GREENSBORO, NC – The UNC Greensboro women's volleyball team ended its regular season with a 3-0 loss to first place College of Charleston in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym.
The Cougars (23-7, 17-1 SoCon) won the match by scores of 30-27, 30-13 and 30-20. Even with the loss, UNCG notched its first 20-win season since 1995 as the club finished the year with a 20-12 overall record and a 9-9 slate in the league.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz posted a match-best 12 kills to lead the Spartans, while senior Theresa Hart added 10 kills. Freshman Lisa Fawell led UNCG with 35 assists and 12 digs, while Catherine Hanners came up with 11 digs.
A balanced attack with Lindsey Kane and Deanna Patrick notching nine kills apiece, while both Emily Sawin and Annie Uthe added eight kills to lead Charleston. Kane also handed out 26 assists, while Marie Dobrenz had a match-high 21 digs.
Game one appeared fully in the grasp of UNCG as it held a 23-16 lead after a kill by Hart. Nortz came out with a purpose in the opening game and put away nine kills in the early going to give the Spartans the lead. The Spartans slowly lost their lead as the Cougars chipped away and finally tied the game at 27-27 on a service ace by Alexis Lowes. Charleston followed with three straight points to take the opener in come-from-behind fashion, 30-27.
The effects of game one seamed to carry into the second game as the Cougars took an early 5-1 lead. Charleston's lead would balloon to 26-8 after a kill by Sawin and that led to a 30-13 win for the visitors in game two.
UNCG showed some resiliency in game three by coming out of the intermission and scoring the first four points of the game, and still led 10-5 after a kill by freshman Branagan Fuller. However, Charleston scored five straight to tie things up 10-10. A kill by senior Hilary Overby put UNCG up 11-10, but that was the final lead of the afternoon for the Spartans. Charleston went on to take the match with a 30-20 win in game three.
Before the match, UNCG's three seniors, Hart, Overby and Christin Heverly were honored for their dedication and commitment to the Spartan volleyball program. Overby and Heverly were four-year members, while Hart played only her senior year with the Spartans after transferring from the University of San Francisco.
Hart finishes the regular season with 483 kills for the year, which is the third most in school history. She has a chance to become just the second player to ever record 500 in a season, which was done by Missi Olson in 1992. The San Juan Capistrano, CA native also demolished the kills per game record as she currently stands at 4.27 per game. No one had ever reached the four per-game plateau at UNCG.
Fawell, the freshman out of Wheaton, IL, also set a school record with 1,485 assists and 12.50 per game, which also leads the SoCon. Fellow classmate, Hanners has come up with 585 digs, the third most in school history, while Nortz's 398 kills and 125 total blocks rank in the top-10 all-time in their respective categories.
For second-year head coach Shawn Garus, he has turned around a team that went 5-26 last year, a difference in 15 victories from one year to the next.
UNCG will take part in the SoCon Tournament, which runs November 16-19 in Boone, NC.
AGATE
College of Charleston def. UNC Greensboro 30-27, 30-13, 30-20
College of Charleston (23-7, 17-1 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Lindsey Kane 9-2-4; Deanna Patrick 9-0-2; Annie Uthe 8-0-2; Emily Sawin 8-1-2; Tiffany Blum 6-0-7; Emma Racila 5-0-1; Marie Dobrenz 0-1-0; Alexis Lowes 0-2-0; Totals 45-6-10.0. (Assists) - Lindsey Kane 26. (Dig leaders) - Marie Dobrenz 21; Lindsey Kane 11; Alexis Lowes 11.
UNC Greensboro (20-12, 9-9 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kaitlyn Nortz 12-1-1; Theresa Hart 10-2-1; Lauren Keiser 5-0-0; Branagan Fuller 4-0-0; Emily Lindborg 4-0-1; Lisa Fawell 2-0-0; Hilary Overby 2-0-0; Liz Benzschawel 1-0-0; Christin Heverly 0-1-0; Totals 40-4-2.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 35. (Dig leaders) - Lisa Fawell 12; Catherine Hanners 11; Theresa Hart 8.
- UNCG -
