CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball makes a short drive down I-26 for a midweek nonconference showdown against mountain rival UNC Asheville on Tuesday afternoon. First serve is slated for 4:30 p.m. from the Justice Center at UNC Asheville's on-campus facility. Tuesday's match will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), as live stats will be available on CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina (1-5) at UNC Asheville (1-2)
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 10
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Site: Justice Center (Asheville, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountVB
Back to Serve:
The Catamounts got in the win column on Friday afternoon with a four-set win over Texas A&M-Commerce before suffering defeats to N.C. A&T in four sets before falling in straight sets to host ECU at the Pirate Invitational.
Over the three days, WCU was led by junior Ali Morris, who totaled 41 kills along with 44 digs as the Knoxville, Tenn. native posted a pair of double-doubles, including 19 kills and 22 digs in a four-set win over Texas A&M-Commerce. Senior Bailey Hartsough filled the stat sheet for a second straight weekend as she added 39 kills and a team-high 54 digs as the LaGrange, Ind. native added a pair of double-doubles of her own, including a career-high 26 digs on Friday against N.C. A&T.
Senior Sarah Janourova added to her assist total in Greenville with a team-high 76 helpers and 35 digs. She recorded a double-double in all three matches at ECU, and her best assist output is coming on Friday against N.C. A&T. The Prague, Czech Republic native also added four service aces and a pair of kills on the weekend. WCU had a strong weekend on the block at East Carolina as the Catamounts had three players with 10+ rejections, led by sophomore Logan Carr and junior Samantha Jo Mikosky the duo each had 12 blocks, while junior Janelle Blue had 11 stops for the Purple & Gold.
Following the midweek trip to Asheville, WCU opens the second half of nonconference play with a trip to Buies Creek to battle in the Campbell Invitational with matchups against N.C. Central, American, and the host Camels on tap. WCU finishes its pre-SoCon play with a trip to the Peach State to battle in the Bash in the Boro hosted by Georgia Southern. The Catamounts will also square off against Alabama State and Winthrop in Statesboro. The Catamounts open SoCon play with a road bout at The Citadel before returning to Cullowhee for the first time in regular-season play on Sept. 27 vs Mercer.
Western Carolina enters Tuesday's match leading the SoCon in blocks per set, as the Catamounts are averaging 2.48 rejections per set in the young season. The Purple & Gold are led by junior Samantha Jo Mikosky, who's pacing the SoCon with 1.29 blocks per set, as sophomore Logan Carr is second in the league with 23 blocks and fourth in blocks per set at 1.10. Junior Janelle Blue rounds out the block for WCU, averaging a block per set, and ranks sixth in the conference. As a team, WCU has had eight or more blocks in five of their first matches, including a high mark of 11 in a four-set win last weekend over Texas A&M-Commerce.
Catamount Career Record Watch:
Senior Sarah Janourova (1,771 ast, 802 digs, 82 aces):
The Prague, Czech Republic native continues the 2024 campaign needing just 229 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 192 of those to surpass that mark ... Janourova also needs just 18 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 (905 kills, 848 digs, 85 aces):
Hartsough opens her final season in Cullowhee looking to eclipse numerous milestones as she needs just 95 kills to become the 16th Catamount in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills ... 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.
UNC Asheville (1-2 in 2024) (8-20, 2-12 Big South in 2023) – RPI 307 in 2023
UNC Asheville and Western Carolina meet for the 54th time in the two schools' respective histories in a rivalry that dates back to the 1980s. Tuesday's action marks the 22nd time that WCU and Asheville have met in the Land of the Sky, with the Catamounts earning a 3-0 win in 2022 over the Bulldogs.
UNC Asheville opened its season over the weekend with a 1-2 mark as the Bulldogs defeated Morgan State in straight sets after dropping a pair of four-set decisions to West Georgia and Georgia State the prior day. Asheville looks to rebound from an 8-20 mark in 2023, including a 2-12 record in Big South action, as the Bulldogs are under the direction of Danielle Marante, who's in her first year with UNC Asheville after spending the past five seasons at DII Tusculum where she totaled 73 wins including a pair of 20+ win marks.
The Bulldogs were led in their opening weekend by redshirt sophomore Kylie Cackovic, who posted 47 kills as she had 15+ kills in all three matches and also added 26 digs, which led to a double-double in a three-set win over Morgan State. Junior Payton Rolfsen tallied 73 assists in all three matches, seeing Rolfsen totaling 20+ helpers, and the junior added 26 digs to her stat line. Senior Michelle Thao led the Bulldogs on the defensive side of the court with 51 digs, along with a team-high seven service aces. Redshirt sophomore Lydia Pate leads UNC Asheville as Pate totaled 10 rejections, including eight blocks, in their matchup against Georgia State. Pate added seven kills on 13 swings in Asheville's win over Morgan State.
The Bulldogs are picked eighth in the Big South preseason poll under the direction of first-year head coach Danielle Marante.
Following Tuesday's action at UNC Asheville, the Catamounts open the second half of nonconference play with the Campbell Invitational beginning on Friday, Sept. 13, with first serve set for 3:30 p.m. against N.C. Central. WCU continues tournament action the following day with a doubleheader against American (10:30 a.m.) & 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.
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).
