Volleyball Suffers Saturday Sweep Despite Friers' Career-High

Saturday, September 3

Winston-Salem, N.C.

10:30 a.m.

Davidson College Athletics

2-4

Loyola-Chicago

3-3

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Davidson	17	23	23	0
Coll. of Charleston	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Volleyball Suffers Saturday Sweep Despite Friers' Career-High

9/3/2016 7:58:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

davidsonphotos.com
Loyola (Chicago) Box (PDF) | College of Charleston Box (PDF)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Davidson volleyball (2-4) suffered a Saturday sweep at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem. The Wildcats battled in a five-set thriller but fell to Loyola (Chicago) 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 5-15), and dropped straight sets to College of Charleston 3-0 (17-25, 23-25, 23-25).

Junior Kelly Friers recorded a career-high 17 kills in the opening match against Loyola, and added five against CofC to lead the squad with 22 on the day.

Davidson as a whole dominated on the blocking chart across both matches. Senior Emily Franklin led the defense, with 14 total blocks, followed closely by sophomores Mason Rooney (12) and Sabrina Shepherd (11). Shepherd recorded 14 kills on the day, with Rooney collecting 10 and junior Sarah Fink with 12.

An all-tournament team will be revealed at the conclusion of the final match Saturday. Follow @DavidsonVB for details.

MATCH ONE: LOYOLA (CHICAGO) 3, DAVIDSON 2
Davidson held a six-point lead midway through the opening stanza at 15-9, again a bit later at 20-14, and even held set point at 24-18, before the Ramblers pulled off an intense eight-point rally, capitalizing on four Cat miscues, to take the opening set 26-24.

Loyola held the momentum for the second frame, taking the set 25-19 and headed into intermission with a 2-0 lead.

The Wildcats came back ferociously in set three, never relinquishing an early lead and going up by ten points, including recording three in-a-row to take a 25-15 win.

Control remained in favor of the 'Cats for the fourth frame, collecting the first five points of the game and later going up by seven at 20-13. Loyola looked to threaten late, recording three unanswered and cutting the deficit to four before the trio of Fink, Franklin, and Friers slammed four of the final five points of the set to give DC a 25-17 W and force a fifth and final frame.

The Ramblers replied with revenge, taking 11 of the final 12 points to secure the set 15-5 and the match 3-2.

MATCH TWO: COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 3, DAVIDSON 0
Davidson fell in straight sets for the second time this season, despite being right on the heels of College of Charleston for the last two sets.

The 'Cats took advantage of four straight attack errors from the Cougars to take an early 12-11 lead before CofC responded by taking nine of the next 11 points and secured the set at 25-17.

Again, the Wildcats led early before three straight kills put the Cougars back on top and a game of cat-and-mouse (or cat and bigger cat) ensued, as the squads tied a total of nine times and forced five lead changes over the course of the frame.

With the set knotted up at 23 all, Charleston capitalized on back-to-back Cat mishaps and took the game 25-23.

Down two sets to nil, Davidson fought with force in what was ultimately the final set, but only led the first point of the frame, off a Franklin service ace. The team threatened late, tying the game 23-23 once again, before Charleston booked two straight points and solidified the sweep at 25-23 and 3-0.

UP NEXT
Davidson begins its 2016 home campaign, hosting Elon Tuesday as a tune-up before the Wildcat Classic, where they will face Furman, USC Upstate, and Liberty on Friday and Saturday at Belk Arena.