Asheville, N.C. – Junior transfer Sophia Marini posted a career-high 14 kills as Western Carolina volleyball earned its second victory of the weekend, downing Jacksonville State on Saturday night in four sets, 3-1, at the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. WCU earned the win with scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15.
Western Carolina improves to 2-3 on the season with a matchup against Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates have split their first two matches in Asheville. Jacksonville State drops to 1-5 after back-to-back losses to Bellarmine and WCU on Saturday.
Marini paced a balanced Catamount offense, adding a pair of blocks to her career offensive output. Senior Zoe Zudans tallied 11 kills with an impressive .381 hitting percentage and a pair of digs. Freshman Ashlyn Cobb earned her third double-double of the season and second in as many matches with 10 kills and 10 digs, adding a pair of blocks.
Sophomore Tatum Sharp rounded out a quartet of players in double figures with 10 kills, and finished one shy of her career-high with six blocks. Freshman Aiyana Harris picked up five kills and four blocks.
Senior Katie Boney led the Catamounts with 46 assists as she continued her strong work on the block with five rejections, three service aces, three digs and two kills. WCU also posted a season-high with 12 service aces led by three apiece from Boney, sophomore Elise Gurley, and senior Eda Yalcinkaya.
Defensively, Gurley put together a strong night with 18 digs, three aces and four assists. Sharp led WCU on the block with six stops, followed by Boney with five and Harris with four.
Jacksonville State was led by Azavia Thomas and Claire Evans with 14 kills apiece as Thomas also tallied a team-high tying four blocks. Sofia Varela led the Gamecocks with 24 helpers and six digs. Addison Stone added 16 assists for JSU. Evans and Reese Tiesing each recorded a team-best nine digs. D'Yanna Spicer and Thomas each led the way with four blocks.
The opening set of Saturday's action featured nine ties before a quick 4-1 burst from WCU made it 17-14 for the Catamounts. After three points by Jacksonville State, the Purple & Gold closed the set on an 8-3 run to earn the 25-20 win for the 1-0 lead.
Jacksonville State opened the second set with a 9-3 lead that allowed the Gamecocks to seize early control. The Catamounts battled back with a 10-5 spurt of their own to make it a one-point deficit,14-13. The Gamecocks had a 5-2 burst to stretch the lead to 19-15 before three unanswered from the Catamounts to make it a one-point margin. The score remained tight late before the Gamecocks edged WCU 25-22 to even the set at a match apiece.
The Gamecocks opened the third set with an 8-4 run before WCU responded, matching with an 8-3 run of its own to take a 12-11 lead. JSU evened the set at 15 before Western Carolina closed efficiently with a 6-2 run, and after a quick 3-0 spurt, closed with four of the final five points to earn a 25-21 set three victory.
Jacksonville State took an early 9-4 lead in the fourth set before seven in a row allowed WCU to grab an 11-9 lead. Jacksonville State cut it to two, 13-11, before the Catamounts finished off the Gamecocks with a 12-4 spurt that allowed Western Carolina to finish off the 25-15 four-set victory.
Western Carolina closes out the second annual Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic on Sunday against Seton Hall at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville at 1 p.m. Live Stats for the match 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).
