Johnson City, Tenn. – Senior Sarah Janourova posted her 10th double-double of the season with a team-high 25 assists and a team-leading 14 digs, but Western Carolina volleyball came out on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat on Saturday afternoon against East Tennessee State at Brooks Gymnasium.
Junior Ali Morris led the way with 13 kills for the Catamount offensive attack and just missed a double-double with nine digs. Freshman Peri Subat posted the best offensive day of her career with seven kills on a .357 hitting percentage in the setback. She also tallied her best match on the block with three rejections. Sophomore Zoe Zudans added seven kills and three digs to the attack for WCU. Janourova also had a pair of service aces.
Sophomores Katie Boney and Eda Yalçinkaya both finished with 10 digs for WCU. Junior Janelle Blue continued her strong work on the defensive end with four blocks to run her seasonal total to 87 stops.
Makayla Bays led the way for ETSU (11-8, 3-4 SoCon) with a double-double finishing with 14 kills and 11 digs and Isabelle Iosua added 11 kills and three blocks for the Bucs. Reese Rhodes finished with a match-high 38 assists along with seven digs, three kills, and a pair of aces. Melanie Morris led all players with 19 digs as Amanda Lowe and Bays each had 11 on the defensive end.
Neither team was able to stake themselves out to more than a two-point lead in the early going before ETSU used a 5-2 burst to run to a 13-9 advantage and force a WCU timeout in Saturday's opening set. Western Carolina cut the deficit to four on multiple occasions before the Bucs scored four of the final six points for a 25-19 set one victory.
Western Carolina seized early control of the second set with a 7-3 run in the early stages to jump to a 13-9 lead and force the hosts to spend a timeout. The Catamounts grabbed a seven-point lead at 17-10 forcing the Bucs to spend their second timeout. ETSU chipped away at the deficit with five of the next six points to make it 18-15 WCU. The guests got it to a three-point lead at 21-18 before ETSU closed on an 8-3 run to claim the second set 26-24.
In a set that saw 15 ties, neither team was able to grab much footing in the early going in set No. 3 as the Catamounts used a quick 4-1 spurt to make it a 15-13 lead at the media break. ETSU responded out of the pause with a 7-4 burst of its own to take a 20-19 lead and force a WCU timeout. The Catamounts quickly tied it out of the timeout before the hosts went on a 5-2 run down the stretch to claim the set at 25-22 and the match in straight sets.
Western Carolina (7-12, 1-5 SoCon) starts the second half of SoCon play beginning with a home match against The Citadel on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the annual "Dig Pink" match. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match in a show of support and awareness of breast cancer.
WCU follows with a road trip to Macon, Ga., to battle Mercer for the first time in 2024 after the home meeting with the Bears was postponed due to Hurricane Helene. Both matches will have live stats available on CatamountSports.com with the match against the Bulldogs being shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
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