Volleyball Opens Home Slate with Four-Set Win over Gardner-Webb

Cullowhee, N.C. – Senior Zoe Zudans recorded a season-high 16 kills, and junior transfer Sophia Marini matched her best of the year as Western Carolina volleyball opened its home schedule with a four-set win over Gardner-Webb Tuesday night on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. WCU earned the victory with scores of 25-22, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21.

Tuesday's win marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Catamounts have pulled the curtain back on their home schedule with a victory.

WCU improved to 3-4 on the season with a weekend trip to Appalachian State's Mountaineer Classic beginning on Friday in Boone. Gardner-Webb drops to 4-3 with a Friday afternoon matchup against West Georgia.

Zudans paced the Catamounts, recording her 16 kills while hitting an impressive .333 in the win. Marini posted a .393 hitting percentage, adding a pair of blocks. Freshman Aiyana Harris finished with nine kills with a .389 hitting percentage and a block. Sophomore Tatum Sharp had a career-high eight kills and seven blocks along with two service aces.

Senior Katie Boney led the Catamounts with 45 assists and added a career-best six kills to accompany nine digs and a pair of blocks. Freshman Taylor Baggett recorded a career-high with five kills and a career-best defensively with three rejections.  

Defensively, Gurley eclipsed the 20-dig mark for the third time this season, posting a career night with 25 digs in the winning effort. Sharp's seven blocks led a group of six Catamounts who tallied blocks on Tuesday night.

Nicole Osborne and Peyton Slone led Gardner-Webb with 15 kills apiece. Osborne added 11 digs for one of two double-doubles for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Sarina Galyean picked up 13 kills for GWU. Olivia Lefebvre finished with a team-best 29 assists and 12 digs, while Aleina Manaois added 17 helpers and seven digs.

The opening set saw five early ties before a quick three-point Catamount burst pushed the home squad ahead, 15-12. WCU increased its advantage to five, 19-14, forcing a Gardner-Webb timeout. The guests were able to whittle the deficit to two on a pair of occasions before a Zudans kill finished off the set at 25-22 for the hosts.

After a tight start to the second set, Gardner-Webb responded with a 9-4 run to stretch the lead to five, 13-8 early on. WCU scored four of the next six points around the media break, allowing WCU to make it a 15-12 deficit before the Runnin' Bulldogs closed on a 10-4 run to take the set 25-16 and even the match at one apiece.

The crucial third set saw six ties in the early going before the Catamounts put the pressure on Gardner-Webb with a 6-1 spurt to take a 14-9 lead. The Runnin' Bulldogs battled back to cut it to a three-point deficit before the Catamounts asserted themselves with six of the next eight points that allowed WCU to take late control at 23-16. The Catamounts withstood a late charge by the Runnin' Bulldogs before back-to-back points secured the 25-19 third-set victory and a 2-1 edge.

The fourth set started tight with neither team able to gain more than a three-point lead before an 8-4 run by the Catamounts made it 18-14 near the midpoint. Gardner-Webb managed to pull to within three on multiple occasions down the stretch, but a late kill by Zudans and the finisher from Baggett allowed the Catamounts to secure the four-set victory in their home opener.

Western Carolina hits the road for its final nonconference tournament of the season as the Catamounts head up the mountain to Boone for the Mountaineer Classic, which begins Friday, Sept. 11.

WCU faces North Florida, William & Mary, and the host App State over the three-day tournament. The Catamounts battle UNF on Friday at 6 p.m. before facing William & Mary at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Tournament play concludes against the Mountaineers at 2 p.m. on Sunday. All three matches will air on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available via a link at CatamountSports.com.