Volleyball team falls at home 3-1 to Gardner Webb

After the Georgia Tech Classic, the Western volleyball team came back home for a match against Gardner Webb on September 11. The Cats fought valiantly but lost three games to one. Western started off the match horribly as they lost game one by a score of 30-19, but the Cats struck back in game two with a 30-26 win. Unfortunately the Cats would fall 30-25 in both of the final two games to give the Bulldogs the match. The Cats posted a miserable .028 hitting percentage in game one as they were dominated by Gardner-Webb. Luckily it wasn’t a sign of things to come as Western bounced back. WCU pushed its way to an early 10-5 lead in the second game, before allowing Gardner-Webb to come back. The Bulldogs would tie the score at 13 and the action seesawed back and forth until the Cats took a commanding 22-16 lead. Unfortunately, Western let Gardner-Webb right back into the game with a 6-0 run to tie the score at 22. The Cats would use an 8-4 run to close the game and get the win. Game three would be back and forth from the get-go. With everything knotted up at 12 all, the Bulldogs used a 6-1 run to push ahead and take control of the game. The Cats would not get closer than three points the rest of the way. The Bulldogs finished off Western in game four as the Cats came out flat. Gardner-Webb established an early 10-3 lead to help take control of the game. Western couldn’t get any closer than three points until late in the game at 24-22. The Bulldogs would close the match from there as they used a 6-3 run to win. Western had several players who played well in the losing effort. Among those players were sophomore’s Liz Rondone and Katie Hennessey, freshman Ali Rook, and senior Meredith Harmon. Hennessey led the way with a double-double as she recorded 17 digs and an outstanding 39 assists. Rondone contributed with 24 digs, while Harmon had 17 kills and an outstanding .455 attack percentage. Rook finished with 10 kills, but struggled with a .105 attack percentage. The Cats fell to 3-8 on the year with the loss.