Cullowhee, N.C. – Following a stretch where six of eight matches were played at home, Western Carolina volleyball begins the trek to the finish line of the 2025 regular season with a four-match road swing. The four-straight Southern Conference games away from the Ramsey Center begins on Halloween night with a trip to UNCG before traveling to mountain rival ETSU on Saturday.
WCU begins the weekend at 6 p.m. on Friday against the Spartans, followed by a matchup against the Bucs the following afternoon, at 3 p.m. Both matches are slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live statistics available for both matches online via a link at CatamountSports.com.
MATCH #1 PREVIEW
Western Carolina (7-14, 3-7 SoCon) at UNCG (12-9, 5-5 SoCon)
Date: Friday, Oct. 31, 2025
Time: 6 p.m.
Site: Fleming Gymnasium (Greensboro, N.C.)
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter: @CatamountVB
MATCH #2 PREVIEW
Western Carolina at ETSU (16-5, 10-0 SoCon)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025
Time: 3 p.m.
Site: Brooks Gymnasium (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter: @CatamountVB
From the Service Line:
The Catamounts look to carry their momentum off of a straight-set win last Friday in SoCon play against The Citadel after a tight four-set defeat to preseason favorite Wofford the night before.
Freshman Tatum Sharp led the offensive attack last weekend with 26 kills, hitting an impressive .412, including 12 kills at a .647 clip on Friday against the Bulldogs. Classmate Abbie Willis, making her first two collegiate starts, tallied 15 kills with a career-high 12 coming in her first career start against Wofford on Thursday. Senior Janelle Blue and freshman Samantha Kranzler both had 14 kills, followed by sophomore Courtney Graham with 10. Junior Katie Boney tallied 71 helpers, at 10.14 assists per set, to go along with 17 digs and five kills, earning Boney her fifth SoCon Setter of the Week honor.
Sophomore Halley Tang led the way with 39 digs, averaging 5.57 per set, as Tang made the start at libero on Friday against the Bulldogs. Junior Eda Yalçinkaya added 26 digs for the Purple & Gold, followed by 19 from Kranzler and 17 from Boney. Graham led the Catamounts on the block with nine stops, followed by five from Sharp and four from Blue.
On the season, Boney continues to maintain her stranglehold on the top spot in assists in the league with 776, the lone player in the SoCon with more than 700 helpers, while also holding the top spot in assists per set (10.35). Graham enters ranked fourth in blocks with 89 stops, one of four in the league to eclipse 80 rejections, and is third in blocks per set at 1.19. Yalçinkaya is sixth in the league with 305 digs, one of six players with at least four digs per set (4.07), and one of six to eclipse 300 digs on the season.
In SoCon play, Boney ranks second in the league with 375 assists, while also holding the top spot in assists per set (10.71), playing in six fewer sets than the leader in assists. Yalçinkaya is sixth in digs (140) as she's tied for fifth in digs per set (4.0). Graham is tied for fifth with 39 stops on the defensive end.
As a team, WCU enters the two weekly matches ranked fourth in the league in kills per set (12.49), fifth in digs (1048), and fourth in assists per set (11.79). In conference play, WCU is fourth in kills per set (12.82) and fifth in digs (450). Individually, Boney is second in the conference in assists (304) and holds the top spot in assists per set (10.86). Yalçinkaya is sixth in conference play with 114 digs, one of seven in the league with 100+ digs.
About UNCG (12-9, 5-5 SoCon) – RPI 214 (FIRST MATCH RECAP in Cullowhee)
Coming off a three-game skid, UNCG looks to right the ship on Friday against the Catamounts after dropping decisions to ETSU, Samford, and Furman over its last three matches. The Spartans began the league season winning five of their first seven before the three-game skid. UNCG has wins over Samford, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Mercer, and Wofford.
UNCG has been led offensively by reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year Allie Sweet, who has a SoCon-leading 377 kills and a conference-best 4.44 kills per set. She is the only player in the league to average over four kills per set to date. Sweet has totaled 12 double-doubles this season, with seven matches over 20 kills, including a season-high 32 against Samford.
Senior McKenna Timmerman has 201 kills for the Spartans as she's tallied five double-doubles. In comparison, graduate student Robin Rosser has totaled 191 kills for UNCG as freshman, Connore' Siler-Nixon with 137 kills, to round out the quartet for UNCG over 100 kills. Northwestern State transfer Gabby Seeds leads the Spartans and sits second in the SoCon with 688 assists, as she's had nine matches with 40 or more helpers, with six double-doubles to her name on the season. Sweet has tallied a team-high 29 aces, followed by Rosser with 26 aces and Seeds with 21 aces, as the Spartans have a league-high 140 service aces.
On defense, sophomore Chloe Nussbaum leads the Spartans with 400 digs, followed by Sweet, who's tallied 235 digs. Siler-Nixon leads the way for UNCG with 76 blocks, followed by freshman Siena Smiejek with 57 blocks, Sweet with 46 blocks, and Rosser with 44 rejections.
WCU has won six of the past eight matches over UNCG in straight sets, leading the squad to a 16-14 lead in the all-time series in Greensboro and a 37-29 advantage overall in the head-to-head series with the Spartans.
About ETSU (16-5, 10-0 SoCon) – RPI 86 (FIRST MATCH RECAP in Cullowhee)
ETSU enters the weekend riding a 13-match win streak, including all 10 in Southern Conference play. The Bucs have won four in straight sets in league play thus far in 2025.
The Bucs played a challenging nonconference slate of Power Four opponents, facing South Carolina, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. ETSU went 19-11 during the 2024 campaign and held a 10-6 league mark before falling to the two-seed and eventual tournament champion Wofford in the SoCon semifinals. The Bucs are led by Lindsay Devine, who's in her 18th season in Johnson City, beginning her second stint with the Bucs after a 16-year tenure that began in 2003. Devine has earned three SoCon Coach of the Year honors, with the most recent honor coming a season ago.
Sophomore Mikayla Bays leads the Bucs offensively, totaling a team-high 299 kills, as she's tallied six double-doubles, tallying 17 matches with 10+ kills and a pair of matches tallying 24 kills. Bays has also already earned a pair of SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors in 2025. Senior Brianna Cantrell has 190 kills, followed by classmate Whitley Rammel with 163 kills on the offensive end. Senior Isabelle Iosua rounds out the ETSU offensive attack with 128 kills for the Bucs.
Freshman Bailey Gohlke leads ETSU in the assist column with 401 helpers, sixth in the league, as she's recorded five double-doubles. Junior Alex Kreutzmann is eighth with 387 assists, having already recorded 10 matches with 21 or more assists in 2025. Kreutzmann also has tallied a pair of double-doubles in SoCon play this season. Gohlke leads the squad with 28 service aces, followed by 27 from Bays and 26 from junior Melanie Morris.
On the defensive end, Morris leads ETSU with 251 digs, followed by Bays with 178 and Cantrell with 170. Rammel ranks third in the league with a team-best 91 rejections, followed by redshirt sophomore Gianna Blair with 76 stops, ranking in a tie for sixth in the conference.
ETSU has won seven of the last eight meetings in the head-to-head battle, claiming a four-set decision earlier this season in Cullowhee. Western Carolina looks to buck the recent trend, as ETSU has taken seven of the last eight meetings in the head-to-head series, with the Bucs holding a slim 48-47 lead in the all-time series.
What's Next for the Catamounts:
Following Saturday's action in Johnson City, Western Carolina wraps up a four-match road swing as the Catamounts travel to Birmingham on Thursday, Nov. 6, before facing off with Chattanooga the next night from the Scenic City. Thursday's action with Samford is slated for a 7:30 p.m. EST start, followed by a 6 p.m. first serve from Chattanooga.
Both matches with the Bulldogs and Mocs are scheduled for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and both contests will feature live stats 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).
