The Citadel 3, Charleston Southern 2
Charleston, S.C. ? Down 2-1, The Citadel volleyball program rallied to overtake cross-town rival Charleston Southern, 3-2, in both programs’ season debut Tuesday night at McAlister Field House. Junior Rachel Sanders led all players with 19 kills while freshman Tatum Jestila added 14 kills in her debut performance as a Bulldog.
Both Sanders and Jestila recorded double-doubles in the match, notching 15 digs each while junior Ashley Winter led all players defensively, registering 22 digs. Freshman Caitlin Vyborny was the fourth Cadet with 10-plus digs, registering 15 in the match.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout a match that witnessed 25 tie scores and 17 lead changes, five of which came in the pivotal game five. Jestila stepped up defensively late in the match, recording eight digs across the final two games.
“I knew starting off it was going to be a tight match with both teams having so much young talent on the floor,” said head coach Carolyn Geiger. “We had several freshmen step up tonight and play well. We started off slow, but I think we found our rhythm in the middle of game two. We pushed through together as a team despite having some periods where we struggled.”
Charleston Southern was led by Renae Popovich and Nichole Diller’s 16 kills apiece while Ashley Kadatz added 15 and Amanda Hill put down 10 kills. Hill led the Bucs defensively with 17 digs while Popovich registered 12 digs.
The Bulldogs hit .212 as a team while CSU only managed to hit .164. Charleston Southern was dangerous in their serving game with 16 aces but negated their own advantage by serving up 13 errors. CSU put down 72 kills to the Bulldogs’ 55 and outblocked The Citadel, 8-6.
Charleston Southern held a 13-12 lead late in the decisive fifth game before a Kadatz service error tied the match and put the serving responsibilities into the hands of freshman Jessica Maas. Despite the incredible amount of pressure placed upon her shoulders, the Richmond, Texas
Georgia Southern 3, Kennesaw State 1
KENNESAW, Ga. --- Freshman Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) posted 11 kills and a .600 hitting percentage to help the Georgia Southern volleyball team to a 3-1 (30-23, 30-32, 30-26, 30-21) victory over Kennesaw State Tuesday night at the KSU Convention Center.
GSU evens its mark at 2-2 on the season while KSU drops to 1-4.
“Kennesaw State has come a long way,” said GSU head coach Nicole McCray. “When you walk into the gym, you wouldn’t be able to tell they have such a new program. The coach, Valerie Jones, has done a great job with her program and has a great group of athletes. They were ready for everything we had and we were fortunate to get a win.”
Georgia Southern took game one 30-23 despite a .039 hitting percentage. The offense improved only slightly in game two (.089) as Kennesaw State saved a game point to even the match at 1-1. The two teams were separated by no more than two points after KSU led 14-9. The Eagles never trailed in the final two games of the contest
“We passed better at the end of the match which enabled us to run our offense,” added McCray. “We struggled with passing, especially in game two, but once we got settled and got used to the gym our setters were able to run our offense and spread it out more than what we did at the beginning.”
Junior Christy Dowd (Indianapolis, Ind.) recorded a double-double with a team-high 14 kills and 10 digs. Junior Bianca Julio (Curitiba, Brazil) and senior Flavia Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had 20 and 19 digs, respectively. Junior Mae Chabra (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) dished out 45 assists.
UNC Greensboro 1, East Carolina 3
GREENVILLE, NC ?East Carolina’s Kelly Wernert tallied a game-high 23 kills to lead East Carolina to a 3-1 win over UNC Greensboro on Tuesday night in Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum. The setback gives the Spartans their first loss of the season.
UNCG (4-1), played their second four-game match of year, and fell by scores of 30-24, 30-20, 18-30, 30-24. The Spartans had four players with double-digit kills and were led by Branagan Fuller who tallied a team-high 15. Catherine Hanners led UNCG on the defensive end and collected 15 digs while Lisa Fawell dished out 36 assists in the loss.
The Spartans started the match slow and never led in the first game failing to match the offensive prowess of Wernert. The second game was much closer and UNCG managed to keep the score close in a match that featured six lead changes. A kill from Kailtlyn Nortz tied the game at 15 but that was as close as the Spartans would get as the Pirates went on an 8-1 run to take a
23-16 lead en route to a 30-20 win.
UNCG rebounded in the third game and were able to take a 30-18 win. The Spartans never trailed and were able to cut the Pirate lead to 2-1 but East Carolina rebounded in the fourth game. The game was tight in the early goings and featured five lead changes within the first 12 points scored.
East Carolina rushed out to a 24-16 lead before UCNG went on a small run to cut the lead to 25-18 but it wouldn’t get any closer as the Pirates claimed the 3-1 match victory.
native served out the match as Charleston Southern two consecutive attack errors to clinch the Bulldog victory.
A rowdy crowd of 227 was on hand to witness just the second Bulldog victory over the Bucs in school history. The victory marks the first time the two teams have battled in a five-game match.
“As a collective whole, it was a great team win, a win over our cross-town rival made even sweeter by the fact it was only the second time we have been victorious against Charleston Southern. The crowd boosted us in some tough periods and the atmosphere was fantastic. I would like to thank everyone that came out ? it made a huge difference. Hopefully we will build upon that support and have such a great crowd every game.”
College Of Charleston 1, Coastal Carolina 3
The College of Charleston volleyball team opened its season Tuesday with a 3-1 (29-31, 19-30, 33-31, 30-26) loss at Coastal Carolina.
The Cougars and Chanticleers (1-3) will face off again Oct. 16 in Charleston, S.C. in the second of two matches this season.
The Chanticleers took the first two games from the Cougars but CofC answered back with a come from behind victory and won the third game by a score of 33-31. The two teams went point for point in the second match, with Coastal Carolina taking the game from the Cougars.
Freshman Whitney Russell led the offense with 18 kills out of an attempted 48. The 2006 SoCon Freshman of the year Emily Sawin added 16 kills. Paige Johnson added a service ace to the offensive production of the night. Lindsey Kane dished out 48 assists and added 7 kills.
The Cougar defense was anchored by senior Megan Parkerson who tallied 30 digs. Charleston native Cole Dawley, who also tallied 8 kills, added 11 digs to enhance the Cougar defense. Senior Annie Uthe added a block, nine kills, and two digs.