Spartanburg, S.C. - Gardner-Webb libero Evan Moffitt tallied her 1,000th career dig on Friday night, as the Runnin' Bulldogs fell in a hard fought non-conference match up with the Western Carolina Catamounts 3-2 at the Spartan Classic in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Runnin' Bulldogs dropped the first two sets 25-21 and 25-21, yet bounced back to take sets three and four 25-21 and 25-22 to knot the match up at 2-2 and force a fifth and final decisive set. In the fifth set, the Catamounts defeated GWU 15-6 to come away with the 3-2 non-conference win.

Gardner-Webb got off to a great start, running out to a 3-0 lead on back-to-back Heather Feldman service aces. However, the Catamounts clawed its way back into the set, using an 11-3 run, aided by five GWU errors, to take an 11-6 lead and force the Runnin' Bulldogs to call a timeout.

Yet the timeout did not stop Western Carolina's momentum, as the Catamounts push their lead out to as much as seven at 18-11.

The Runnin' Bulldogs picked up a point from a WCU bad set, and then three straight points by way of a Carol Solano kill and back-to-back Moffitt aces, to help fight its way back into the first set and cut the Catamount lead to one at 21-20.

After a Western Carolina timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs struggled to score down the stretch, falling to the Catamounts 25-21 in the first set.

The second set was much like the first, as the Runnin' Bulldogs again found themselves down early by five at 8-3 and forced to call an early timeout.

Out of the timeout, GWU found its offensive stride, fighting back to cut the Catamounts lead to one at 14-13 on a service ace by senior Lauren Evans.

After a Laura Wilcox kill tied the score up at 18-18, the Runnin' Bulldogs looked to take its first lead of the frame, only to have the Catamounts outscore GWU 4-1 over the next five points to take a 22-19 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Gardner-Webb would cut the lead to two twice in the final five rallies, yet it wasn't enough as Western Carolina held on for the 25-21 set win.

Down 2-0 in the match, the Runnin' Bulldogs chose not to pack it in, but rather played hard from start to finish in third set.

The two teams went back-and-forth early in the frame, tying the score up at 11-11. That's when the GWU offense came alive, taking an 18-12 lead highlighted by three Emily Holte kills and two Moffitt service aces.

Yet again neither team could put away the other, as Western Carolina battled back with a 7-2 run to cut the Gardner-Webb lead to one at 20-19 on a Caitlin Piechota kill.

Kills by Evans, Erin Anderson, Holte and Molly Rhyne helped lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 25-21 set win and cut the Catamounts' match lead to one at 2-1.

Again with their backs against the wall, GWU refused to quit, battling the Catamounts to another 11-11 tie.

However, this time Gardner-Webb could not pull away from the Catamounts, holding on to a slight one point lead until a WCU kill by Rebecca Stoltz tied the score up once more at 17-17.

The two teams continued to trade points over the next several rallies, until back-to-back Western Carolina attack errors pushed the Runnin' Bulldogs in front by one at 23-22.

After two more WCU errors and a Catamount timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs escaped with a 25-22 set win and tied the match up at 2-2 heading into a fifth and decisive set.

The fifth set saw one team pull away from start to finish, as the Catamounts ran off to a 5-1 lead to start the match and force a GWU timeout.

The momentum was too strong for WCU, as the Catamounts finished the set off with a 10-5 run to take the 15-6 set win and the 3-2 match win.

Wilcox led GWU offensively with 11 kills, while both Rhyne and Holte posted 10 kills apiece. Moffitt lead the Runnin' Bulldogs defensively with 21 digs, while Feldman contributed with 43 assists and 17 digs.

For Western Carolina, Piechota and Carrie Minogue each posted 12 kills apiece, while Paige McConlogue tallied a match-high 26 digs.

Gardner-Webb totaled 48 errors for the five set match, while Catamounts committed 35 total errors for the match.

"We spotted too many points off our unforced errors in sets one and two, but I give the team credit. They fought back into the match and just stalled in the fifth set," commented Coach Sayles. "Amanda Murphy and Emily Holte did a great job off the bench. They helped stabilize us when the match almost got away."

Gardner-Webb (2-8) will return to action tomorrow, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will take on Charleston Southern at 10 a.m. and Wofford at 3 p.m. on day two of the Spartan Classic hosted by USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C.

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