Chattanooga, Tenn. – Freshman Samantha Kranzler led the Catamounts with a match-best 17 kills on Friday night as Western Carolina volleyball closed out the 2025 road slate, dropping a four-set decision to the host Chattanooga Mocs at Maclellan Gym. The Mocs earned the victory by scores of 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21.
Kranzler followed her classmates' footsteps from Thursday night, turning in a double-double effort with 17 kills and 15 digs for her sixth double-dip of the season. Sophomore Courtney Graham joined Kranzler in double figures with 10 kills as she hit an impressive .364 for WCU. Thursday's offensive leaders, Tatum Sharp and Abbie Willis, finished with seven and six kills, respectively.
Junior Katie Boney led the Purple & Gold with 38 assists to go along with six digs, two kills, and two blocks. On the defensive end, sophomore Halley Tang posted 18 digs, followed by junior Eda Yalçinkaya with 17 and Kranzler's 15. The Catamounts had a strong night at the net, led by Sharp with a season-tying five blocks, followed by three stops for Graham as she crested 100 blocks on the season.
With her five rejections on Friday, Sharp moved into a tie for ninth in blocks by a WCU freshman in the rally scoring era (since 2008) with 61 rejections in her debut campaign. Sharp has now tied Alyssa Zupan, who had 61 stops in her debut season back in 2015, and sets her sights on 64 blocks in eighth place by Nicole Ford (2012). Kranzler also eclipsed 200 kill plateau on Friday with 201 in her opening year in Cullowhee, becoming the 12th freshman in the rally scoring era at WCU to eclipse 200 kills in their first season with the Catamounts.
Sydney Jackwin led the way for Chattanooga with 15 kills and 10 digs for the lone UTC double-double on Friday night. Kendyl MacAskill and Gracie Rose both had 11 kills for the hosts as Jordin Glass and Kynli Kirkendoll had 10 apiece in the win. Ashley Reynolds paced UTC with 30 assists, followed by Chiara Napoli with 16 helpers. On the defensive end, Caiti Barthel had 31 digs for Chattanooga, with Elena Vukmanov adding 15 to go along with Jackwin's 10, as a trio of Mocs had a team-best three blocks, including Glass, Kirkendoll, and MacAskill.
Friday's opening set saw the Purple & Gold jump on the hosts with five different players recording a kill as part of a 10-4 run to seize early control. The Mocs and Catamounts went back-and-forth over the following nine points with the guests keeping the lead at five before a 4-1 burst saw the lead swell to eight, 18-10. UTC did not go away quietly in the set, though, mounting a 12-5 run, including seven-of-eight points to cut the WCU lead to one, 23-22, before Kranzler tallied back-to-back kills and gave Western Carolina the opening set win.
UTC opened the second set on a 15-5 run, including spurts of four and six unanswered, to take the lead at the midpoint of the stanza. Similar to the opening set, the middle portion saw a back-and-forth battle as the Mocs took a 22-13 lead late with the Catamounts scoring six in a row to tighten the set at 22-19. Chattanooga maintained its distance late and claimed a 25-22 set two victory and evened the match at a set apiece.
Much like the beginning of set two, the Mocs wasted no time in the third set, rattling off a 17-7 run out of the starting gate to take control. The Mocs stretched the lead to 13, 23-10, before WCU used a 7-0 spurt to cut it to a six-point deficit before UTC finished off the 25-17 set three victory.
Chattanooga continued its strong work in the start of sets on Friday with a 9-3 burst out of the chutes to once again seize control. WCU quickly pushed the deficit to four, 11-7, only to have UTC rattle off a 5-2 run to stretch the lead back to 16-9. The Purple & Gold didn't go quietly in the fourth stanza with an 11-6 spurt to cut the deficit to two, 22-20, but the Mocs scored three of the final four points to grab the four-set triumph.
Western Carolina (7-18, 3-11 SoCon) closes out the 2025 regular season with a return to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center next Friday, Nov. 14, for a two-match homestand. The Catamounts open the weekend against chromatic rival Furman before playing host to Mercer the next night. Both matches are slated for a 6 p.m. first serve.
Friday's meeting with the Paladins will be a WHITE OUT, with Catamount fans encouraged to wear their white WCU gear. Saturday's match with the Bears will be Senior Night for Catamounts and seniors Samantha Jo Mikosky and Janelle Blue. It will also feature the 'Hike & Spike' doubleheader, with Catamount football hosting ETSU at Noon before the matchup with the Bears.
Both matches with the Paladins and the Bears 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).
