Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. – After dropping the first two sets to UNCG, the Elon volleyball team came back to win the next two and tie the match before falling 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 7-15) inside Fleming Gym. The Phoenix is now 11-5 after dropping its first Southern Conference match of the season, while the Spartans hold a 1-0 SoCon record and an 8-8 season record.
 
“We tried as hard as we could to steal a win on the road,” said head Elon volleyball coach Mary Tendler. “UNCG started and finished the match very well. In between, we played some very good volleyball. We plan to be more consistent on Sunday in Charleston.”
 
Freshman Chanelle Smith and junior Allison Johnson each finished with a double-double with 17 kills/18 digs and 11 kills/17 digs, respectively. Senior Traci Stewart and junior Carly Ledbetter both recorded nine kills, while senior Megan McMahon recorded 44 assists.
 
On defense, junior Ali Deatsch tallied 35 digs with senior Caroline Lemke earning four blocks.
 
After falling behind the Spartans, 5-1, in the first set, Elon scored four straight off two kills by Lemke, one by C. Smith and an ace by Deatsch to tie it at five-all. UNCG moved on top by three, 10-7, forcing Tendler to call her first timeout of the match. Out of the break, the Phoenix scored three of the next four with kills by Lemke and freshman Kris Harris to cut the deficit to one, 11-10. The Spartans took as much as a five-point lead, 15-10, but Elon slowly chipped away at UNCG’s advantage with strong play at the right side of the net by Stewart. A kill by freshman Danielle Smith pulled the Phoenix back within one, 21-20, forcing UNCG to call a timeout. The Spartans went on to win the set, 25-21, and take the match lead.
 
Johnson kept the maroon and gold in the set early with back-to-back kills to make it 3-2 in favor of the Spartans. But Elon quickly found itself in a big hole after UNCG went on a 12-2 run to take a 15-4 advantage. Down 22-12, Elon scored five unanswered off kills from Johnson and C. Smith and a block by Lemke and C. Smith to pull within five. After a Spartans score, a quick three-point run cut the UNCG advantage to just four, 23-19. However, the Spartans won the next two points to take the set, 25-19.
 
Kills by C. Smith, junior Celia Rose Eddy and Stewart helped give Elon its first lead of the match, 4-3, at the beginning of the third set. Up by three, 11-8, another kill by C. Smith and a solo block by Johnson gave the Phoenix a five-point advantage, 13-8. After the Spartans pulled within one, 15-14, the maroon and gold went on a 5-2 run to regain a five-point lead, 21-16. An ace by C. Smith put the Phoenix up by seven, 24-17, and led the way into a 25-18 third-set win to keep the match alive.
 
Elon kept the momentum going into the fourth set as an ace by Deatsch, who ranks 10^th in the country in aces per set, put the Phoenix up 4-2. Up 8-5, a kill by C. Smith started a three-point run that gave the maroon and gold a six-point advantage, 11-5, and forced UNCG to call a timeout. After a quick point by the Spartans, Elon scored three unanswered, including two more kills by C. Smith to go up by nine, 15-6, and cause UNCG to call its final timeout. Back-to-back kills by Stewart and Johnson helped Elon maintain its nine-point lead, 18-9, until three-straight scores by the Spartans caused the Phoenix to take its first timeout of the set. Kills by C. Smith and Eddy gave Elon a 24-15 set-point opportunity, but three unanswered by the Spartans delayed the win until another kill by C. Smith, her eighth of the set, tied the match with a 25-18 victory.
 
The Spartans jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth and final set before a kill by Lemke pulled the Phoenix within two, 6-4. UNCG maintained its lead going up by five, 10-5, and force Elon’s last timeout of the match. A kill by C. Smith would put the Phoenix within seven, 11-6, but the Spartans’ lead was too much to recover from as UNCG won the set, 15-7, and the match.
 
Elon will continue conference play with a match at College of Charleston on Sunday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m.