Volleyball Downs Appalachian State, 3-1

Saturday, November 3

Davidson, N.C.

2:00 pm

Davidson College

10-13, 6-7SoCon

Appalachian State

7-21, 3-11SoCon

Appalachian State

Davidson

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

11/3/2012 4:38:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ashley Bailey

Buy action shots at Davidson Photos

DAVIDSON, N.C – Ariel Ley had a team-high four service aces and 39 assists to help the Davidson volleyball team down the Appalachian State Mountaineers 3-1 at Belk Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats earned the win with set scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-19.

Ley was one of three Davidson players to finish with double-figure digs, recording 14, and adding seven kills as she hit a season-high .368. Molly Crenshaw led the defense with 26 digs, while Caroline Brown was close behind with 23. Anastasia Owen also had seven.

Brown led a trio of Wildcats with double-digit kills, picking up 15 in the match. Tindall Sewell and Taylor Pisel each had 11, as Pisel chipped in with four block assists as well. However, it was freshman Shannon McPherson who led the blocking effort with six block assists to help the squad record 8.0 team blocks.

The team posted a season-high 12 aces, with Ley's four topping the list. Megan Chamberlin and Brown each had three, while Sewell and Owen recorded an ace apiece.

For the Mountaineers, Jacqui Spurgeon had 17 kills and Dalton Tolliver finished with 13 to lead the squat to a .112 attacking percentage with 44 team kills. Lauren Brown and Paige Brown had 21 and 15 assists, respectively, while Courtney Rhein's 25 digs paced the team. Jessica Eley recorded 12 block assists as the team put up 15.0 total blocks in the match.

Chamberlin started off the first set with a pair of aces, while Crenshaw and Brown each served up three straight points as the Wildcats took an 11-5 advantage. ASU's Brown retaliated by serving five consecutive points, but Pisel had a piece of two blocks to keep the 'Cats in front by four. The lead stretched to seven on an ASU attacking error before a kill by Sewell put the set away at 25-18 for the 'Cats.

The Mountaineers capitalized on some early Davidson miscues to take a 7-4 lead in set two. A pair of kills by Chamberlin kept the deficit at three, 17-14, and two more from Pisel tied the set at 19-19. Pisel had two more in helping the team take a 22-21 advantage, but sloppy play by the 'Cats would give the set to the Mountaineers by a score of 25-23 to even the match.

The two teams battled their way through the start of the third set, with App. State taking an 8-5 lead. Sewell served up five straight points, including an ace, and assisted on a block to put the Wildcats in front 11-8. The 'Cats would keep the lead from there, as Ley added in a pair of aces before another ace from Chamberlin ended things at 25-20.

Davidson had a sloppy start to the fourth set and found themselves quickly down 7-1. Brown rallied to serve six straight points, including an ace and a pair of kills from Sewell to take a 9-8 lead. Ley again picked up back-to-back service aces to keep the 'Cats in front 14-12, and a trio of kills by Brown would help finish the set and give Davidson the 25-19 victory.

The Wildcats will head to Statesboro, Ga., on Monday for a 6 p.m. Southern Conference match at Georgia Southern.