GREENSBORO, NC The UNC Greensboro volleyball team had three players with double digit kills as UNCG swept fourth-place Chattanooga, 3-0 in Southern Conference volleyball action in Fleming Gym on Saturday afternoon. The win marks the first time the Spartans have defeated Chattanooga since the 2002 season.
UNCG (17-14, 10-7 SoCon) was led by Kaitlyn Nortz who tallied a match-high 14 kills and had a team-best .357 hitting percentage. Katherine Hart and Branagan Fuller also added 11 and 13 kills, respectively. The Spartans also had four players with double-digit digs led by Catherine Hanners who recorded 19 in the win.
Senior Lauren Keiser set a new career high with eight blocks while the Spartans as a team recorded a season-high 14 team blocks.
Chattanooga (17-13, 12-5 SoCon) was led by Jamie Engel who tallied 14 kills and Laura Newberry who recorded 19 digs in the loss. Bailee Chastain tallied 38 assists for the Lady Mocs.
In game one the Spartans took an early 4-1 lead with kills from Hart and Keiser but Chattanooga was able to find their offense and rattled of four consecutive points to tie the game. UNCG was able to swing the momentum and took an 11-9 lead behind great serving from Keiser and several kills from Fuller.
The score went back-and-forth with four lead changes but with Chattanooga leading 26-23, UNCG used timely kills and good defense to take a 30-29 lead but Chattanooga would force extra time after several UNCG miscues. With the game tied at 33-33, a kill from Emily Lindborg gave UNCG game point and a Chattanooga attack error gave the Spartans the win, 35-33 and a 1-0 match lead.
The second game proved to be just as much of a battle as the first game and it was Chattanooga that ran out to an early 10-8 lead but UNCG found a way to battle back and forced four ties before taking a 21-19 lead. The Lady Mocs used a kill from Engel and a Spartan miscue to cut the lead to 23-22 but UNCG extended its lead to 26-23 with back-to-back kills from Nortz and never looked back taking a 2-0 match lead with a 30-26 victory.
After the intermission the Spartans raced out to a 20-10 lead early but Chattanooga found a way to get back in the match and went on a 10-2 run to cut the UNCG lead to 22-20. The score see-sawed back and forth from that point and featured six ties down the stretch, With the score tied a 28-28 senior Lauren Keiser gave UNCG match-point with a kill and the Spartans took the 3-0 victory with a Chattanooga attack error.
The Spartans were able to hold the Lady Mocs to a 0.69 hitting percentage in the third game and forced them into 29 attack errors on the afternoon.
UNCG concludes the 2007 regular season Sunday when they welcome Western Carolina to Fleming Gym for a 2 pm match. The Spartans will honor seniors Lauren Keiser and Katherine Hart prior to the start of the match.
AGATE
UNCG def. Chattanooga 35-33,30-26,30-28
Chattanooga ((17-13, 12-5 SoCon)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Jamie Engel 14-3-1; Leslee Ball 8-2-2; Sarah Bass 8-0-1; Julianna Martinez 7-0-1;Ashley Yeager 5-0-0; Bailee Chastain 3-0-1; Courtney Barnes 1-0-0; Aurore Kullak 1-2-0; Lara Newberry 0-1-0; Kelsey Amundson 0-1-0;Totals 47-9-4.0. (Assists) - Bailee Chastain 38. (Dig leaders) Lara Newberry 19; Aurore Kullak 10; Jamie Engel 10; Leslee Ball 9; Bailee Chastain 8
UNCG ((17-14, 10-7 SoCon)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kaitlyn Nortz 14-3-9; Branagan Fuller 13-0-3; Katherine Hart 11-0-2; Lauren Keiser 9-0-8; Emily Lindborg 6-0-2; Lisa Fawell 4-0-1; Totals 57-3-14.0. (Assists) -Lisa Fawell 47. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 19; Branagan Fuller 15; Lisa Fawell 13; Lauren Keiser 10
- UNCG -
