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Schedule

Full
Zoe Zudans at UNCG
Emma White, UNCG Athletics
1
Western Caro. WCU 4-11,0-2 SoCon
3
Winner UNC Greensboro UNCG 9-4,2-0 SoCon
Western Caro. WCU
4-11,0-2 SoCon
1
Final
3
UNC Greensboro UNCG
9-4,2-0 SoCon
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Caro. WCU 21 24 26 15 (1)
UNC Greensboro UNCG 25 26 24 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Zudans, Cobb Lead Volleyball in Setback at UNCG

Greensboro, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball posted a hard-fought 26-24 set three win against the UNCG Spartans, but fell in four sets on Saturday afternoon at UNCG's on-campus Bodford Arena. The Spartans claimed the win with set scores of 25-21, 26-24, 24-26, and 25-15.

Senior Zoe Zudans led the Catamounts in her 10th double-digit kill effort of the season, tallying a season-best 18 kills and hitting a team-best .359 along with a pair of digs. Freshman Ashlyn Cobb recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills, one off her season-best, and 11 digs. Sophomore Tatum Sharp added 11 kills and matched a team-best with three blocks. Junior transfer Sophia Marini finished with nine kills.

Senior Katie Boney finished with a match-best 42 assists along with seven digs and a team-high tying three blocks. Defensively, sophomore Elise Gurley led the Purple & Gold with 16 digs along with a career-high-tying eight assists for the Catamounts. Boney and Sharp led the WCU block with three rejections apiece.

UNCG was paced by Allie Sweet with a match-best 21 kills, adding 12 digs, two aces and six blocks. Kendall Lanclos added 15 kills and five digs for the Spartans. Connore Siler-Nixon tallied nine kills, hitting a red-hot .500 clip, and added a team-best eight blocks. Izora Gragg posted a UNCG-team high with 37 assists along with 10 digs for the double-double. Chloe Nussbaum, along with Gragg, each had a team-high 10 digs as Siler-Nixon's eight blocks led the way for UNCG, who had 11 blocks for the match.  

UNCG wasted no time with an 11-4 run out of the gates to take early control and force a quick timeout from the Catamounts in the first set. The Spartans stretched the lead to eight, 14-6, before the Catamounts battled back with a 12-3 burst of their own to jump back in front at 18-17 late in the set. The two teams stayed tight before UNCG pulled away with four of the last five points to take the set 25-21.

The two teams tied 11 times in the first half of set two, with the largest lead being only three points before a late 3-1 spurt put the Catamounts up 15-14 at the media break. Four ties out of the media break kept both teams within striking distance before the Spartans took a two-point lead, with WCU tying it at 24. UNCG responded to finish the set with a 26-24 win.

After another tight start to the third set in Greensboro, WCU took control with an 8-1 spurt to hold a 12-6 lead midway through the stanza. The Spartans battled back with a 14-4 run, jumping back in front at 20-16.  The Catamounts responded with a final sprint to the finish, taking 10 of the final 14 points to win the third set 26-24 and force a fourth.

The two teams traded the opening 20 points before the Spartans used a 15-5 run to take control of the set, racing past the Catamounts to take the final set 25-15 and earn the four-set victory.

Western Carolina (4-11, 0-2 SoCon) begins the home portion of its 2026 Southern Conference slate with back-to-back matches, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 1 with a visit from Samford. Both matches are slated to start at 6 p.m. against the Bulldogs, with Friday's match on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available for both matchups via a link at CatamountSports.com.

Samford (5-7, 2-0 SoCon) opened league action with a pair of four-set victories over ETSU to push to a three-match win streak entering play on Thursday in Cullowhee.

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 X (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
 
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