Cullowhee, N.C. – Eighth-seeded Western Carolina volleyball begins its pursuit of the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament crown in Thursday's first round against No. 9 seed The Citadel at 4 p.m. The winner of Thursday's opening round advances into Friday's quarterfinal against regular-season champion ETSU at 1:30 p.m. All matches will take place at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville.
FIRST ROUND MATCH PREVIEW
#9 The Citadel (0-26, 0-16 SoCon) vs #8 Western Carolina (7-20, 3-13 SoCon)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025
Time: 4 p.m.
Site: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, N.C.)
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter: @CatamountVB
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
From the Service Line:
Western Carolina begins its SoCon tournament title hunt on Thursday afternoon, battling The Citadel as the Catamounts look to take the third straight match from the Bulldogs, as WCU grabbed a pair of straight-set results during the 2025 regular season.
The Catamounts enter Thursday's match looking to rebound from a tight five-set defeat to chromatic rival Furman and a four-set setback against Mercer in last weekend's senior night match in Cullowhee. In the two matches, the freshman pair of Samantha Kranzler and Tatum Sharp both had 25 kills apiece, as Sharp had 11 against Furman and 14 in the finale with the Bears, while Kranzler tallied an 18-kill performance against the Paladins.
Sophomore Peri Subat had a career-high 17 kills against Mercer as part of a 24-kill effort in the two matches. Senior Janelle Blue had 19 kills, and sophomore Courtney Graham finished with 14.
Five-time SoCon Setter of the Week Katie Boney finished the regular season with a league-best 97 assists in the two matches, averaging 10.78 assists per set to go along with 25 digs, two blocks, and four kills. Boney claimed her team-high ninth double-double in a five-set battle with Furman (54 assists, 17 digs). Junior Eda Yalçinkaya led the way on the defensive end with 32 digs, followed by 28 from Kranzler and 26 for freshman Elise Gurley, who tallied a career-high 16 against Furman. Sophomore Courtney Graham led the block with 10 rejections, followed by seven from Sharp.
On the season, Boney finished atop the SoCon with exactly 1,000 assists, the lone player in the SoCon hit the 1K mark. She also held the top spot in assists per set at 10.2. Boney became the first Catamount to eclipse 1,000 helpers since 2019, when Hannah Price had 1,029. Boney also begins the tournament needing just 175 digs to reach 2,000 in her WCU career.
Graham finished the regular season in fourth in blocks with 111 stops, one of five in the league to eclipse 100 rejections, and is third in blocks per set at 1.17. Yalçinkaya is sixth in the league with 371 digs and is sixth in digs per set (3.79).
In SoCon play, Boney finished first in the league with 599 assists, while also holding the top spot in assists per set (10.33). Yalçinkaya finished the league season eighth with 206 digs, followed by sophomore Halley Tang in ninth (193). Graham is fifth in SoCon play with 61 blocks.
About The Citadel (0-26, 0-16 SoCon) Match Recap in Charleston/Cullowhee
The Citadel enters play on Thursday looking for its first win of 2025 following back-to-back straight-set defeats against Samford and Chattanooga last weekend. The Bulldogs seek their first set win since earning one in a four-set defeat against Furman.
WCU holds a 40-12 edge in the all-time series, as the two schools have split the prior meetings in the SoCon tournament with the Bulldogs winning a four-setter in 2018 and the Catamounts grabbing a four-set win in 2015. The Catamounts look to complete their first regular-season sweep of The Citadel since 2015.
The Bulldogs are led by 10th-year head coach Dave Zelenock, who was named SoCon Coach of the Year in 2023, when The Citadel earned a program-record 27 wins.
Sophomore Rachel Reininger leads the Bulldogs' offensive attack with a team-high 202 kills, with three double-doubles, with her most recent coming in SoCon play against Wofford (12 kills, 13 digs). Freshman Gwen Berry has 136 kills with three double-doubles, as classmate Jordyn Sims has 124 kills, and sophomore Luci Lippelgoos has 105 kills for The Citadel thus far in 2025
Sophomore Greta Pleuss leads the Bulldogs with 363 helpers, as she's tallied a pair of double-doubles coming against UNC Asheville (24 assists, 14 digs) and Gardner-Webb (28 assists, 18 digs). Reininger has a team-best 14 service aces, while junior Mia Watson has 13, followed by Berry with 12.
Sophomore Jess Martin leads the way for the Bulldogs with 255 digs, followed by Watson with 151 and Berry with 145. Lippelgoos leads the block for the Bulldogs with 67 rejections.
What's Next for the Catamounts:
The winner of Thursday's opening round match advances to Friday's quarterfinal action against top-seeded ETSU, with the first serve set for 1:30 p.m. in Asheville. All matches during the tournament will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available for all matches 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).
