Cullowhee, N.C. – Freshman Samantha Kranzler paced the offensive attack with a career-high 22 kills and junior Katie Boney dished out a career-high 58 assists as Western Carolina volleyball earned the four-set home victory over UNCG on Saturday night on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts earned the decision with a 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 result, improving to 2-2 in SoCon action on the young league slate.
Kranzler finished off her fourth double-double of her debut campaign as she paired her 22 kills with 14 digs, adding a pair of service aces. Junior Zoe Zudans secured her second career double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Tatum Sharp continued her strong homestand, adding to the offensive attack with 11 kills, chipping in six digs and three blocks. Senior Janelle Blue totaled eight kills and a team-high six blocks.
Boney guided the Catamount offense with her career-best 58 assists to go along with six digs and a pair of kills. On the defensive side, junior Eda Yalçinkaya finished one shy of matching her career-high with a team-best 25 digs. Freshman Halley Tang joined Yalcinkaya, Zudans, and Kranzler in double figures with 13 digs. Following Blue's six rejections was sophomore Courtney Graham with five stops.
As a team, WCU posted a season-high in kills (64), assists (64), and the second-most digs (85).
With her 58 assists, Boney moved past Judy Green (1982-83) for 15th in program history for career assists as the Brookhaven, Ga. native now has 1,386 and a conference-high 561 on the season.
Connore' Siler-Nixon led the Spartans with 16 kills, followed by McKenna Timmerman with 14 kills and 18 digs. Robin Rosser and Siena Smiejek each added eight kills to the guests' offensive output. Gabby Seeds led the way for UNCG with 43 assists and 11 digs for the double-double. Chloe Nussbaum added 14 digs, followed by Graylinn Serge with 13 and Allie Sweet with 12 on the Spartans' defensive end of the court. Siler-Nixon led the way with six blocks.
The opening set featured eight early ties before a 10-2 run by the Spartans allowed the guests to take a seven-point lead, 21-14, in the later stages. WCU battled back with a pair of quick points, but UNCG scored four of the final five to earn the 25-17 opening set victory.
The Catamounts jumped out 5-2 for an early second-set lead, which was answered by a 7-1 spurt from UNCG to make it 12-9 near the midpoint. WCU responded with a 10-5 run to take a 19-17 lead and force a Spartans timeout. UNCG battled back to even the score at 22 before the hosts answered with three straight points capped by a Sharp block to take the 25-22 set two victory and even the match.
In the swing third set, UNCG took an early lead before the Catamounts rallied off a 9-4 run. UNCG answered with three quick points to force a WCU timeout at the midpoint of the set. The Spartans inched ahead with six of the following nine points to take a two-point lead, 18-16. But, the Catamounts continued to battle with a 9-4 spurt down the stretch to take a 25-22 set three win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Western Carolina continued to keep its foot on the pedal to open the fourth set with spurts of 6-3 and 5-3 in and around UNCG offense to take an 11-7 lead, forcing a Spartan timeout. After the stoppage, UNCG quickly cut the deficit to two, 13-11, causing a WCU timeout. Over the next several points, WCU was able to increase the lead to four, 19-15, which was countered by a 5-1 burst from the Spartans to even the set at 20. The Catamounts quickly got to 24 and withstood a pair of match point answers from UNCG before Kranzler and Graham tallied back-to-back kills for the 26-24 fourth set win and the four-set victory.
Western Carolina (6-9, 2-2 SoCon) returns to the Ramsey Center on Thursday, Oct. 9, to battle Chattanooga, before welcoming Samford the following night in SoCon action as part of its four-match homestand. Both matches are slated for a 6 p.m. first serve from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Thursday's meeting with the Mocs is WCU's "Dig Pink" match, along with Back The Cats, while Friday's match with the Bulldogs is Alumni Night. Both matches with the Mocs and the Bulldogs 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).
