Peele Leads 'Cats to Important 3-2 SoCon win at Appalachian

Friday, November 9

Boone, N.C.

7:00

Davidson College Athletics

at App.

Peele Leads 'Cats to Important 3-2 SoCon win at Appalachian

11/9/2007 8:56:12 PM | Volleyball

Lauren Biggers -- Assistant SID

Box Score

BOONE, N.C. — Freshman outside hitter Sarabeth Peele tallied a match-high 22 kills to lead the Davidson Wildcat volleyball team to an important 3-2 (25-30, 30-21, 30-27, 27-30, 15-12) Southern Conference win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who snapped an 11-match winning streak, on Friday night in Boone, N.C.

Three other Wildcats topped double figures for the 'Cats, who improve to 11-19 overall and 6-11 in the SoCon. Senior outside hitter Katie Pierucci added 14 kills, while junior middle blocker Kittery Neale had 13 and sophomore outside hitter Tierney Hodge had 10. Helping equally on the defensive end, Pierucci and Peele each notched double-double performances with 13 and 10 digs, respectively, while senior libero Lindsey Woeste recorded a match-high 31. Freshman setter Hayley Lawson had 58 assists on the 'Cats' 75 kills and also double-doubled with 13 digs. Senior Courtney Cron was the fifth Wildcat in double figures in digs with 11.

With their first loss since October 5, the Mountaineers drop to 17-13 overall and pick up just their fourth conference loss to fall to 13-4 in the league. Appalachian was led by Brittany Zahn, who tallied 20 kills, and also got 18 from Carla Durham and 16 from Dianna Thomas.

The Wildcats came out ready to play and got the match off to a good start with a strong showing in game one. Neither team, though, was able to pull ahead, and the score was knotted as late as 22-22, until Appalachian got a couple of timely kills from Zahn, who brought her season total up to an Appalachian-record 530, to pull away for the 30-25 win.

The second game got off to a similar start with the score tied at 18-all, but the 'Cats found some late-game magic and won 12 of the final 15 points for a commanding 30-21 win to even the match at a game each.

In the third game, the story was similar, with neither team able to gain any traction. Davidson took a slight 15-12 lead behind strong serving from Neale, but Thomas answered with a four-point serve for the Mountaineers to knot the game at 16. So it went, with every Wildcat run answered by the Apps, until with the score tied at 27-27, Pierucci rattled off three straight kills to lift the 'Cats to a 30-27 win and control of the match.

The fourth set went down to the wire yet again, but this time, the 'Cats were unable to put the Mountaineers away. With the score tied at 26, strong serving from Heather Kale and a pair of kills from Thomas combined to give the Mountaineers a 30-27 win and force the decisive game.

In the fifth and final frame, the Wildcats got down 2-0 early in the shortened game where every point counts. No matter, the 'Cats kept clawing and back-to-back kills from freshman Jorden Benedict and Hodge knotted the score at six. A Mountaineer attack error gave the 'Cat their first lead of the game, 7-6, and Davidson didn't look back, rolling to the 15-12 win for the match.

Davidson will return to action on Sunday, as the Wildcats host the Georgia Southern Eagles at 2 p.m. at Belk Arena in their final regular-season game of 2007. Seniors Cron, Nicole Keroack, Pierucci and Woeste will be honored in senior-day festivities.