GREENSBORO, NC – Senior Theresa Hart had a match-high 25 kills and 24 digs to lead UNC Greensboro to a 3-2 victory over Davidson in Southern Conference women's volleyball action Sunday afternoon at Fleming Gym. The win marks the Spartans second straight over the Wildcats dating back to last season.
UNCG (12-7, 3-4 SoCon) held on for the win over Davidson by the scores of 30-27, 28-30, 30-25, 26-30, 15-11.
Along with Hart's effort, sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz had 16 kills on a .342 hitting percentage and had nine block assists on the defensive side, which left her one short of the school record for a five-game match.
Junior Lauren Keiser had 11 kills for the Spartans, while freshman Branagan Fuller added 10 kills in the win. Additionally, sophomore Liz Benzschawel had eight kills on an effective .471 percentage.
Freshman Catherine Hanners continued her stellar play with 21 digs, while freshman Lisa Fawell dished out 61 assists for the Spartans.
Liz Williamson led Davidson (10-9, 2-2 SoCon) with 24 kills, while Kittery Neale and Katie Pierucci had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Jenna Dykstra had 55 assists.
The fifth game mirrored the entire match with eight ties, the last coming at 10-10 off a kill by Hart that erased the final Davidson lead of the afternoon. Hart followed with a second straight kill and then a service ace by Fawell forced the Wildcat bench to call a timeout, trailing 12-10. After a UNCG attack error made it 12-11, back-to-back attack errors by Davidson set up the winning point, which ultimately wound up being an ace by Hart to close out the win.
The opening match saw Davidson take a couple short leads, but UNCG continued to answer back. With the game tied 20-20, UNCG ran off five straight points with Keiser serving for a 25-20 lead. The Wildcats got back to within one point, 27-26, but two of Hart's eight kills in the game and an attack error by the visitors sealed the victory for the Spartans, 30-27.
Davidson held a narrow lead for most of game two and took what seemed to be a comfortable 27-21 lead late in the action. A 7-2 run by UNCG, capped off by a Fuller kill, made it 29-28, but Williamson, who had five kills in game two, closed any thoughts of a comeback with a kill of her own to square the match at 1-1 with a 30-28 win.
After the intermission, both teams traded points until it was tied 17-17 for the final time of game three. Again with Keiser serving, the Spartans put together a 7-0 spurt to take what ended up being an insurmountable 24-17 lead. Four Davidson attack errors and one ball handling error fueled the run. UNCG held on for the 30-25 lead.
The Spartans seemed ready to win the match in four games as they led for the better part of game four. Up 21-16 after a Nortz ace, Davidson responded with a 9-1 run to take a 25-22 lead. UNCG fought back and actually took a 26-25 lead on another timely kill by Fuller, but a Courtney Cron ace put the Wildcats back in front for good 27-26 and they would go on to the 30-26 win in game four.
UNCG is off until next Saturday when the Spartans visit conference rival Georgia Southern in Statesboro.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro def. Davidson 30-27, 28-30, 30-25, 26-30, 15-11
Davidson (10-9, 2-2 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Liz Williamson 24-4-6; Kittery Neale 11-0-2; Katie Pierucci 10-0-6; Megan Parks 8-0-0; Jenna Dykstra 7-2-1; Alison Dwyer 6-0-7; Lindsey Woeste 1-0-0; Nicole Keroack 1-0-0; Lindsay Paroczai 1-0-1; Lisa Cuellar 0-3-0; Courtney Cron 0-5-0; Totals 69-14-11.5. (Assists) - Jenna Dykstra 55. (Dig leaders) - Courtney Cron 18; Lindsey Woeste 18; Liz Williamson 16; Katie Pierucci 8; Jenna Dykstra 8
UNC Greensboro (12-7, 3-4 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Theresa Hart 25-2-0; Kaitlyn Nortz 16-1-9; Lauren Keiser 11-2-6; Branagan Fuller 10-0-3; Liz Benzschawel 8-0-4; Lisa Fawell 0-3-4; Totals 70-8-13.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 61. (Dig leaders) - Theresa Hart 24; Catherine Hanners 21; Kayleigh Knerr 20; Lauren Keiser 13; Lisa Fawell 9.
- UNCG -
