Asheville, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball went the full five sets for the third time in the young season on Friday night, landing in the win column for the first time in 2026 after battling Bellarmine for a 3-2 victory to open the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
The Catamounts needed a 7-1 run and battled off three match points to force a decisive set, claiming the victory with a 15-13 win in the fifth. WCU earned the win with scores of 25-19, 18-25, 16-25, 27-25, 15-13.
Western Carolina improves to 1-3 on the season with a matchup against Jacksonville State on Saturday night. Bellarmine drops to 2-3 after back-to-back losses to UNC Asheville and WCU. The Knights finish the weekend on Saturday afternoon against Jacksonville State.
Freshman Ashlyn Cobb paced a balanced Catamount offense with her second double-double of the season, finishing with 10 kills and 13 digs. She added a pair of blocks and an ace to her stat line. Senior Zoe Zudans finished with nine kills, while freshman Aiyana Harris and sophomore Tatum Sharp both had eight kills with an impressive .467 hitting percentage for Harris.
Junior transfer Sophia Marini put together a solid stat line with seven kills on just 10 swings for a .600 hitting percentage in two sets. Senior Katie Boney picked up her third double-double of the season with a team-best 42 assists along with 12 digs and a career-best six blocks as she also added four kills.
Freshman JoJo Abeyta made her first career start on Friday for the Purple & Gold and picked up a pair of kills and two blocks in her first career on-court action.
Defensively, sophomore Elise Gurley continued her strong start in the dig column with a career-best 23 to lead the Catamounts, who totaled a season-best 91 digs. Sophomore Samantha Kranzler finished with 17 digs along with four kills.
Western Carolina put together another solid day at the net, finishing with 11 blocks, one off matching a season-high as a team, led by Sharp's career-best seven stops and Boney's career-high six blocks.
Bellarmine was led by Mady Yaden, who tallied a match-high 23 kills and was followed by Natalie Bland, who finished with 22 kills and 23 digs for one of two double-doubles for the Knights. Mary Herman added 10 kills for the Knights' offense. Maddie Carnes led the match with 59 assists and added 12 digs. Payton Parsons had a match-best 29 digs, as Herman had a team-high five blocks, including a pair of solo stops.
After a tight start to Friday's match, the Catamounts claimed an 11-5 lead on the strength of a 6-0 spurt to force an early Bellarmine timeout. The teams traded blows throughout the middle portion of the set before WCU stretched the lead to seven, 18-11. The Knights rattled off a 6-3 spurt to make it 21-17, and cut it to four once more before WCU held on for the 25-19 opening set victory.
In the second set, Bellarmine overcame an early 7-4 start from WCU with a 9-3 run of its own to take a 13-10 lead, which forced a Catamount timeout. WCU pulled to within two, 17–15, just past the midpoint before an 8-3 burst from the Knights allowed them to take it 25-18 and even the match at a set apiece.
The critical third set was tied early before seven unanswered points by Bellarmine gave the Knights a 12-6 lead. The Catamounts only got it to within six points on a couple of separate occasions before Bellarmine earned the 25-16 set three win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The must-win fourth set again began tight before an early 6-3 run gave the Catamounts a 13-9 lead and forced a timeout. Bellarmine responded with an 8-4 burst to tie the set at 17. WCU won the race to 20 with three quick points before the Knights answered quickly with six straight points to get to match point. However, the Catamounts wouldn't be denied on Friday as they staved off three match points as part of a 7-1 run to win 27-25 and force a fifth set.
In the deciding fifth, the Knights jumped in front with a pair of two-point leads as the latter came at 8-6 heading to the media timeout. The Knights pushed the lead to three, 10-7, before the Catamounts closed on an 8-3 run to stun Bellarmine and earn the five-set victory.
Western Carolina continues in the second annual Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic, in conjunction with the Ingles, Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville, Pepsi, and New Belgium Brewing. The three-day event is in the ExploreAsheville.com Arena at the Harrah's Cherokee Center, the same location as the 2026 SoCon Volleyball Championship in November that concludes WCU's 31-match regular-season schedule. The event continues Saturday, Sept. 5.
The Catamounts face Jacksonville State on Saturday night at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville at 7 pm, with the weekend wrapping up with a 1 p.m. first serve on Sunday against Seton Hall. Live Stats for all matches will be provided via a link at CatamountSports.com.
Tickets for the weekend's events in Asheville are on sale online through BlueRidgeVolleyballClassic.com or Ticketmaster.com and at the iHeart Media Asheville Box Office located at the venue.
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).
