Samford, UNCG Pick Up Five-Set Wins to Advance to Semis

UNCG 3, Mercer 2

GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 3 seed UNCG (20-10) defeated No. 6 seed Mercer (11-20), 3-2, to advance to the semifinals at Fleming Gym on Saturday night. Mercer took the first two sets, 27-25 and 25-20, but UNCG swept the last three by scores of 25-17, 25-15 and 15-12.

Four different UNCG players recorded double-figure kills, led by Jessica Brezwyn with 16. Vicky Harley tallied 14 kills and Julia Westerbur recorded 13 with Kelsey Sidney adding 11 kills. Brezwyn added 13 digs to record a double-double in the match. Katherine Santiago had a team-high 23 digs and Anna Romaniszym compiled 12 digs.

Three different Mercer players recorded double-digit kills in the five-set match, paced by Caroline Carlton with 17. Ellie James contributed 15 kills and 16 digs, while Emily Krogman put down 10 kills. Tori Penrod racked up a match-high 31 digs in the match.

Mercer totaled 12.0 blocks for the match with UNCG recording 7.0 blocks. The neck-and-neck match featured 26 tie scores and 11 lead changes.

UNCG got it going early and built a 17-10 lead in set one. Mercer began to chip away, though, and eventually tied the set at 19-19 before pulling out to a 24-21 lead. The Spartans were able to rally and tie the set at 24 all to force extra points in the set. Mercer would take the set three points later by a score of 27-25.

Set two was close throughout with neither holding more than a three-point advantage until the final two points of the frame. Mercer took a three-point lead twice at 10-7 and 15-12 but both times UNCG quickly closed the gap. The Bears would finally take a lead larger than three with a block to put them up 24-20 before a kill by Carlton clinched the set.

The third set was controlled by UNCG from the outset. After a 4-4 tie, the Spartans took the advantage 6-5 and did not trial the rest of the set. The Spartans led by as much as seven, the earliest at 17-10 to force a Mercer timeout. UNCG later extended the lead, taking the final three rallies to earn the set, 25-17, to force a fourth set.

In the fourth set, the two drew to a 7-7 tie before UNCG began to take control again. The edged out to a 13-9 lead to force a Mercer timeout. The lead would remain four for much of the set before the Spartans added to the lead and took the set, 25-15, to tie match at 2-2. UNCG put down 18 kills as a team in the frame and compiled a .486 hitting percentage.

UNCG jumped in front 6-2 to start the fifth set, forcing a Mercer timeout. After the Spartans grabbed the next point, Mercer won the next three to cut the lead to two at 7-5. Later the set, Mercer put together back-to-back points and evened the frame at 10-10.

UNCG will play Samford at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in the SoCon Volleyball Championship semifinals.

 

Samford 3, Chattanooga 2

GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 2 seed Samford (18-12) foiled a strong upset big by No. 7 seed Chattanooga, 3-2, at Fleming Gym in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Volleyball Championship on Saturday evening. The teams battled out a competitive five-set match with set scores of 25-16, 28-30, 25-20, 21-25 and 15-13.

Michaela Reesor put down a match-high 24 kills, the most by any player in the tournament so far. Erin Bognar (14), TJ Russell (10) and Emily Meitz (10) each added double-figure kills for the Bulldogs as well. Reesor (15) and Bognar (16) each contributed double-digit digs to put together double-doubles, while Chelsi Carter recorded a match-high 29 digs. Meitz also added 12 blocks to record a double-double.

Chattanooga was led by Allie Davenport and Sarah Batterton, each with 14 kills in the match. Melissa Green had a team-high 20 digs with Briana Reid tallying 18 digs. Nicole Sumida paced the Mocs with nine blocks.

The match featured 21 tie scores and eight lead changes in the first five-set match of the tournament. Chattanooga recorded a tournament-best 17.0 blocks, while Samford proved strong in that category as well with 12.0 blocks to improve to 5-2 in five-set matches this season.

The first set saw the two teams deadlocked at 11-11 with the teams going point-for-point nearly the entire way. From that point, Samford took over the set, outscoring the Mocs with a 14-5 run to close it out. The Bulldogs hit .292 for the set while holding Chattanooga to a .136 mark.

Chattanooga jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set two to force an early timeout by Samford. The Mocs continue to excel in the set, extending their lead to 15-9 and forcing another Samford timeout. The Bulldogs then put together a run of five straight points to even the set at 15 apiece. Chattanooga, though, seemed to have the answer, coming back with four straight points as part of a 7-3 run that put it ahead 22-18. The Bulldogs were able to bounce back five of six points to tie the set at 23-23. The two traded points until finally Chattanooga was able to break through and the claim the set 30-28.

Samford worked its way to an 8-4 lead to start set three, a lead which it would never relinquish. The Mocs were able to cut the lead to 12-10 but could never get any closer than two points. The Bulldogs extended its lead to five at 20-15 and 22-16 a few points later. The Mocs grabbed three straight points to cut the margin to three at 22-19 but the Bulldogs eventually took the set, 25-20.

The Mocs got out to another early lead in set four, leading Samford 7-3 to force a timeout. They continued to apply pressure to the Bulldogs extending their lead to 10-5 before Samford rallied for four straight points to cut it to 10-9. The teams went back-and-forth until Chattanooga was able to pull ahead at 18-15. The Mocs lead would prevail from there, as they took the set by a score of 25-21.

The fifth set began as Samford opened up a 6-3 lead to force a timeout by Chattanooga. The lead remained three at 8-5 as the two switch sides. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 11-6 but the Mocs put together three straight points to cut it to 11-9. Samford’s offense proved to be too much, though, as it held on to take the set, 15-13, on the match 3-2.

Samford will play the winner of tonight’s UNCG/Mercer matchup tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. in the semifinals.