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Full
Ali Morris vs GWU - FRONT
Catamount Athletics Creative Media
1
Western Caro. WCU 0-1,0-0 SoCon
3
Winner Col. of Charleston CC 1-0,0-0 CAA
Western Caro. WCU
0-1,0-0 SoCon
1
Final
3
Col. of Charleston CC
1-0,0-0 CAA
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Caro. WCU 17 23 29 20 (1)
Col. of Charleston CC 25 25 27 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Volleyball Tallies Three Double-Doubles In 2024 Season Opener

WCU's tournament action continues on Saturday in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball opened the 2024 season on Friday afternoon, falling in four sets to College of Charleston in the first match of the Carolina Classic inside historic Carmichael Arena on the campus of tournament host, the University of North Carolina.
 
Junior Ali Morris paced the Catamounts with her 15th career double-double, totaling a team-high 13 kills with14 digs on the defensive side. Senior Bailey Hartsough opened the campaign with her 26th career double-double, finishing with 12 kills and 16 digs for WCU. Sophomore Zoe Zudans finished her first collegiate start with a career-high 10 kills as the third Catamount, adding five digs and four blocks.

Senior Sarah Janourova added her team-best 32nd double-double with a team-high 23 assists and 10 digs for the Catamounts, while sophomore Eda Yalcinkaya joined Morris with a team-high 16 digs. Katie Boney dished out 16 assists to her stat line and junior Janelle Blue led the squad on the block with six rejections along with four kills.
 
College of Charleston was led offensively by Emily Banitt, who posted a match-high 19 kills along with 11 digs. Anna Smith totaled 10 kills and seven blocks for the Cougars. Hannah Scott led the way with a match-high 37 assists and finished with eight kills, eight digs, and six blocks. Olivia Angell led all players in Friday's curtain-raiser with 28 digs on the defensive end.
 
Peri Subat and Halley Tang each made their collegiate debuts on Friday for WCU. Samantha Jo Mikosky appeared in Friday's action for her first on-court appearance for the Purple and Gold.
 
College of Charleston (1-0) raced out to the early lead, scoring the first eight points before five of the next eight tallies from WCU allowed the deficit to be cut to six, 11-5. The two teams traded bursts over the following several points before a quick four-point burst from the Cougars stretched the score to 21-10. The Catamounts battled back with a 7-1 spurt of their own, but Charleston dropped the set's final three points to grab a 25-17 victory and gain the early edge in Friday's action.
 
Western Carolina came out of the gates quickly in set two with a 5-2 run to gain the early lead before the Cougars answered with six of the following nine points to even the set at eight apiece. WCU extended its lead to three, 12-9, with four of the next five points before a 6-1 run from the Cougars made it 15-13 at the media timeout. In a set that featured 11 ties and five lead changes, the Catamounts came out of the timeout fast by scoring five of the next six points to grab an 18-16 lead before the Cougars closed on a 9-5 run to make it 25-23 and take the 2-0 lead.
 
Down 8-4 early in the third set, WCU posted a 6-2 burst that allowed the Catamounts to even the scoreboard at 10. Charleston moved in front with six of the following nine points before a quick three-spot from WCU evened the score at 16 and forced C-of-C to use a timeout. The Cougars quickly raced the score to 20-17 before five straight Catamount points made it 22-20. College of Charleston was the first to 25 with a 5-2 run before WCU answered with five of the final seven points to grab the 29-27 set win.
 
College of Charleston opened the fourth set quickly with a 10-3 lead to seize early control. WCU cut the deficit to five, 13-8, but the Cougars used the power of an 8-3 run to push the advantage to 21-11 in the later stages of the set. The Catamounts answered with a 9-3 run before the Cougars claimed the fourth set by the score of 25-20 to win the season-opener in four sets.
 
The Catamounts (0-1) continue their season-opening action from the Carolina Classic on Saturday against Cleveland State, with the first serve slated for 3 p.m. from Chapel Hill. The Vikings fell in straight sets on Friday night to the host Tar Heels on the opening day of the Carolina Classic. The match will have live stats 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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