Asheville, N.C. – Senior Bailey Hartsough collected her fourth double-double of the season to lead Western Carolina against mountain-rival UNC Asheville on Tuesday evening at the Justice Center, but the Catamounts were unable to capitalize on a first-set victory, falling in four closely contested sets 3-1 as WCU continued its season-long road swing.
Hartsough led the Catamounts with 12 kills and 14 digs against the Bulldogs. Junior Janelle Blue and sophomore Zoe Zudans both added eight kills to the offensive attack for WCU. Sophomore Katie Boney led in the assist column with 18, with senior Sarah Janourova handing out 15.
On the defensive side, Eda Yalçinkaya recorded a team-high 16 digs and junior Ali Morris finished with 14 to match the 14 recorded by Hartsough. Sophomore Logan Carr continued her strong showing on the block to begin 2024 with three blocks to lead WCU. The sophomore from Desota, Texas has recorded multiple blocks in all seven matches this season.
The Bulldogs were led offensively by Baylor Herlehy who had 11 kills and added five aces and six blocks to her stat line. Kyle Cackovic and Matilde Teixeira both had eight kills with Cackovic adding 12 digs and Teixeira finishing with 15. Riley Barr held a slight edge in helpers for UNC Asheville, totaling 16, as Payton Rolfsen finished with 15 assists and eight digs. Michelle Thao tallied a match-high 24 digs.
Tight from the opening serve, neither side was able to take a sizeable lead early in the first set with the hosts taking a two-point, 5-3 lead. The Catamounts then used an 8-3 run of their own to jump on the Bulldogs, 11-8, as the guests took advantage of multiple errors from UNCA.
A set of runs saw Asheville respond with a 7-3 spurt of its own to retake a slim 15-14 lead to the media break. Behind two kills apiece from Zoe Zudans and Logan Carr, the Catamounts used an 8-1 burst to take control of the set 22-16 and withstand a late charge from Asheville to claim set one by the score of 25-21.
UNC Asheville (2-2) came out of the second set gates red-hot with a 6-2 lead to take the early control. WCU answered with a 5-2 spurt before the two squads went back and forth to the media break, with Asheville carrying the 15-12 lead into the stoppage.
Asheville scored four of the next six points out of the break to force WCU to call a timeout. The Catamounts then managed to cut the deficit to two, 20-18 before the hosts scored five of the final six points to even the match at one set apiece.
Three early ties began the pivotal third set before the Catamounts pushed out to an 8-5 lead before the Bulldogs responded. The hosts scored the next six points of the set to force another timeout to try and stem the tide. Asheville pushed the first three points across out of the timeout before a 5-2 WCU burst saw the Bulldogs deficit cut back to three, 16-13.
UNC Asheville went on a 6-2 run followed by three unanswered from the Catamounts before the hosts closed the set 25-18 and claimed a 2-1 lead in the match.
Western Carolina opened the fourth set with a fast start, scoring six of the opening eight points including a pair of aces from Halley Tang to force the early UNC Asheville timeout. WCU pushed the lead to five, 9-4, before UNC Asheville responded with an 8-3 burst to tie the set at 12 and force a Catamount timeout.
The 16 points that followed went back and forth between the two teams before a 5-2 Bulldogs spurt allowed the hosts to claim the set 25-22 and the match in four.
The Catamounts (1-6) open their second half of nonconference play at the Campbell Invitational beginning on Friday, Sept. 13, with first serve set for 3:30 p.m. against NC Central. WCU continues tournament action the following day with a doubleheader against American (10:30 a.m.) and event host Campbell (6 p.m.), as all three matches will take place at the Pope Convocation Center. The matchup against host Campbell will be shown on FloSports (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available on CatamountSports.com for all three matches.
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