BOILING SPRINGS, NC – The UNC Greensboro women’s volleyball team bounced back from a rare early-season loss yesterday with two victories on Saturday afternoon at the Runnin Bulldog Invitational hosted by Gardner-Webb at Paul Porter Arena.
UNCG improved to 9-3 on the year and now has the most wins in a season since the 2000 club also won nine matches that year.
The Spartans swept North Carolina Central (7-5) by scores of 30-28, 30-26, 30-17 in the first match of the day.
UNCG then outlasted the host Bulldogs 3-2 by winning the fifth game by a narrow 17-15 score. The two teams traded wins in the first four games. UNCG won the opener, 30-24, and the third game by an identical 30-24 score. In between, Gardner-Webb (2-7) took both game two and game four by a score of 30-25.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz led UNCG (7-3) in kills for the second straight match with 13 against NC Central. The Westerville, OH native made only one attack error all match long on 21 attempts for a team-topping .571 hitting percentage.
Freshman Branagan Fuller added 12 kills for the Spartans, while senior Hilary Overby and sophomore Liz Benzschawel had nine and eight kills respectively.
Freshman Catherine Hanners had a team-leading 21 digs, while classmate Lisa Fawell doled out 42 assists.
Shari Matthews put away a match-best 15 kills to lead North Carolina Central.
In the second match of the day, senior Theresa Hart led the Spartans against GWU with 22 kills and 25 digs, while Nortz contributed 15 kills and 11 blocks. Overby had 14 kills, while junior Lauren Keiser added 14 kills and a career-high 28 digs in the win. Fawell handed out 60 assists.
Hanners set another school record with 41 digs, topping the 34 she came up with on Tuesday in a 3-2 win over High Point.
Bethany Martin led the Bulldogs with 15 kills. Ashley Pridgeon and Audra Harrison came up with 13 and 12 kills respectively.
Hart and Nortz were named to the All-Tournament team which means Hart was selected to the all-tournament team at all three tournaments the Spartans participated in this year, including MVP honors at the season-opening Battle at the Beach in Wilmington, NC.
Although GWU, Robert Morris and UNCG all finished the tournament with 2-1 records, Robert Morris was credited with the tournament championship.
UNCG opens up Southern Conference play on Tuesday at Elon. The 7 pm match will be played at Alumni Gym in Elon, NC.
Runnin’ Bulldog Invitational All-Tournament
Team
Kaitlyn Nortz – UNC Greensboro
Theresa Hart - UNC Greensboro
Regina Feagin – Gardner-Webb
Audra Harrison – Gardner-Webb
Janette Schneider - Robert Morris
Emily Wothius – Robert Morris
Shari Matthews – North Carolina Central
AGATE
UNC Greensboro def. North Carolina Central 30-28, 30-26, 30-17
NCCU (7-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - MATTHEWS,Shari 15-2-2; WRIGHT,Kai 8-0-0; HILL,Shawanda 7-0-3; WALTERS,Rachel 4-0-0; CANTRELL,Shatoya 4-3-4; LLOYD,Rachel 1-1-0; FIELDS,Kristan 1-0-0; TATE,Latoya 1-1-0; Totals 41-7-4.5. (Assists) - TATE,Latoya 28. (Dig leaders) - LLOYD,Rachel 7; MATTHEWS,Shari 6.
UNC Greensboro (8-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kaitlyn Nortz 13-0-7; Branagan Fuller 12-1-1; Hilary Overby 9-3-1; Liz Benzschawel 8-0-4; Lauren Keiser 7-1-1; Lisa Fawell 2-0-0; Christin Heverly 0-2-0; Catherine Hanners 0-2-0; Totals 51-9-11.5. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 42. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 21; Hilary Overby 16; Theresa Hart 11; Lisa Fawell 10.
UNC Greensboro def. Gardner-Webb 30-24, 25-30, 30-24, 25-30, 17-15
UNC Greensboro (9-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Theresa Hart 22-2-1; Kaitlyn Nortz 15-2-10; Lauren Keiser 14-1-4; Hilary Overby 9-0-1; Liz Benzschawel 4-0-7; Branagan Fuller 1-0-1; Catherine Hanners 0-1-0; Lisa Fawell 0-4-5; Totals 65-10-17.0. (Assists) - Lisa Fawell 60. (Dig leaders) - Catherine Hanners 9; Theresa Hart 6.
Gardner-Webb (2-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - MARTIN, Bethany 15-0-2; PRIDGEON, Ashley 13-2-6; HARRISON, Audra 12-0-4; GIBSON, Melissa 5-0-13; MATHISON, Jackie 4-0-1; MAXWELL, Elizabeth 3-0-1; FEAGIN, Regina 2-2-1; MATYKOWSKI, Katie 1-1-0; WILSON, Brett 0-3-0; Totals 55-8-17.0. (Assists) - FEAGIN, Regina 50. (Dig leaders) - MATYKOWSKI, Katie 33; WILSON, Brett 20; FEAGIN, Regina 20; HARRISON, Audra 19.
- UNCG -