2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball takes two of three in conference
Spartans gearing up for late season push
Stephanie White
Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Sports
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The Spartans were lead by sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz with 14 kills while senior Theresa Hart followed with 11 kills and 13 digs. Freshman Lisa Fawell dished out 42 assists while freshman Catherine Hanners led the team with 17 digs.
Before the match, head coach Shawn Garus had confidence that his team could remain competitive with the Lady Mocs. "We have to have a lot of intensity right from the start and we have to sustain it for as long as it takes. We have to be ready to play for two and a half hours because Chattanooga has a really feisty team."
On Friday night, the Spartans swept the Western Carolina Catamounts, 3-0, in SoCon play. The 30-26, 30-19, and 30-19 wins earned the Spartans their seventh conference win of the season.
Hart led the Spartans with 12 kills and 18 digs while senior Lauren Keiser recorded seven kills. Senior Hilary Overby, freshman Branagan Fuller, and Nortz each tallied six kills, respectively. Hanners matched Hart's defensive effort with 18 digs while Fawell handed out 38 assists.
After the match, Fawell said of her team's effort: "I think we all worked really hard and came out with a lot of intensity. We came out with a lot of fight. We really wanted to prove something with this game."
Garus added that he was impressed with his whole team's contribution to the win. "We had a little bit more of a balanced attack," said the second-year coach. "We got production from a lot of people that aren't key players. People like Hilary Overby coming off the bench and getting a lot of kills for us helped us a lot. I think we had a really good defensive effort from Theresa Hart and those things that are out of the ordinary will help our team continue to improve."
The Spartans started their three game home stretch on Tuesday night against the Elon Phoenix. The 3-1 match victory for the Spartans was led by Nortz who tallied a career high 23 kills while posting an impressive .321 hitting percentage. Hart and Fuller each posted double-digit efforts as well with 18 and 11 kills respectively while Hart also pumped out 15 digs for UNCG. Hanners led the defensive effort once again with 23 digs while freshman Kayleigh Knerr matched Hart's 15 digs on the match. Fawell continued to hold the Southern Conference lead with 60 assists on the match. The close battle with the Phoenix posted game scores of 38-36, 28-30, 30-28, and 30-28.
The Spartans return to action on Friday, Oct. 27 as they travel to Davidson to take on the Wildcats in conference play.
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