Box Score

BOONE, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team dropped its first Southern Conference match of the year, 3-1 (22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 16-25), at Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon. Elon is now 10-9 (2-1 SoCon) on the season, while Appalachian State moves to 12-5 (3-0 SoCon).

“We worked hard this week on our blocking and defending the right side attack,” said Elon volleyball head coach Mary Tendler. “That work showed in the match and it was one of our better blocking matches of the season. Unfortunately, we had trouble getting kills and Appalachian State did a good job defensively. It’s hard getting conference wins on the road, but we’ll get back at it and work hard for a win tomorrow at Western Carolina.”

Sophomore Allison Johnson led the Phoenix with 10 kills, while senior Lauren Copenhagen followed with eight.

Junior Caroline Lemke led Elon on the defensive side with nine block assists and helped the team to 15 total. Sophomore Ali Deatsch recorded 22 digs on the afternoon and Copenhagen finished with 14.

In the first set, the Phoenix took the early lead 9-4 with a kill from senior Sarah Schermerhorn, but the Mountaineers would come back and tie the set at 11-all after two straight kills. The remainder of the game went back and forth and saw the score tied seven times before Appalachian State took the 22-21 lead and eventually closed out the win 25-22.

The second set remained tight in the beginning but Elon found itself down 24-16 with ASU holding the set point. The Phoenix would score threestraight points, including a kill from Lemke, to hold the Mountaineers at 24-19. The set would come to an end with Appalachian State taking the victory, 25-19.

In the third set, the Phoenix found itself down quickly 2-0, but kills from Johnson and freshman Cali Estes would help move the set to three –all. With the game tied at eight, Elon began to capitalize on some ASU mistakes and move ahead 14-10. The Mountaineers took advantage of a 7-3 run and tied the game at 17-all. Elon regained the momentum and scored on four of the next five points, which included three kills from Johnson, and moved ahead 21-18. With the score at 24-22, the Phoenix had its first set point of the afternoon within grasp and won the set 25-22 to move the match into a fourth set.

The fourth set began with a 7-2 Mountaineer advantage and continued as ASU went on an 11-7 run to make it 18-9. Elon fought back to score three straight points and close the gap to six points at 18-12. However, the Mountaineers’ lead was too much for the Phoenix to overcome and the set and match would end with the score 25-16 in favor Appalachian State.

The Elon volleyball team will be back in action tomorrow Sunday, Oct. 3 as it heads to Western Carolina for a 3 p.m. match-up.