Western Carolina Tops Georgia State 3-0
ATLANTA – In the first home match of the season, Georgia State (1-3) volleyball lost to Western Carolina (1-3) in a close, three-set contest. WCU won 25-19, 25-23, and 25-18.
The Panthers got a strong performance from junior Deidra Bohannon, who had 19 kills to lead all players. Bohannon also had 17 digs to lead the Panthers. The Catamounts outhit the Panthers .270-.147.
NOTING THE PANTHERS…
• Junior Natalia Nieto recorded 38 assists and now has 93 on the season.
• Junior Kitan Ajanaku led the Panthers in hitting percentage with .417 and had five kills.
• The Panthers outhit the Catamounts .229-.212 in the second set, but eventually lost the set 25-23.
• In the first set, Bohannon, Molly Shonk, and Gabby Serafin each had five digs for Georgia State.
Georgia State looked like it was going to take the second set when the Panthers held a 23-20 lead, but a Western Carolina timeout spurred a 5-0 run to give the Catamounts a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Panthers hit the road this weekend as they play in the Jax Marriott Volleyball Classic hosted by Jacksonville and North Florida. Their first match of the tournament is on Friday at 10 a.m. ET against Bethune-Cookman.
Bobcats Fall in Hard Fought Match to Baylor
SAN MARCOS, Texas –Texas State fans packed Strahan Coliseum to set a new volleyball attendance record of 3,591, more than 1,000 more people than the previous record of 2,389 set in 2009, for the Bobcat home opener Wednesday night. The Bobcats rewarded them with a stellar first set, winning 25-18, but couldn’t sustain the success eventually falling to Baylor, 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23), to drop to 2-2 on the season.
The Bobcats continued to use a balanced offensive attack. Senior Alexandra Simms and sophomore Shelby Vas Matt both struck 12 kills in the match while Lauren Kirch, Keeley Davis and Amanda Watkins combined for 21 more kills.
Vas Matt made it another double-double for the Oregon native, finishing with 11 digs and a block in addition to her 12 kills. Sierra Smith led the team with 16 digs but setter Jordan Moore tallied 15 with 39 assists for a double-double of her own.
Kirch was tough at the net as a middle blocker. She led the Bobcats in blocks with two solos and one assist to be in on three of the five blocks Texas State tallied.
Unfortunately, Baylor’s block was too tough to get past. The Bears put down 12 blocks in the match led by Tola Itiola’s seven and Nicole Bardaji’s five. The effectiveness of Baylor’s block was evident in the fourth and final set as the Bears put down five blocks to one for Texas State, and the Bobcats finished the set hitting .030 as a team.
The first set, however, belonged to Texas State. The Bobcats held Baylor to just a .109 hitting percentage and struck 13 kills with just three errors. Smith was on fire with eight digs in the set.
Baylor rebounded in the second set, though, squeaking by Texas State, 25-23, and took control in the third. The Bobcats put up a fight in the final set, but Baylor against survived, 25-23.