CHARLESTON, SC The UNC Greensboro volleyball team dropped its first Southern Conference match with a 3-1 loss to College of Charleston Saturday afternoon. The Spartans fell by scores of 24-30, 30-25, 22-30, 26-30. The loss snapped UNCG's four-game win streak.
UNCG (9-8, 2-1 SoCon) had two players with double-digit kills led by Kaitlyn Nortz who tallied a match-high 17 kills while teammate Branagan Fuller tallied 16 kills. Catherine Hanners and Lauren Keiser were also in double-digits in digs with 14 and 10, respectively. Lisa Fawell also recorded 49 assists in the loss.
College of Charleston (7-5, 2-0 SoCon) was led by Deanna Patrick who tallied 15 kills and Emily Sawin who recorded 12 digs in the victory.
The Spartans opened game one with a 3-0 run fueled by a kill from Katherine Hart and a service ace from Lisa Fawell but the Cougars would come back from behind to take a 14-10 lead midway through the game. UNCG was able to get as close as 21-18 with kills from Fuller and Nortz but a 9-6 run to close the game gave College of Charleston the 30-24 victory.
In the second game, UNCG again opened up an early 2-0 lead but College of Charleston battled back and kept the game close with the teams trading points through the early goings. In a game that featured 12 lead changes the Spartans were able to take a 26-25 lead and rattled off the next four points to even the match at 1-1.
College of Charleston opened the next game with an early 8-3 advantage but the Spartans battled back to take a 12-11 lead with kills from Nortz, Fuller and Hart. The Cougars would rebound and took a 24-19 lead with kills from Emily Sawin and never looked back taking a 30-22 win and a 2-1 match lead.
The Spartans kept it close in the final frame with the College of Charleston lead never swelling to more than four points but with the game tied at 26-26 College of Charleston closed the game on a 4-0 run to take the match, 3-1.
College of Charleston held a .280 to .207 hitting percentage advantage and tallied a match-high 13 blocks.
The Spartans are next in action Sept. 28 when they welcome Southern Conference rival, Wofford to Fleming Gymnasium. First serve is set for 7 pm.
AGATE
Coll. of Charleston def. UNCG 30-24, 25-30, 30-22, 30-26
UNCG (8-8, 1-1 Southern) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kaitlyn Nortz 17-1-2; Branagan Fuller 16-1-1; Katherine Hart 8-0-1; Lauren Keiser 8-2-2; Emily Lindborg 6-0-4; Lisa Fawell 2-1-2; Alissa Beaudway 2-0-0; Kayren Finney 2-0-2; Catherine Hanners 0-2-0; Kayleigh Knerr 0-2-0; Billi Baker 0-0-1; Totals 61-9-8.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 49. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 14; Lauren Keiser 10
Coll. of Charleston (7-5, 2-0 Southern) (Kills-aces-blocks) Deanna Patrick 15-0-3; Whitney Russell 13-0-2; Emily Sawin 11-3-3; Tiffany Blum 9-0-5; Annie Uthe 7-0-4; Cole Dawley 6-2-4; Ginny Phillips 0-0-1;Paige Johnson 0-1-0; Totals 61-6-13.0. (Assists) - Cole Dawley 49. (Dig leaders) - Emily Sawin 12; Megan Parkerson 8; Deanna Patrick 8
- UNCG -
