College of Charleston 3, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? The College of Charleston spoiled the Davidson Wildcats volleyball team?s Southern Conference opener with a 3-0 win (30-21, 30-26,30-13) on Friday night at Belk Arena.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-5 and a perfect 2-0 in conference play. The Wildcats record evens to 8-8, and they open conference play at 0-1.
Davidson will take on the Citadel (5-8, 0-1) tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Belk Arena. The Cougars blanked the Bulldogs 3-0 in both team?s conference opener on Tuesday.
Senior outside hitter Liz Williamson led the Wildcats with 12 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Kittery Neale chipped in 10. Senior setter Jenna Dykstra totaled 33 assists.
Annie Uthe paced the Cougars with 14 kills in just 17 swings to hit a match-leading .706, while Emily Sawin added 11 for Charleston, who outhit Davidson .427 to .164. Lindsey Kane posted 42 assists, while Marie Dobrenz led the Cougar defense with 14 digs.
The first game was back-and-forth with the score was tied three times early, with neither team ever managing more than three points at a time. But with the ?Cats trailing just a point at 4-5, the Cougars started to pull away for the 30-21 victory. Sawin and Uthe each had seven kills for Charleston, while Williamson led the Wildcat attack with five in the game. The Cougars hit
.417 as a team, while the Wildcats posted 12 kills in 33 attempts (.242).
Davidson again put up a fight in game two, with things close at the beginning and the score a close 7-8 through the first 15 points. With Sawin serving, the Cougars put together a 4-0 run to pull ahead 11-8 and marched on for the 30-26 win to take control of the match.
In the final game, the Cougars won the first six points to build a lead the Wildcats could not overcome. Charleston went on a seven-point run to extend its lead to 13-2, before adding another four-point run to go ahead 18-4.
With a couple of kills from Pierucci and Williamson, the ?Cats were able to get something going offensively, but the hole was too deep, as Davidson dropped the final game 30-13 to surrender the match.
Appalachian State 3, The Citadel 1
BOONE, N.C. ? Junior Lorelle Rau (Oakland Park, Fla.) recorded a double-double, including a career-high 19 digs, as the Appalachian State University volleyball team defeated The Citadel, 3-1 (30-18, 27-30, 30-17, 30-13), in its Southern Conference home opener, Friday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers improve to 2-0 in SoCon play and 8-6 overall, while the Bulldogs drop to 0-2 in conference action and 5-9 on the season. ASU out-hit The Citadel, 68 kills compared to 39, and out-blocked the visitors, 18-8.
Rau helped anchor the defense with her career-high 19 digs, while freshman Cassie Engelgau (Lake Arrowhead, Calif.) matched her teammate with 19. Rau added 52 of the team’s 64 assists.
Junior Dianna Thomas (Mobile, Ala.) returned to her solid hitting ways with a team-high 17 kills for a .462 attack percentage. She added five digs and tied a match-high with five blocks. Sophomore Carla Durham (Dallas, Ga.) chipped in five blocks and nine kills.
Senior Chrissy Finch (Lake Zurich, Ill.) put together her seventh double-double of the season, and third consecutive, with 14 digs and 14 kills. She finished the night with a .324 hitting mark. Junior Brittany Zahn (Charlotte, N.C.) continued her streak with 16 kills, having recorded double-digit kills in all 14 matches this season.
The Citadel’s setter, Emily Hill, put up a double-double of her own with
11 digs and 30 assists. Tiffany Edwards and Rachel Sanders anchored the visitors’ defense with 18 and 16 digs, respectively. Offensively, Samantha Parisi paced the Bulldogs, finishing with 11 kills.
Appalachian took game one by a score of 30-18, before The Citadel fought back to win game two, 30-27, and tie the match at one game apiece. Six kills by Thomas in game three helped lift ASU to a victory and a 2-1 match lead. In game four the Mountaineers held The Citadel to a -.053 hitting percentage on their way to a 30-13 win and 3-1 match victory.
The Mountaineers return to action, Saturday, September 23 as they host reigning SoCon Champion College of Charleston at 3 p.m. at the Holmes Center. The match can be followed live on the web via lives stats by clicking here.