CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball opens Southern Conference play in the much-anticipated finale of its season-opening 14-match road swing, traveling east to Charleston, S.C., to battle The Citadel on Wednesday night at the McAlister Fieldhouse. The league-opening match will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available online through a link at CatamountSports.com.
MATCHUP: Western Carolina (6-7) at The Citadel (6-5)
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 25
Time: 6 p.m.
Site: McAlister Field House (Charleston, S.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB
Back to Serve:
Western Carolina closed out nonconference play in tournament action over the weekend at Georgia Southern, claiming a pair of straight-set wins over both Winthrop and Alabama State. WCU enters SoCon play with momentum as the Catamounts have tallied victories in five of their last six matches ahead of Wednesday's tilt in the Holy City.
Senior Bailey Hartsough paced the Catamount offense in its final nonconference action at the 'Bash in the Boro' with 26 kills while sophomore Logan Carr added 23 kills and junior Ali Morris 22 for WCU. Carr and Morris both garnered all-tournament team honors as part of the weekend in Statesboro.
Senior Sarah Janourova filled the assist column throughout the weekend with 51 helpers and sophomore Katie Boney added 40 assists. Janourova handed out at least 15 assists in all three matches as the Prague, Czech Republic, native tallied a double-double against Georgia Southern.
Western Carolina enters SoCon play leading the conference in blocks as the Catamounts are averaging 2.71 rejections per set through nonconference play. The Purple & Gold are led by Janelle Blue who's totaled a conference-high 63 blocks and a 1.4 blocks/set average to sit atop the league in both categories. Blue ranks 12th in the NCAA in total blocks and 25th in the nation in blocks per set. Junior Samantha Jo Mikosky additionally ranks second in the league with 50 blocks and is also second with a 1.32 average, while sophomore Logan Carr ranks sixth overall with 44 stops.
Additionally, junior Ali Morris has 20 blocks, Bailey Hartsough (16) and sophomore Zoe Zudans (14) as the team ranks 10th nationally with 124.5 total blocks. WCU has posted six or more blocks in all 13 matches to begin the season including a high mark of 17 in a five-set win last weekend over American. The Catamounts have eclipsed 11 blocks three times in 2024 including twice in tournament play at Campbell.
Adding to the Catamount defense, the squad has also been strong in digs through the opening 13 matches totaling 779 digs, third-most in the SoCon while averaging 16.93 digs/set that ranks 17th nationally. Hartsough is fifth in the league with 179 digs and is sixth with 3.89 digs/set. She's joined in triple digits by sophomore Eda Yalcinkaya with 157 digs, Morris has 151 and Janourova has 120 digs to round out the quartet. WCU begins SoCon play as the only school in the league with more than two in the top 15 in the league in digs as the Catamounts have four on the list led by fifth place Hartsough.
Catamount Career Record Watch:
Senior Sarah Janourova (1,908 assists, 874 digs, 87 aces):
The Prague, Czech Republic native enters league play this week needing just 92 assists to become the 11th player in program history to surpass the 2,000 helper mark ... Janourova is looking to become the first Catamount to eclipse 2,000 career assists since Hannah Price (2017-20) who totaled 2,324 assists in her time at WCU ... Janourova finished 2023 fifth in the SoCon with 731 assists to pace the Catamounts ... She also sits within striking distance of the 1,000 dig plateau needing 126 of those to surpass that mark ... She also needs just 13 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 (985 kills, 932 digs, 95 aces):
Hartsough opened her final season in Cullowhee looking to eclipse numerous milestones, entering the week needing just 95 kills to become the 16th Catamount in program history to surpass the 1,000 career kill mark ... She would become the first student-athlete for WCU to eclipse 1,000 kills since Merry Gebel (2018-22) moved all the way up to the No. 2 spot in career kills with 1,693 ... A product of LaGrange, Ind., Hartsough currently sits with 848 career digs, needing just 152 to climb to the 1,000 dig mark for WCU ... Hartsough needs 15 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.
The Citadel (6-5 in 2024) – (27-4, 14-2 in SoCon in 2023) – RPI 95 in 2023
Wednesday's SoCon opener sees WCU faceoff with The Citadel in Charleston as the Catamounts look to make it back-to-back wins in the series after downing the Bulldogs in five sets last October in Cullowhee. That victory in the Ramsey Center halted The Citadel's perfect season and snapped the Bulldogs' 23-match win streak.
WCU holds a 37-11 edge in the all-time series that includes a 16-6 mark in matches played in Charleston. Wednesday marks the third time in WCU's history that these two schools have opened SoCon play as the prior two saw the Catamounts win in 2016 (W, 3-0) and spring 2021 (W, 3-2).
The Citadel enters SoCon play this week with a 6-5 overall record and the Bulldogs have won their past three matches against Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman and Columbia while only dropping a single set last weekend. In nonconference play, The Citadel squared off with national runner-up Nebraska, while also battling SEC foe Alabama.
The Citadel finished with a 27-4 record including 14-2 in SoCon play as the Bulldogs claimed the regular-season crown in the league. The Bulldogs advanced to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) before falling to ECU.
Senior Ali Ruffin leads the Bulldogs on the offensive end, totaling 133 kills with seven matches of double-digit kills thus far in 2024 including 20 kills against Montana State. Ruffin has also been a mainstay on the defensive end of the court totaling 148 digs as the reigning SoCon Player of the Year has seven double-doubles in 2024. Graduate student Mackenzie Martin has totaled 111 kills as classmate Sophie Childs has recorded 107 kills for The Citadel. Senior Belle Hogan sits sixth in the league with a team-high 294 assists as Hogan has eight matches of 20+ helpers including three matches of 40+ assists. On the defensive end of the court, graduate student Jaelynn Elgert has a team-high 150 digs as Ruffin has 148 and Martin has 111 digs for the Bulldogs. Junior Aaliyah Byers has a team-high 33 blocks as Childs has totaled 24 rejections.
Under the direction of seventh-year head coach Dave Zelenock, the Bulldogs were picked to defend their 2023 regular season title as they received four of the eight first place votes from the league coaches. The Citadel was one of two programs to receive multiple all-conference as seniors Belle Hogan and Ali Ruffin were honored by the league.
Up Next for the Catamounts:
Following Wednesday's action in Charleston, the Catamounts return to Cullowhee for the first time in 2024 with a SoCon matchup against Mercer on Friday, Sept. 27. The first serve is scheduled for a special 12:30 p.m. start from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The matchup with the Bears will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available 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).
