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No. 4 Wofford, No. 9 Furman advance to SoCon semifinals
Terriers down No. 5 Western Carolina, Paladins upset top-seeded Mercer
No. 4 Wofford 3, No. 5 Western Carolina 1
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Fourth-seeded Wofford downed No. 5 Western Carolina 3-1 in Friday’s first match at the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship. The Terriers advance to face the winner of top-seeded Mercer and ninth-seeded Furman in the semifinals, slated for Saturday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. CT in Samford’s Pete Hanna Center.
In the first set, Wofford got on the board first with a block from Emory Wyatt and Sarah Barham, a second-team all-conference selection. Barham recorded another block on the next play to give Wofford a 2-0 lead, but Western Carolina sided out and took a 5-2 lead behind the serving of second-team all-conference performer Merry Gebel. Wofford tied the match at 6 and from there, neither team led by more than two points until Wofford took a 16-13 lead. After a kill by Kennedy Smith pushed the lead to four, 17-13, Western Carolina head coach Karen Glover called a timeout.
Wofford’s momentum continued out of the break as the Terriers led by at least three and as many as six until Western Carolina took its second timeout of the set, trailing 23-18. The Terriers tacked on a point out of the timeout on a block assist from Sarah MacLean and Addison Foote to give Wofford set point, but a kill and block by Western Carolina’s Johnna Robinson narrowed Wofford’s lead to four, 24-20. Wofford answered on the next play as the Terriers closed out the set and took a 25-20 opening-set win off a kill by Wyatt.
In the second set, a kill by Robinson put the Catamounts on the board first. Wofford answered with a kill by Wyatt and jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Western Carolina stopped the run with a block from Robinson and Julia Gardon. With Wofford leading 8-2, Glover called a timeout. A service error from the Terriers gave Western Carolina the ball and stopped the Terrier run, but Wofford kept its foot on the gas and stretched the lead to 11-4. Western Carolina won the next four points to cut the lead to 11-8, but Wofford’s Bella Zeman stopped the run with a kill to push the lead back to five. From there, Wofford led by at least three and as many as seven before Western Carolina used its second timeout of the set down 21-14. Gebel tallied a kill out of the break and Gebel and Robinson followed with a block, but Barham recorded a kill to extend the Terriers’ lead to 22-16. Wofford closed out the set on a 3-1 run and took a 26-17 second set win to go up 2-0 in the match.
Wofford’s momentum continued into the third set as a kill by Wyatt and a service ace by Abbey Richman gave the Terriers an early 2-0 lead. The Catamounts, however, tied it at 4 and the match was tied again at 5, 7, 9 and 10 before Western Carolina took a 13-10 lead behind a Gebel kill and back-to-back attack errors from the Terriers, but Wofford won eight of the next 10 points to take a 18-16 lead. Back-to-back kills from Makenzie White and Bailey Hartsough, an all-freshman selection, tied the match again at 18. Tied at 19, Barham and Wyatt recorded kills for Wofford to give Lynze Roos’s squad a 21-19 advantage and Western Carolina called a timeout.
The timeout worked as the Catamounts scored two straight points out of the huddle behind kills from White and Robinson, forcing Wofford to use a timeout with the set even at 21. A kill by Barham gave Wofford a 22-21 lead but Gebel added one of her own for the Catamounts and tied the match at 22. Catamount setter Sydney Carlson recorded an ace to put her squad in front, 23-22, before Wofford tied it on a kill from Smith. Western Carolina closed out the set and earned a 25-23 third-set win with a kill from Gebel and a block from Robinson and Brooklyn Poling.
Wofford scored first to open the fourth set on a service ace from Foote and used a kill by Smith to take a 2-0 lead. Western Carolina got a kill from Carlson on the following play but Wofford won the next on a kill from Wyatt and pushed the lead to 10-5. The Catamounts, however, wouldn’t go away and pulled within two at 12-10, 13-11 and 14-12. The teams traded points until, down 16-14, the Catamounts tied it up on a kill by Gebel and a Wofford attack error. Wofford won the next two points, however, on a kill by Zeman and a solo block by Barham and Western Carolina called a timeout trailing 18-16. Wyatt tacked on a kill out of the timeout and a subsequent Catamount attack error and a block from Wyatt and Barham pushed Wofford’s lead to 21-16 and Glover used her second timeout of the set. The timeout didn’t slow down the hot Terriers, who scored the next two out of the break to lead 23-16. The feisty Catamounts got kills from Sarah Janourova and Poling before a Wofford attack error narrowed the Terriers’ lead to 23-19 and Wofford called timeout. The timeout proved enough as Wofford got a kill from Zeman and an ace from Foote to win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-1.
Wyatt led Wofford with a match-high 14 kills, followed closely by Smith and Zeman who each added 13. Libero Katlyn Brown tallied a match-high 18 digs, while MacLean totaled seven blocks. For Western Carolina, Gebel and White each tallied 11 kills, with White hitting .429 in the match. Three Catamounts finished with double-figure digs, led by Destinee Dorsey’s 17. Wofford setter Emily Hodsdon, a second-team all-conference selection, led all players with 48 assists and Western Carolina’s Carlson tallied 34. Wofford hit .252 as a team, while Western Carolina hit .195.
No. 9 Furman 3, No. 1 Mercer 1
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – No. 9 Furman upset top-seed Mercer 3-1 in Friday’s second quarterfinal match at the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, marking the first time since 1995 that the No. 1 seed has lost in its first tournament game and the first time in league history that the No. 9 seed has advanced to the semifinals. The Paladins, who downed No. 8 seed Chattanooga 3-2 in Monday’s first round match, advance to face fourth-seeded Wofford, a 3-1 winner over No. 5 Western Carolina in the opening quarterfinal, in the semifinal round scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. CT in Samford’s Pete Hanna Center.
Furman got on the board first with a kill by all-freshman performer Bella Tolone. Tied at 2, Mercer won three of the next four to lead 6-3, but Furman tied the match at 9. Neither team led by more than two points until Furman took a 23-20 lead late in the set after being tied at 20. Furman capped off a 5-0 run to close the set and clinch a 25-20 set win with back-to-back kills by Mikaela Schultz.
A service ace by Maya Mrus put Furman on the board first in the second set. The Paladins jumped out to 5-1 lead before first-team all-conference performer Rayanne de Oliveira stopped the run with a kill for the Bears. Up 5-3, Furman won the next two en route to a 10-4 lead. Mercer won six of the next eight points to pull within two, 12-10. Mercer tied it up at 16 and then again at 18 before taking the 19-18 lead on a setting error by the Paladins. Furman took a 20-19 lead on a kill from Neci Harris, a second-team all-conference selection, though Mercer retook the lead on back-to-back kills from de Oliveira. Furman called timeout and got a kill from Harris out of the break, tying the match at 21.
The teams were tied at 22 and 23 before Mercer’s Jaida Howell gave Mercer set point, leading 24-23. Furman head coach Michelle Young used her second timeout, which worked, as the Paladins were able to side out off a kill from Tolone. Mercer’s Taylor Lynch sent an attack long on the next play, bringing up set point for Furman at 25-24, forcing Mercer to take a timeout. Mercer won three straight out of the timeout thanks to back-to-back kills by Howell and Annie Karle, a first-team all-conference selection, and a Furman attack error, and the Bears staved off a 2-0 deficit to tie the match at 1.
de Oliviera opened the third set with a pair of kills to put Mercer in front 2-0. The match was tied at 2 and then again 11 more times. Tied at 18, back-to-back attack errors by Mercer gave Furman the 20-18 lead and Mercer called timeout. Furman added on a pair of points out of the timeout and Mercer used another, trailing 22-18. Brittany Major came out of the break with a kill to stop the Paladin rally and setter Agnieska Paskevic followed with a kill to pull the Bears within two, but Furman’s 3-1 run down the stretch clinched the 25-21 set victory and put the Paladins in front 2-1.
A Furman service error gave Mercer a 1-0 lead to begin the fourth set. Tolone responded with a kill for the Paladins to even the score. Furman quickly pushed the lead to five and, trailing 9-4, Mercer called a timeout to regroup. The timeout worked as Mercer pulled within one, 10-9. However, that was the closest the set would be, as the Paladins kept pressure on and proved to be too much for the Bears, cruising to a 25-16 fourth-set victory and securing the 3-1 win.
Tolone led all players with 20 kills, hitting .405, and added 12 digs for a double-double. Harris also finished in double figures, tallying 12 kills and adding four blocks. Paladin libero Andrea Aceveda led all players with 17 digs. Howell led the Bears with 17 kills and hit .324 in the loss. de Oliveira finished with 13 kills (.478), while Lynch tallied 12 (.300). Megan Smith, the SoCon Libero of the Year, led Mercer with 15 digs, while Major added 14 and Karle added 11. Furman hit .238 to Mercer’s 204.
2021 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala.
Monday, Nov. 15
First Round
Match 1: #9 Furman 3, #8 Chattanooga 2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (ESPN+)
Friday, Nov. 19
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Wofford 3, #5 Western Carolina 1 (ESPN+)
Match 3: #9 Furman 3, #1 Mercer 1 (ESPN+)
Match 4: #2 UNCG vs. #7 The Citadel, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 5: #3 Samford vs. #6 ETSU, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Saturday, Nov. 20
Semifinals
Match 6: #4 Wofford vs. #9 Furman, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Sunday, Nov. 21
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 4 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Fourth-seeded Wofford downed No. 5 Western Carolina 3-1 in Friday’s first match at the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship. The Terriers advance to face the winner of top-seeded Mercer and ninth-seeded Furman in the semifinals, slated for Saturday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. CT in Samford’s Pete Hanna Center.
In the first set, Wofford got on the board first with a block from Emory Wyatt and Sarah Barham, a second-team all-conference selection. Barham recorded another block on the next play to give Wofford a 2-0 lead, but Western Carolina sided out and took a 5-2 lead behind the serving of second-team all-conference performer Merry Gebel. Wofford tied the match at 6 and from there, neither team led by more than two points until Wofford took a 16-13 lead. After a kill by Kennedy Smith pushed the lead to four, 17-13, Western Carolina head coach Karen Glover called a timeout.
Wofford’s momentum continued out of the break as the Terriers led by at least three and as many as six until Western Carolina took its second timeout of the set, trailing 23-18. The Terriers tacked on a point out of the timeout on a block assist from Sarah MacLean and Addison Foote to give Wofford set point, but a kill and block by Western Carolina’s Johnna Robinson narrowed Wofford’s lead to four, 24-20. Wofford answered on the next play as the Terriers closed out the set and took a 25-20 opening-set win off a kill by Wyatt.
In the second set, a kill by Robinson put the Catamounts on the board first. Wofford answered with a kill by Wyatt and jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Western Carolina stopped the run with a block from Robinson and Julia Gardon. With Wofford leading 8-2, Glover called a timeout. A service error from the Terriers gave Western Carolina the ball and stopped the Terrier run, but Wofford kept its foot on the gas and stretched the lead to 11-4. Western Carolina won the next four points to cut the lead to 11-8, but Wofford’s Bella Zeman stopped the run with a kill to push the lead back to five. From there, Wofford led by at least three and as many as seven before Western Carolina used its second timeout of the set down 21-14. Gebel tallied a kill out of the break and Gebel and Robinson followed with a block, but Barham recorded a kill to extend the Terriers’ lead to 22-16. Wofford closed out the set on a 3-1 run and took a 26-17 second set win to go up 2-0 in the match.
Wofford’s momentum continued into the third set as a kill by Wyatt and a service ace by Abbey Richman gave the Terriers an early 2-0 lead. The Catamounts, however, tied it at 4 and the match was tied again at 5, 7, 9 and 10 before Western Carolina took a 13-10 lead behind a Gebel kill and back-to-back attack errors from the Terriers, but Wofford won eight of the next 10 points to take a 18-16 lead. Back-to-back kills from Makenzie White and Bailey Hartsough, an all-freshman selection, tied the match again at 18. Tied at 19, Barham and Wyatt recorded kills for Wofford to give Lynze Roos’s squad a 21-19 advantage and Western Carolina called a timeout.
The timeout worked as the Catamounts scored two straight points out of the huddle behind kills from White and Robinson, forcing Wofford to use a timeout with the set even at 21. A kill by Barham gave Wofford a 22-21 lead but Gebel added one of her own for the Catamounts and tied the match at 22. Catamount setter Sydney Carlson recorded an ace to put her squad in front, 23-22, before Wofford tied it on a kill from Smith. Western Carolina closed out the set and earned a 25-23 third-set win with a kill from Gebel and a block from Robinson and Brooklyn Poling.
Wofford scored first to open the fourth set on a service ace from Foote and used a kill by Smith to take a 2-0 lead. Western Carolina got a kill from Carlson on the following play but Wofford won the next on a kill from Wyatt and pushed the lead to 10-5. The Catamounts, however, wouldn’t go away and pulled within two at 12-10, 13-11 and 14-12. The teams traded points until, down 16-14, the Catamounts tied it up on a kill by Gebel and a Wofford attack error. Wofford won the next two points, however, on a kill by Zeman and a solo block by Barham and Western Carolina called a timeout trailing 18-16. Wyatt tacked on a kill out of the timeout and a subsequent Catamount attack error and a block from Wyatt and Barham pushed Wofford’s lead to 21-16 and Glover used her second timeout of the set. The timeout didn’t slow down the hot Terriers, who scored the next two out of the break to lead 23-16. The feisty Catamounts got kills from Sarah Janourova and Poling before a Wofford attack error narrowed the Terriers’ lead to 23-19 and Wofford called timeout. The timeout proved enough as Wofford got a kill from Zeman and an ace from Foote to win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-1.
Wyatt led Wofford with a match-high 14 kills, followed closely by Smith and Zeman who each added 13. Libero Katlyn Brown tallied a match-high 18 digs, while MacLean totaled seven blocks. For Western Carolina, Gebel and White each tallied 11 kills, with White hitting .429 in the match. Three Catamounts finished with double-figure digs, led by Destinee Dorsey’s 17. Wofford setter Emily Hodsdon, a second-team all-conference selection, led all players with 48 assists and Western Carolina’s Carlson tallied 34. Wofford hit .252 as a team, while Western Carolina hit .195.
No. 9 Furman 3, No. 1 Mercer 1
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – No. 9 Furman upset top-seed Mercer 3-1 in Friday’s second quarterfinal match at the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, marking the first time since 1995 that the No. 1 seed has lost in its first tournament game and the first time in league history that the No. 9 seed has advanced to the semifinals. The Paladins, who downed No. 8 seed Chattanooga 3-2 in Monday’s first round match, advance to face fourth-seeded Wofford, a 3-1 winner over No. 5 Western Carolina in the opening quarterfinal, in the semifinal round scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. CT in Samford’s Pete Hanna Center.
Furman got on the board first with a kill by all-freshman performer Bella Tolone. Tied at 2, Mercer won three of the next four to lead 6-3, but Furman tied the match at 9. Neither team led by more than two points until Furman took a 23-20 lead late in the set after being tied at 20. Furman capped off a 5-0 run to close the set and clinch a 25-20 set win with back-to-back kills by Mikaela Schultz.
A service ace by Maya Mrus put Furman on the board first in the second set. The Paladins jumped out to 5-1 lead before first-team all-conference performer Rayanne de Oliveira stopped the run with a kill for the Bears. Up 5-3, Furman won the next two en route to a 10-4 lead. Mercer won six of the next eight points to pull within two, 12-10. Mercer tied it up at 16 and then again at 18 before taking the 19-18 lead on a setting error by the Paladins. Furman took a 20-19 lead on a kill from Neci Harris, a second-team all-conference selection, though Mercer retook the lead on back-to-back kills from de Oliveira. Furman called timeout and got a kill from Harris out of the break, tying the match at 21.
The teams were tied at 22 and 23 before Mercer’s Jaida Howell gave Mercer set point, leading 24-23. Furman head coach Michelle Young used her second timeout, which worked, as the Paladins were able to side out off a kill from Tolone. Mercer’s Taylor Lynch sent an attack long on the next play, bringing up set point for Furman at 25-24, forcing Mercer to take a timeout. Mercer won three straight out of the timeout thanks to back-to-back kills by Howell and Annie Karle, a first-team all-conference selection, and a Furman attack error, and the Bears staved off a 2-0 deficit to tie the match at 1.
de Oliviera opened the third set with a pair of kills to put Mercer in front 2-0. The match was tied at 2 and then again 11 more times. Tied at 18, back-to-back attack errors by Mercer gave Furman the 20-18 lead and Mercer called timeout. Furman added on a pair of points out of the timeout and Mercer used another, trailing 22-18. Brittany Major came out of the break with a kill to stop the Paladin rally and setter Agnieska Paskevic followed with a kill to pull the Bears within two, but Furman’s 3-1 run down the stretch clinched the 25-21 set victory and put the Paladins in front 2-1.
A Furman service error gave Mercer a 1-0 lead to begin the fourth set. Tolone responded with a kill for the Paladins to even the score. Furman quickly pushed the lead to five and, trailing 9-4, Mercer called a timeout to regroup. The timeout worked as Mercer pulled within one, 10-9. However, that was the closest the set would be, as the Paladins kept pressure on and proved to be too much for the Bears, cruising to a 25-16 fourth-set victory and securing the 3-1 win.
Tolone led all players with 20 kills, hitting .405, and added 12 digs for a double-double. Harris also finished in double figures, tallying 12 kills and adding four blocks. Paladin libero Andrea Aceveda led all players with 17 digs. Howell led the Bears with 17 kills and hit .324 in the loss. de Oliveira finished with 13 kills (.478), while Lynch tallied 12 (.300). Megan Smith, the SoCon Libero of the Year, led Mercer with 15 digs, while Major added 14 and Karle added 11. Furman hit .238 to Mercer’s 204.
2021 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala.
Monday, Nov. 15
First Round
Match 1: #9 Furman 3, #8 Chattanooga 2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (ESPN+)
Friday, Nov. 19
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #4 Wofford 3, #5 Western Carolina 1 (ESPN+)
Match 3: #9 Furman 3, #1 Mercer 1 (ESPN+)
Match 4: #2 UNCG vs. #7 The Citadel, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 5: #3 Samford vs. #6 ETSU, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Saturday, Nov. 20
Semifinals
Match 6: #4 Wofford vs. #9 Furman, 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Sunday, Nov. 21
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 4 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
-SoConSports.com-