNCG earned wins over Robert Morris, USC Upstate, NCCU, Norfolk State and Georgetown. UNCG finished 2023 with a 1-27 record falling to ETSU in four sets during the opening round of the SoCon tournament.

UNCG has been led offensively by freshman Allie Sweet who's totaled a SoCon leading 263 kills along with a conference-high 4.31 kills per set, the lone player in the league averaging over four kills per match. Sweet has opened her collegiate career with four matches of 20+ kills including 27 in a four-set win over Robert Morris as she's had 12+ kills in 13 matches. Junior McKenna Timmerman has 137 kills for the Spartans while her senior sister Madeline Timmerman has 130 on the year. Graduate student Emily Hanlon rounds out the quartet for the Spartans tallying 117 kills of four players over 100 kills.

Sophomore Izora Gragg leads the Spartans and sits second in the SoCon with 597 assists as she's had eight matches with 40+ helpers. On defense, freshman Chloe Nussbaum leads the Spartans with 229 digs followed by Gragg tallying 130 digs. McKenna Timmerman sits with 114 digs followed by senior Megan Carron with 101 to round out four UNCG players reaching 100+ dig plateau. Senior America Anderson leads the Spartans with 55 blocks followed by Madelin Timmerman at 53 rejections.

Under the direction of second-year head coach Felicia Turner, the Spartans were picked ninth in the SoCon Preseason poll.

Wofford (11-5, 3-1 SoCon in 2024) – (23-8, 11-5 in SoCon in 2023) – RPI 108 in 2024
WCU closes Saturday's Hike-&-Spike doubleheader by hosting last year's tournament champion Wofford in Cullowhee. The Terriers have won seven of the past eight meetings against the Catamounts including all three meetings during the 2023 season. WCU holds a 19-6 record all-time against Wofford in games contested in Cullowhee.

Wofford is 11-5 on the season as the Terriers sit with a 3-1 record in SoCon, falling in five sets to The Citadel which was preceded by a six-match win streak which was started with a win over #15 Tennessee in Spartanburg. Wofford is slated to travel to Johnson City on Friday afternoon before trekking to WCU on Saturday night. The Terriers already hold an 8-0 record in Spartanburg.

Wofford has already battled Auburn, Georgia Southern, Campbell, Clemson and Tennessee in its pre-conference slate. The Terriers finished 2023 with a 23-8 record including an 11-5 SoCon mark as they earned the SoCon tournament title before falling to Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

Wofford has been paced on the offensive side of the court by senior Sarah MacLean who's tallied 184 kills with 12 matches of 11 or more kills this season, followed by classmate Mary Emily Morgan with 168 kills with nine double-digit matches. Freshman Bradley Brown has 143 kills as she leads the SoCon with a .377 hitting percentage amongst qualified players.

Sophomore Taylor Pecht has a team-high 336 assists followed closely behind freshman Maddy Frazier with 312 helpers. Frazier also leads the Terriers with 20 service aces. On the defensive end, sophomore Laney Klika leads all SoCon players with 328 digs including a SoCon-high 5.58 digs/set as the lone player in the league with 5+ digs per set. Morgan has tallied 206 digs followed by Pecht with 155. On the blocking side, junior Annmarie Rakoski has a team-high 55 stops followed by Brown with 43 rejections.

The Terriers were tabbed fifth in the SoCon Preseason Poll, one of five schools that received at least one first-place vote and one of six schools overall to be tabbed for first-place honors within the league as they are led by 10th-year head coach Lynze Roos. 

Up Next for the Catamounts:
Following this week's first two home matches in Cullowhee, the Catamounts make their Tennessee swing in conference play by first heading to Chattanooga on Friday, Oct. 18 with first serve set for 6 p.m. before traveling to Johnson City at 4 p.m. the next afternoon. Both matchups with the Mocs and the Bucs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available 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).