Bulldogs Fall to Western Carolina on Friday SoCon Matchup

Friday, October 30

Charleston, S.C.

6:00 PM

The Citadel

4-21,1-12SoCon

Western Carolina

10-16,6-7SoCon

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Western Caro.	25	25	25	3
The Citadel	16	18	22	0

Box Score.PDF

10/30/2026 8:01:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: The Citadel Athletics

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Citadel (4-21, 1-12 SoCon) fell to Western Carolina (10-16, 6-7 SoCon) 3-0 (16-25, 18-25, 22-25) on Friday night at McAlister Field House.

Rachel Reininger led the Bulldogs with 11 kills while hitting .370 and added two digs. Luci Lippelgoos finished with nine kills on a .316 hitting percentage and collected three digs. Allie Davison recorded 31 assists, four digs and one block assist. Jess Martin anchored the defense with a team-high 19 digs and added one assist.

Tatum Sharp led Western Carolina with 22 kills on 38 attacks, hitting .500 and totaling 24 points. Katie Boney recorded 33 assists, eight digs, four kills and two block assists. Elise Gurley collected 22 digs, two service aces and five assists, while Halley Tang added 12 digs, two aces and three assists.

"Playing clean from 20 on is the most important thing. That's something we've struggled with all year," head coach Dave Zelenock said. "Some of that's youth."

Zelenock emphasized that repeatedly putting younger players in close-set situations should help them improve their execution as they develop within the program.

"We need our juniors and seniors to play like it so that our freshmen are free to make those mistakes that we are OK with," Zelenock said.

First Set | 16-25
·       Western Carolina jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Reininger delivered two kills to help the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 4-3.
·       The Bulldogs remained within one at 10-9 following kills from Emma Pastusic and Elizabeth Miller. Megan Stone's ace later helped trim the margin to 13-11 before Western Carolina extended its lead to 18-12 behind a Tang ace and four kills from Sharp.
·       Western Carolina pushed its advantage to 23-14 with two kills from JoJo Abeyta and a block by Abeyta and Peri Subat before closing the set 25-16 on a Subat kill.

Second Set | 18-25
·       The Bulldogs opened with a 5-2 lead behind Emerson Hill's serve and consecutive kills from Lippelgoos off assists from Davison.
·       Western Carolina responded with five straight points to take a 7-5 advantage, but consecutive kills from Cameron Reese and Gwen Berry later put the Bulldogs back in front 11-10.
·       Western Carolina answered with a six-point run to build a 16-11 lead, highlighted by kills from Subat, Ashlyn Cobb and Sharp, along with a Gurley service ace.
·       Reininger recorded two late kills and Miller added a block, but Western Carolina secured the set 25-18 behind kills from Zoe Zudans and Sophia Marini.

Third Set | 22-25
·       The Bulldogs established an early 6-2 lead behind kills from Samantha Weise, Lippelgoos and Reese.
·       Western Carolina responded with five consecutive points to move ahead 8-7, but kills from Lippelgoos and Reininger helped the Bulldogs regain a 13-12 advantage.
·       Western Carolina used another five-point run to take a 17-13 lead before the Bulldogs battled back to tie the set at 21-21 on a Reininger kill and a block by Reininger and Weise.
·       Jordyn Sims kept the Bulldogs within one at 23-22 with a kill, but Sharp recorded the final two kills to secure the 25-22 set victory for Western Carolina.

Up Next
The Bulldogs return to McAlister Field House on Saturday, Oct. 31, for the second match of their weekend series against Western Carolina. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.