Chattanooga, Tenn. – Western Carolina seniors Bailey Hartsough and Sarah Janourova both eclipsed career milestones on Friday night as the Catamounts opened their two-match swing through the Volunteer State by falling to Chattanooga in straight sets at Maclellan Gym.
Hartsough posted nine digs to surpass the 1,000 career dig plateau in the Scenic City, becoming just the 13th Catamount in program history to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. Her counterpart Janourova dished out 17 assists to become just the 11th Catamount in program history to eclipse 2,000 career assists. She is the first to hit the 2K milestone since Hannah Price who closed her career with 2,324 helpers between 2017-20.
Hartsough just missed a double-double in leading the Catamounts on Friday as she added 10 kills and a pair of service aces to her nine digs. With her 10 kills,Hartsough passed Ramsey Herron (1,040, 1996-99) for 14th in the program's career record book for kills now with 1,046. Sophomore Logan Carr finished with eight kills and four digs and junior Ali Morris tallied seven kills and 11 digs.
Janourova was joined by sophomore Katie Boney with 17 assists, adding nine digs to her stat line for the Catamounts. Sophomore Eda Yalçinkaya finished with a match-high 24 digs, setting a new career-high for the Istanbul, Turkey native.
Chattanooga was led offensively by Chard'e Vanzandt, who had 12 kills, while Erin Wyatt tallied 11, and Kynli Kirkendoll finished with 10 for the hosts. Elaine Redman totaled the lone double-double in the match with 37 assists and 12 digs. Paige Gallentine led the way for Chattanooga on the defensive end with 19 digs and added six assists. Kynli Kirkendoll led all players on Friday with five blocks.
The Catamounts managed to take a five-point lead at 10-5 in the opening set as the early stages were tight, forcing a Mocs timeout. Chattanooga (12-9, 3-4 SoCon) answered in a big way out of the stoppage, responding with a 12-3 burst of its own to take a 17-13 advantage. WCU was able to whittle the deficit to three on multiple occasions down the stretch before the hosts held on for the 25-20 win.
After the early stages of set two saw a close battle, UTC rode a 9-2 run to jump out to the 12-5 lead and seize early control of the second set. Following five straight points from the Catamounts, Chattanooga scored five of the ensuing eight points to make it 17-13 Mocs. Chattanooga kept the Catamounts at a distance down the stretch with an 8-3 run to take the second set 25-16 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Chattanooga grabbed an 11-9 lead to gain footing in the third set that quickly was answered by five straight Catamount points, making it 14-11 and forcing a UTC timeout. The Mocs again responded with five quick points to take the lead in the later stages of set three. After trading a few points, Chattanooga closed on a 7-3 run to claim a 25-19 win in a straight-set victory on Friday night.
Western Carolina (7-11, 1-4 SoCon) closes out the weekend tomorrow afternoon with a trip to Johnson City to battle ETSU. The first serve is set for 4 p.m. The matchup with the Bucs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available on CatamountSports.com.
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