CHARLESTON, S.C.- The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) volleyball team defied all the odds and proved how good it is with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22) victory over The Citadel to win the Southern Conference Regular season championship for the first time.
The title is the first for the program since 1995 when it was a member of the Big South Conference.
UNCG shares the title with Mercer, who also finished 12-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Spartans fell behind 12-9 in the first set. The Citadel forced the first timeout after getting to the 15 mark first, 15-13.
- UNCG went on a late 3-1 run to close the Bulldogs lead to two, 22-20. The run wasn't enough, and The Citadel would take the first set, 25-21.
- The Spartans went on a 6-0 run early in the second set to take a 10-7 lead. Brittany Wood, Kayla White, and Elayne Grisbee scored during the run.
- The Spartans held the lead for the set, with the biggest being, 21-12.
- Kayla White would go behind the service line and serve back-to-back aces to end the second set.
- The third set included 10 ties and five lead changes.
- The last tie of the match came at 23. Brittany Wood tied it with a kill.
- Grey Breen finished the set with a service ace.
- The Citadel took an early lead and kept it for the majority of the set. The Spartans battled their way back within two.
- The Citadel grew the lead to four but two errors by the Bulldogs and a weird kill by Gabriela McHugh cut the deficit to one, 20-19.
- The Spartans were one point away from defying all odds and winning the regular season. The Citadel served the ball and McHugh tipped it over the net to end the match.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Kayla White led the match with 16 kills. She also had 17 digs for her 21st double-double of the season.
- White and Breen led the match with three service aces.
- Four Spartans had double digit digs: Jenna Wiggs (23), White (17), Stephanie Meysembourg (13), and McHugh (13).
- Elayne Grisbee had the lone solo block for the Spartans.
- McHugh dished out 36 assists.
COREY CARLIN'S COURSE OF THOUGHT
"This win is very emotional, as it should be. The first regular season SoCon championship in program history… it's a special moment. I think of all the players, coaches and administrators that worked hard and came close in the past. This is a great win to cap a historic season and this team definitely deserves having a banner in the gym. We'll enjoy this for the rest of the weekend and then turn our focus to the conference tournament."
UPCOMING
The Spartans will head to Birmingham, Ala. for the 2022 Southern Conference Tournament. The No. 2 Spartans will face No. 7 The Citadel Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
