ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Behind a balanced offensive attack, eighth-seeded Western Carolina opened the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Volleyball Championship with a straight-set decision over No. 9 The Citadel to advance to Friday's quarterfinal at the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville. The Catamounts earned the win 25-23, 25-16, 25-19.
With the win, Western Carolina advances into Friday's quarterfinal action against top-seeded ETSU, with the first serve set for 1:30 p.m. in Asheville.
Sophomore Peri Subat led the Catamount offense with a match-high 11 kills, followed by freshman Samantha Kranzler with nine kills and 12 digs. Classmate and co-freshman of the year Tatum Sharp had seven kills, while sophomore Courtney Graham added six.
SoCon Setter of the Year Katie Boney had a team-best 34 assists to go along with six digs, three blocks, and two kills. Sophomore Halley Tang had 15 digs, followed by 12 apiece for Kranzler and junior Eda Yalcinkaya. Graham led the Catamounts' block with five stops, while Sharp added four, and Boney added three stops.
Rachel Reininger led the Bulldogs with the lone double-double of the match with 10 kills and 17 digs, while Alexa Psotka picked up 10 kills on a .467 hitting percentage. Gwen Berry added nine kills for The Citadel. Greta Pleuss tallied 28 assists to go along with nine digs. Behind Reininger's team-best 17 digs, Mia Watson and Jess Martin had 13 digs apiece. Luci Lippelgoos had two blocks for the Bulldogs, leading the team in blocks.
The Citadel opened Thursday's action fast with a 9-4 burst out of the gates to claim the early advantage in the opening stanza of the tournament's curtain raiser. The Catamounts responded with a 10-1 run to make it 14-10 in favor of the higher-seeded Catamounts at the midpoint of the set. The Bulldogs battled back to a two-point deficit at 16-14 before the Catamounts stretched it back to five points at 21-16. The Citadel again counterpunched with a 6-2 burst late to continue to battle, though WCU hung on down the stretch for a 25-23 win.
The Bulldogs started hot once again in set two with a 5-2 run before Western Carolina answered the bell with a 13-3 spurt to take the 15-8 lead at the midpoint of the second stanza. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-2 burst to cut it to a four-point score at 17-13, but were unable to get it any closer as the Purple & Gold closed on an 8-3 run to take the 25-16 set victory and the 2-0 match lead.
The third set featured five early ties as the two squads went back-and-forth, with neither able to gain more than a three-point lead. The Bulldogs led by one, 15-14, at the media break. The Catamounts closed the match on an 11-4 run, though, to claim the match in straight sets with a 25-19 tournament-advancing win.
Western Carolina (8-20) advances to Friday's quarterfinal action against top-seeded ETSU, with the first serve set for 1:30 p.m. in Asheville. Tickets for the SoCon tournament can be purchased online through the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville box office.
All matches during the tournament will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be linked on CatamountSports.com. Tournament Central for the entire tournament can be found HERE.
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