Women's Volleyball 10/30/2024 6:00:00 PM Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Volleyball Set to Battle Samford, Furman at Home

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball returns home to close out October and begin November beginning on Thursday night for a Halloween night tilt against Samford before hosting chromatic rival Furman on Friday night from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Both matches are set for a 6 p.m. first serve.

Admission to Thursday and Friday's match — and all home matches throughout the 2024 season—is free of charge, presented by First Bank. Both matches against the Bulldogs and Paladins will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.

Western Carolina and Samford meet Thursday in a rematch of an early October tilt. The Bulldogs earned a 3-0 win in Birmingham in the early stages of Southern Conference play.

MATCHUP: Samford (12-8, 6-4 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (7-14, 1-7 SoCon)
Date: Thursday, Oct. 31
Time: 6 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB

MATCHUP: Furman (8-11, 2-6 SoCon) vs Western Carolina
Date: Friday, Nov. 1
Time: 6 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 playing 18 of its 21 matches away from Cullowhee, Western Carolina volleyball opens the final stretch of regular season action with five of the final seven being played inside the Ramsey Center at Ingles Court beginning on Thursday against Samford. WCU fell in four sets last Thursday to The Citadel at home before suffering a three-set defeat to Mercer in Macon on Saturday.

Junior Ali Morris led the Catamounts on the offensive end last week in matchups with the Bulldogs and Bears, tallying 28 kills and also picking up 31 digs as sophomore Zoe Zudans added 21 kills, including a career-high 11 against The Citadel. Sophomore Katie Boney posted 49 assists, including a career-high 30 against the Bears on Saturday night. Classmate Eda Yalcinkaya led the Catamounts on the defensive end with 36 digs, followed by 31 from Morris and 18 from freshman Halley Tang.

Western Carolina enters Thursday's Halloween match atop the league in blocks, averaging 2.44 rejections per set. Junior Janelle Blue maintains the top spot in the league with 91 blocks, averaging 1.25 per set, which also paces the SoCon. Sophomore Logan Carr sits seventh in the league and second on the team with 64 blocks, while junior Samantha Jo Mikosky is fourth in the league with 1.05 blocks/set and tied for eighth with 63 blocks.

Adding to the Catamount defense, the squad has also been strong along the back line, totaling 1,341 digs – fourth in the SoCon while averaging 18.12 digs per set to rank third in the league and inside the top 10 nationally. Eda Yalcinkaya leads the team with 289 digs after her career-high 24 against Chattanooga two weeks ago. She also ranks 10th in the league, averaging 3.91 digs/set. She's joined in triple digits by Morris at 270 digs, followed by Hartsough at 251 digs, and setters Janourova and Boney have eclipsed 100+ digs at 189 and 129, respectively.

Last Time We Met – Samford 3, Western Carolina 0 RECAP
The last time the two teams met, Western Carolina volleyball closed out its extended 15-match season-opening road swing on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat on Friday night against the Samford Bulldogs at the Pete Hanna Center.

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 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, 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).

Catamount Career Record Watch:
Senior Sarah Janourova (2,053 assists, 943 digs, 92 aces): The Prague, Czech Republic native became the 11th player in program history to surpass the 2,000 helper mark last week against Chattanooga ... Janourova is the first Catamount to eclipse 2K career assists since Hannah Price (2017-20), who finished her career with 2,324 assists ... Janourova was fifth in the SoCon with 731 assists in 2023 to pace the Catamounts ... She also sits within striking distance of the 1,000 dig plateau, needing 57 to surpass that benchmark ... Janourova also needs just eight 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 (1,046 kills, 1,004 digs, 99 aces): Hartsough became the 16th Catamount in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills with her 18 kills in the Catamounts' five-set win over The Citadel ... She is the most recent WCU student-athlete eclipse 1K 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 became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 digs while also eclipsing 1,000 kills doing that in last week's match at Chattanooga ... Hartsough needs just one 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.

Samford (12-8, 6-4 SoCon in 2024) – RPI 130 in 2024
Samford enters Thursday's Halloween tilt with a 12-8 record, including a 6-4 mark in SoCon play as the Bulldogs enter on a three-match skid. The Bulldogs have fallen in four sets to both UNCG & Wofford before suffering a three-set defeat to Chattanooga last time out. The Bulldogs had a strong nonconference slate, including matchups with SEC foes Mississippi State, LSU, and Auburn. Samford won the battle of the Bulldogs when it defeated Mississippi State to open the 2024 season as part of a 5-0 start before falling to LSU.

Samford comes into Thursday's action with wins in the last five head-to-head meetings with the Catamounts, including a straight-set win in Birmingham earlier this month. The Bulldogs finished 2023 with a 16-15 record, including a 9-7 SoCon mark, as Samford advanced to the finals of the SoCon tournament before falling to Wofford.

The Bulldogs' offense has been led by redshirt sophomore Kaleigh Meritt, who has totaled 272 kills, including three matches of 20-plus kills and nine double-doubles. Senior Gracie Lynn Butler has 244 kills, including 10 double-doubles, and sophomore Ally Cordes has 174 kills. Graduate student Kate Wonus has 135 kills, followed by junior Green Golden at 115.

Sophomore Lexi Thatcher has a team-high 822 assists with 11 matches of 40+ assists, including 67 helpers earlier this season against Chattanooga. On defense, senior Kate Morgan leads the Bulldogs with 302 as Meritt has 218, followed by Cordes and Bulter at 186 and Thatcher at 169. Wonus leads Samford with 60 blocks, followed by Butler with 44 stops and Golden at 37.

The Bulldogs were tabbed second 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. Gracie Lynn Butler and Kaleigh Meritt were both honored by the league's preseason all-conference team.

Furman (8-11, 2-6 SoCon in 2024) – RPI 237 in 2024
The chromatic rival enters Friday's record with an 8-11 record including a 2-6 mark in SoCon play after falling in straight sets against ETSU on Tuesday night. Friday's tilt marks the first meeting between Furman & WCU since the match in Greenville was postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Helene earlier this month.

Furman holds a 49-38 lead in the all-time series with the Paladins winning each of the past three meetings over the Catamounts. Western Carolina is looking for it's first win in Cullowhee over the Paladins since Nov. 6, 2021 when the Purple & Gold earned a straight-set win in the tilt. WCU holds a 21-17 lead in the series in matches contested in Cullowhee.

The Paladins offense is led by senior Chandler Parker who's totaled 193 kills followed by classmate Ava Augustson who's recorded 144 kills for Furman. In the assist column, sophomore Emily Navarro leads the way with 299 helpers followed by freshman Quinn Morrissey with 287 helpers and the 100-plus helpers list closes with junior Eva Wheeler at 113 assists.

On the defensive end, sophomore Kennedy Seekford leads the way with 323 digs followed by Augustson with 184 digs and then Navarro with 147. Senior Genevieve Perry leads the Paladins in the block category with 61 stops.

The Paladins were tabbed fourth 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. Mary Beth Headley was honored by the league's preseason all-conference team.

Up Next for the Catamounts:
Following Friday's action from Cullowhee, the Catamounts continue their extended homestand with a Wednesday afternoon tilt against Mercer on November 6 beginning at 12 p.m. Following Wednesday's tilt, the Catamounts hit the road for the final time in the 2024 regular season, beginning on Friday, Nov. 8, against Wofford before battling UNCG the next night in Greensboro. Both matchups with the Terriers and Spartans will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available for all three matches 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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