Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball continues a six-match road swing as part of 11 of its first 13 away from home, returning to the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic this weekend, facing three opponents over three days at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
In conjunction with Ingles, the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville, Pepsi, and New Belgium Brewing, the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic is a three-day event to be held in the ExploreAsheville.com Arena. It's the same location as the 2026 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship in November that concludes WCU's 31-match regular-season schedule.
The Catamounts open against Bellarmine on Friday at 7 p.m. before facing Jacksonville State at the same 7 p.m. start the following evening. WCU wraps up the weekend with a 1 p.m. first serve on Sunday against Seton Hall.
Live stats for all three matches will be provided via a link at CatamountSports.com.
Match One: Western Carolina (0-3) vs Bellarmine (2-1)
Date: Friday, Sept. 4
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, NC)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter: @CatamountVB
TICKETS
Match Two: Western Carolina vs Jacksonville State (1-2)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 5
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, NC)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter: @CatamountVB
TICKETS
Match Three: Western Carolina vs Seton Hall (3-0)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 6
Time: 1 p.m.
Site: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, NC)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter: @CatamountVB
TICKETS
From the Service Line:
Western Carolina suffered a trio of tight losses at Clemson's Big Orange Bash over the weekend, battling Butler and Charleston Southern in five sets before falling to the host Tigers in four.
Over the three days, senior Zoe Zudans led WCU with 32 kills, adding eight digs and six blocks. The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. native reached double-figure kills twice and had at least nine kills in all three. Sophomore Tatum Sharp and freshman Ashlyn Cobb both finished with 26 kills. Cobb opened 2026 with a double-double against Butler (13 kills, 13 digs), adding 44 combined digs to her defensive stat line. Sharp finished the weekend with back-to-back 10-kill, six-block performances.
Senior Katie Boney again filled the stat sheet in the assist column with a team-best 114 assists to accompany 31 digs. Boney earned a pair of double-doubles to begin her senior year, earning all-tournament team accolades.
Sophomore Elise Gurley led the Catamounts with 51 digs, which included a career-best 19 digs against Charleston Southern.
WCU put together a strong weekend on the block with 30 stops, led by sophomore Tatum Sharp with 15 stops, freshman Aiyana Harris with 11 rejections, and Boney with 10 blocks.
As a team, WCU is fourth in the SoCon in kills (141), fourth in assists (132), first in blocks (30), first in blocks per set (2.14), first in digs (201), fourth in digs per set (15.09), first in service aces (22).
Catamount Career Record Watch:
Boney became the 12th player in school history to eclipse 2,000 career assists as the Brookhaven, Ga. native continues to climb the WCU record book. She needs just 118 helpers to move into 11th place and surpass four-year standout Sarah Janourova (2021-24), who had 2,122 in her four years at Western Carolina. The 2025 SoCon Setter of the Year, Boney looks to build off of an eye-popping junior season that saw her tally over 1,000 assists for the first time by a Catamount since Hannah Price (1,023) in 2019.
SCOUTING THE FIELD:
Bellarmine (2-1) – 2025 RPI 236
Friday's tournament opener is against Bellarmine, who is slated to face UNC Asheville earlier on Friday afternoon. It's the first meeting between the two teams since they split a 1980 doubleheader.
Bellarmine has opened 2026 at 2-1 after tallying back-to-back wins over Purdue Fort Wayne in five and a sweep of Evansville. The lone blemish for the Knights came at the hands of Big 10 counterpart Rutgers.
Senior outside hitter Natalie Bland leads Bellarmine through the opening three matches with 39 kills, 24 digs, and six service aces. Bland tallied a double-double (18 kills, 11 digs) in a win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Mady Yaden joined Bland with 34 kills following back-to-back double-figure outputs. Freshman setter Maddie Carnes, who received ASUN Freshman of the Week honors, totaled a team-best 110 assists and 30 digs with a double-double against Purdue Fort Wayne (47 assists, 17 digs, and six kills).
Junior defensive specialist/libero Payton Parsons, who was named to the league's preseason All-ASUN team, led the Knights defensively with 37 digs, as sophomore middle blocker Mary Herman led the way with 15 blocks.
The Knights are led by fifth-year head coach Rick Nold, who has spent 23 years in the head coaching ranks, with stops at Jacksonville State and Auburn before his time in Louisville. Bellarmine was tabbed seventh in the eight-team ASUN Preseason Poll.
Jacksonville State (1-2) – 2025 RPI 195
The Gamecocks face Seton Hall on Friday before battling Bellarmine early on Saturday before doing battle with the Purple & Gold Saturday night in Asheville. JSU and WCU meet for the 11th time in the two programs' histories – with Saturday's tilt marking the first since 2018 when the Gamecocks earned the win in four sets. Jacksonville State holds an 8-2 lead in the all-time series with Western Carolina, including a five-match series win streak.
Jacksonville State opened the season with a four-set victory over Southern University and a pair of three-set losses to Jacksonville and Southern Miss.
Freshman outside hitter Claire Evans led the Gamecocks on opening weekend with 29 kills and a .323 hitting percentage, while adding 20 digs. Junior outside hitter and Charlotte transfer Azavia Thomas had 26 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Sophia Schweikert finished with 23. Sophomore setter and Long Island transfer Sofia Varela led JSU with 56 assists, as Marshall transfer and sophomore setter Addison Stone had 42 helpers. Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist/libero Gemma Morris and Evans each had 20 digs, as Youngstown State transfer and junior middle blocker Taya Nordmann had five blocks.
Tim Ebbecke is in his first season leading the Gamecocks after spending last season at Marshall. Before his stop at Marshall, Ebbecke was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Jacksonville State. Jacksonville State was tied for eighth in the 10-team Conference USA Preseason Poll.
Seton Hall (3-0) – 2025 RPI 286
Seton Hall battles Jacksonville State on Friday before meeting UNC Asheville on Saturday, with the Pirates and Catamounts prepped to close out the tournament in Asheville on Sunday. It's the second time in as many weekends that the Catamounts have squared off with a Big East counterpart after dueling with Butler last weekend to open 2026. Sunday marks the first all-time meeting between Seton Hall and Western Carolina.
The Pirates enter the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record after earning straight-set wins over Illinois State, Farleigh Dickinson, and NJIT. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Shelton led the Pirates on opening weekend with 25 kills and 19 digs along with four blocks. Junior outside hitter Alondra Villanueva added 24 kills and 20 digs, while sophomore pin Daria Safian tallied 23 kills. Junior setter Gwen Adler had a team-best 63 assists and 20 digs for the Moscow, Russia, native. Senior Rylee Nelson paced Seton Hall with 43 digs as a trio of Pirates had a team-high five blocks.
The Pirates are led by fifth-year head coach Shannon Thompson, who has 50 wins in her now four-plus seasons in South Orange, N.J. Seton Hall was tabbed 11th in the 11-team Big East Preseason Poll. Creighton, which is ranked 10th in the AVCA/Taraflex Division I Poll updated on August 30, was the unanimous preseason favorite.
What's Next for the Catamounts:
Following Sunday's finale with the Pirates, Western Carolina returns to the friendly confines of Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center for the first time in regular-season action in 2026. The Catamounts face their first of three Big South counterparts over the next 10 days with a visit from Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with first serve at 6 p.m. Tuesday's matchup will be 'Back the Cats Night' and Faculty and Staff Night, and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and Live Stats will be provided via a link at 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).
