BOCA RATON, FLA. – Western Carolina volleyball opened the 2025 season in style in South Beach on Friday, scoring a thrilling five-set victory over Big 12 counterpart Texas Tech before earning the four-set win over Kent State in the first two matches of the Florida Atlantic Invitational. WCU faces tournament host FAU on Saturday inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

The Catamounts were led offensively by junior outside hitter Zoe Zudans, who tallied a team-best 39 kills as she averaged 4.33 kills per set. Freshman Tatum Sharp finished with 23 kills and nine blocks as the Loveland, Colo. native recorded 15 kills in her collegiate debut against Texas Tech.

Freshman Samantha Kranzler (17 kills), senior Janelle Blue (16 kills), and Courtney Graham (14 kills) each reached double figures across the two matches. Kranzler recorded WCU's first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs against Kent State. Junior Katie Boney led the Catamounts in assists with 99 combined helpers, including a career-high tying 51 against the Red Raiders.

On the defensive end, junior Eda Yalçinkaya had a team-best 39 digs, while Graham recorded a team-high 12 blocks, followed by nine from Sharp and five from Kranzler.

Friday marks the first 2-0 start for Western Carolina volleyball since 2018, when the Catamounts defeated Robert Morris and Charleston Southern in the opening two matches of the Catamount Classic. Friday's win over TTU marked the first win over a power-four opponent since 2022, when WCU defeated Wake Forest and N.C. State during the same campaign.

Western Carolina 3, Texas Tech 2 (25-22, 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-9)
Junior Zoe Zudans and freshman Tatum Sharp led the offensive attack as Western Carolina scored its first victory of the season, downing Texas Tech in five, 3-2. Zudans posted a team-high 19 kills along with seven digs and a pair of blocks, while in her collegiate debut, Sharp impressed with 15 kills on an eye-popping .462 hitting percentage to accompany four blocks, including a pair of solo rejections.

Senior Janelle Blue filled the stat sheet with nine kills to go along with three blocks as sophomore Courtney Graham totaled eight kills along with three digs and a career-high seven blocks. Freshman Samantha Kranzler totaled 13 digs, six kills, and three blocks with four assists.

Junior Katie Boney led all players on Friday morning with a career-high tying 51 assists as she picked up six digs, three kills, and a block. Junior Eda Yalçinkaya finished the match with a team-best 20 digs as sophomore Halley Tang had 11 digs and a career-high three aces. The quartet of players with 10+ digs was rounded out by freshman Elise Gurley, adding 11 digs to her stat line.

Reagan Engler led the Red Raiders on the offensive end of the court with 16 kills and 10 digs for the lone double-double of the match. Kenna McKenzie finished with 14 kills for Texas Tech. Katelyn Cochran led the way with 24 assists and seven digs as Peyton Dunn totaled 13 assists and five digs. On the defensive end of the court, Sierra Grizzle had a match-best 24 digs.

Texas Tech used a quick burst to seize the early control of Friday's match before a 7-2 run from the Catamounts allowed WCU to take the slim two-point advantage. The two teams traded runs as neither team gained more than a two-point edge at the midpoint of the opening set before the Catamounts pulled ahead with seven straight points to push the score to 21-16 late. Texas Tech was able to whittle it to a two-point score late on a pair of occasions before Sharp finished it off and gave WCU the 25-22 set victory and 1-0 lead in the match.

The Catamounts rode the momentum of the first set victory to an early set two advantage before a 9-3 run from the Red Raiders gave TTU the tight three-point edge. Similar to the opening set, the middle stages of set two were contested tightly, with neither team able to gain a significant advantage until Texas Tech scored five of six points in a late spurt to seize a 22-18 lead in the set. WCU cut the deficit to one, 23-22, but back-to-back Red Raider points allowed them to take the set 25-22 and even the match at a set apiece.

Much like the opening two sets, the match stayed tight in the early going before a 5-1 run from Texas Tech allowed the Red Raiders to take an 11-8 lead in the stanza. Western Carolina stormed back with six of the ensuing nine points before the Red Raiders flexed their muscles down the stretch with the following eight points as part of an 11-5 run down the stretch to take the set 25-19 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Tech carried its set three momentum into the fourth set with a quick start before the Catamounts rolled with a 5-1 burst to take an 8-7 lead. The Red Raiders inched ahead at 12-10 before the Catamounts scored seven of eight points in an outburst to push the advantage to four, 17-13, following a Kranzler kill and a Sharp/Kranzler rejection. After a back-and-forth battle down the stretch, WCU closed with five of the final six points to take the set 25-17 and force a decisive fifth set.

The fifth set began with a tight battle, as neither team gained a significant advantage, with a two-point lead. However, a 6-1 run from the Catamounts saw the lead stretch to seven, 11-4. Texas Tech tried to claw back with five points down the stretch before back-to-back Zudans's kills gave WCU the five-set thriller in Boca Raton.

Western Carolina 3, Kent State 1 (25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 25-23)
Junior Zoe Zudans added to her offensive outburst on Friday with another strong showing in match two as she totaled 20 kills and hit .390 to pace the Catamounts to a four-set win over Kent State.

Zudans was followed by freshman Samantha Kranzler in the offensive department with her first career double-double, as the Norwood, N.J., product tallied 11 kills and 10 digs. Kranzler also added a pair of aces and two blocks. Classmate Tatum Sharp once again put together a balanced stat sheet with eight kills, four digs, a team-high five blocks, and two service aces.

Senior Janelle Blue finished the match with seven kills, followed by sophomore Courtney Graham with six kills and a team-high five rejections. Junior Katie Boney led the way for WCU with 48 assists while also picking up six digs and two blocks. On the defensive end, junior Eda Yalçinkaya tallied 19 digs and a pair of helpers for the Catamounts.

Kent State came out fast in the opening set of Friday's action with the quick lead, but was quickly answered by the Catamounts, rattling off an impressive 13-5 run of their own to jump in front 15-9 off a Graham kill. Western Carolina continued to keep the pressure on the Golden Flashes with a quick 7-2 burst that stretched the lead to 10, 22-12. KSU wouldn't go away quietly as a 10-4 burst, including five unanswered, saw the deficit fall to just two before a Zudans kill gave WCU the 25-22 set win.

In a set that featured 12 ties and six lead changes, neither team was able to gain a foothold on the scoreboard, as the match was tied at 15 at the halfway point. However, WCU used a 7-1 spurt to stretch the lead to six, 22-16. Kent State looked to chip away at the deficit down the stretch, but was unable to gain much footing as the Catamounts grabbed the 2-0 lead with a 25-19 set win.

In a must-win set, the Golden Flashes seized early control with the advantage before the Catamounts responded and the 14-10 lead at the halfway point of the set. Kent State responded with six of the following seven points to inch in front, 16-15, before a 6-3 WCU run made it 21-19 late in the third set. The set got tight late with four ties over the final points, but the Golden Flashes used a 5-1 run late on match point to claim the set 27-25 and force a fourth set.

Kent State rode the momentum into the fourth set with a pair of three-point advantages in the early stages, but WCU flipped the scoreboard back in its favor at 12-10 on the heels of an 8-3 burst. KSU quickly evened the score before Western Carolina was able to push the advantage to 19-17 as the fourth set went down the stretch. Kent State was able to inch in front 22-21 late in the set before a pair of kills from Zudans, one from Kranzler, and a Golden Flashes attack error allowed WCU to take the match in four and improve to 2-0.

The Catamounts close their weekend at the FAU Invitational, battling the host Owls on Saturday, Aug. 30, with a 1 p.m. first serve. The match will be shown on FAU Sports TV, and live stats will be available on CatamountSports.com.

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