Greensboro, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball posted its best hitting percentage in Southern Conference play at .315 as the Catamounts earned the straight-set sweep of UNCG on Saturday night in their regular-season road finale from Fleming Gymnasium. The victory ended a drought for the Catamounts while also avenging the Oct. 11 home loss to its instate league rival.
Junior Ali Morris led the offensive attack with her second double-double in as many nights and her 12th of the season with 17 kills and 19 digs to pace the squad in both. Sophomore Zoe Zudans finished with 10 kills while junior Janelle Blue added nine kills and three blocks in the win.
Sophomore Logan Carr finished with seven kills and senior Samantha Jo Mikosky had six with each player only tallying an error apiece. Mikosky added a team-high four blocks. Sophomore Katie Boney dished out 40 assists to lead WCU and accompany seven digs, while classmate Eda Yalçinkaya added 13 digs on the defensive end.
The Spartans were led offensively by Allie Sweet with a match-high 23 kills and 13 digs for the double-double. Izora Gragg added 36 helpers for the hosts, along with eight digs. Chloe Nussbaum had a team-high 17 digs on the defensive end as CeCe Fitz led UNCG with four blocks, followed by Emily Hanlon, who had three stops and eight kills.
UNCG (7-19, 2-12 SoCon) opened the match fast with four of the first five points to gain the early edge before a 5-2 spurt cut the deficit to one, 7-6 in the opening set. The Spartans seemingly seized control with a 7-2 burst that opened the lead to six, 14-8 at the midpoint of the opening stanza.
However, the Catamounts pulled back to within one by scoring seven of the next nine points to make it 16-15. UNCG counterpunched with five-consecutive points that stretched the advantage back out to six points. The Catamounts then rode an impressive 9-1 run down the stretch to take their first lead of the set and fought off a late charge from the Spartans to take the set 26-24.
WCU opened the second set similarly to the Spartans start in the opener as the guests held a 7-4 lead before the hosts inched in front with a 5-1 burst at 9-8. WCU rattled off the next seven points to regain control of the set at 15-9 at the media break. UNCG continued to chip away at the deficit, cutting it to four on multiple occasions, but the Catamounts kept the home squad at arm's length, ultimately claiming the win 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead.
The early stages of the third set saw the two squads tied 10 times with neither side able to gain a lead larger than three before the Spartans took the 15-14 advantage to the media break. WCU came out of the stoppage with an 8-3 burst to seize control of the set at 22-18, forcing a UNCG timeout. After the Catamounts scored the first two out of the timeout, UNCG put one final push up with four straight points before a kill from Morris helped finish off the three-set sweep of the Spartans.
Western Carolina (8-18, 2-11 SoCon) closes out its 2024 regular-season home slate beginning on Thursday, Nov. 14, against ETSU before welcoming in Chattanooga on Friday's Senior Night to open a busy Family Weekend in Cullowhee. Both matches are set for a 6 p.m. start. Thursday's meeting with mountain-rival ETSU is part of the "Beat the Bucs" Blackout with fans encouraged to wear their black WCU gear to the game. Western Carolina will honor its 2024 seniors, Ollie Henderson, Sarah Janourova, and Bailey Hartsough, for their accomplishments and contributions to the program prior to Friday's match. Both matches against the Bucs and the Mocs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available for both matches on CatamountSports.com.
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