FLORENCE, ALA. – The Western Carolina volleyball team closed out the weekend at the Noona Kennard Volleyball tournament on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat to SEC foe Alabama on Saturday afternoon at the CB&S Bank Arena.
WCU freshman Samantha Kranzler led the offense with eight kills, adding six digs and a pair of blocks in the contest. Sophomore Courtney Graham picked up seven kills along with four blocks, while freshman Abbie Willis had four kills and sophomore Meleah Foster totaled a career-high three kills on six swings.
Junior Katie Boney tallied 26 assists along with seven digs for the Catamounts. Classmate Eda Yalçinkaya finished with 10 digs to pace WCU as Boney and freshman Elise Gurley added seven apiece.
Victoria Barrett led all players on Saturday with 14 kills to go along with six digs and three blocks for the Crimson Tide. Maddie Snider tallied 10 kills and five digs for Alabama as she added a pair of blocks. Hannah Parant recorded a match-high 33 assists along with eight digs and a pair of aces. Trinity Stanger had 11 digs on the defensive end for Alabama as Sarah Stevens had a match-best six blocks.
The Catamounts inched ahead in the early going with a two-point edge before Alabama used a 14-5 run to race out to the 21-14 lead, forcing a late timeout from WCU. The purple & gold rattled off a 4-1 burst to cut it to a four-point deficit, 22-18, before Alabama scored the final three points to seal the 25-18 set victory.
Alabama wasted no time in the second set with a 10-4 burst out of the gates to force an early timeout in the stanza. The Catamounts answered the bell out of the stoppage with a 9-4 run of their own, cutting the Alabama lead to 14-13 at the midpoint. However, Alabama closed on an 11-4 run to seal the second set, 25-17.
After a tight start in the early going, Alabama used an 8-3 run to build a five-point lead, 14-9. The Catamounts cut the deficit to three, 19-16, before the Crimson Tide closed with six of the final nine points to claim the match in straight sets.
Alabama climbs to 6-1 and returns to the court on Sunday afternoon for the final match in Florence against the host North Alabama.
Western Carolina (4-5) closes out its nonconference slate with a pair of matchups beginning on Thursday, Sept. 18, with a trip to Rock Hill to battle Winthrop. The nonconference weekend concludes on Friday, Sept. 19, with a trek to Charlotte to battle Queens. Both matches are slated for a 6 p.m. first serve.
Friday's bout with the Royals is slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and both contests will have 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).
