Box Score

UNC Greensboro UNCG 8-21,3-14 SoCon

Western Caro. WCU 8-21,2-14 SoCon

UNC Greensboro UNCG

8-21,3-14 SoCon

Final

Nov. 21, 2024

Western Caro. WCU

8-21,2-14 SoCon

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
UNC Greensboro UNCG	25	25	25	(3)
Western Caro. WCU	21	22	23	(0)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 11/21/2024 7:52:00 PM | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Morris Tallies Double-Double in SoCon Tournament

Janourova (1,000 Digs) & Hartsough (100 Aces) Both Eclipsed Milestones

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Junior Ali Morris tallied her team-leading 15th double-double of the season, but ninth-seeded UNCG defeated the eighth-seeded Western Carolina in straight sets on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2024 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg.

In Thursday's match, senior Sarah Janourova reached the 1,000 career dig plateau as part of finishing with 10 digs in the contest. Janourova is the sixth player in program history to total 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a WCU uniform. Classmate Bailey Hartsough became the 16th player in program history to reach the 100 career service aces threshold for Western Carolina.

Morris finished with a team-high 12 kills and a team-best 19 digs for her 15th double-double of the season and her ninth against a SoCon foe. Sophomore Zoe Zudans added 10 kills and three digs, while Logan Carr added eight kills and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Katie Boney led the way in the assist column with 31 helpers.

Freshman Courtney Graham surpassed her career-high with five rejections, including a pair of solo stops, adding four kills on the offensive end. Sophomore Eda Yalçinkaya finished with an even dozen digs, followed by Janourova with 11 digs, including surpassing the 1,000 dig mark.

Madeline Timmerman led the Spartans with 12 kills, adding five digs on the defensive end. SoCon Freshman of the Year Allie Sweet finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs for UNCG. Izora Gragg led all players on Thursday with 38 assists, also picking up five digs in the contest. Sweet led the way on the defensive end with a team-high four blocks.

UNCG (8-21) opened quickly with an early burst before a 5-3 run saw the Catamounts cut the deficit to one, 7-6. The margin would grow to five, 13-8, on a 6-2 Spartans run that saw WCU call an early timeout. The Catamounts were able to battle back with six of the next nine points before the Spartans quickly raced it back to a 23-18 score. WCU scored the match's next three points before UNCG closed the set and won 25-21.

The Spartans carried the momentum into the second set with an early 4-1 lead before five straight points from WCU forced UNCG to spend a timeout. Following the stoppage, the Catamounts quickly extended the lead to four before an 8-3 Spartans run gave UNCG a 16-15 lead at the midpoint of set two. UNCG pulled away with a 7-3 run to take a late lead, and after WCU put up the late fight, the Spartans closed out the set by the score of 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead.

In a must-win third set, Western Carolina (8-21) came out strong with a 5-2 run that again forced an early timeout by the Spartans. UNCG and WCU went back and forth over the set's midpoint, with the Catamounts stretching it to a 17-12 lead before a quick three points from UNCG forced a Western Carolina timeout. The Spartans continued the pressure on WCU down the stretch with a 13-6 run to claim Thursday's match in straight sets and advance in the SoCon Championship to face the top-seeded Mercer Bears.

Thursday's match concluded the career of three Catamount seniors in Bailey Hartsough (LaGrange, Ind.), Ollie Henderson (Simpsonville, S.C.), and Sarah Janourova (Prague, Czech Republic)

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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