College of Charleston 3, Winthrop 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) posted match-highs of 24 assists and nine digs while sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) drilled a match-best 12 kills as the College of Charleston (5-3) defeated Winthrop 3-0 (3-5) Friday evening at the Carolina Classic in Columbia, South Carolina. The Cougars picked up the victory by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20.
A back-and-forth affair early on, the two teams battled through five ties and three lead changes before Winthrop took a 9-8 lead. A pair of kills by sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) then sparked a 7-0 run that put the Cougars ahead 15-9 and included a total of four kills and two blocks.
Consecutive points by the Eagles made the score 15-11 before a 4-1 run by CofC pushed the lead to 19-12. Winthrop narrowed the margin to 20-15 over the next several plays but would get no closer as Charleston put the set away 25-19 and took a 1-0 match lead. Cole Dawley notched nine assists and eight digs in the set.
In Game 2, the Eagles took an early one-point lead before pushing out to a 9-5 advantage behind a 4-0 run. They would maintain that lead until the Cougars used a 5-2 mini-run to close to 11-10. Winthrop responded with a 4-1 run of their own to push the lead back to 15-11 before CofC charged to the forefront with a 7-1 run to take the lead at 18-16.
The set continued to be one dominated by runs as Winthrop rallied to tie the score at 19-19 and Charleston responded with back-to-back points to pull back ahead at 21-19. After an exchange of points made it 22-20, the Cougars finished off the set with three kills to claim the 25-21 victory and go up 2-0 in the match.
Facing a quick end to their night, the Eagles came out strong in the third game, racing out to a 7-3 advantage. Four kills by sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) led the Cougars back to within 11-8 before Winthrop extended its lead to 14-9. With the score at 16-10, Russell caught fire as she drilled three consecutive kills to key a 6-0 run and force an Eagle timeout with the score tied at 16-16.
The Cougars strong play continued after the break as Russell blocked the next attack attempt and the Charleston defense forced back-to-back attack errors to go up 19-16. Two straight points by the Eagles made it 19-18 before a 6-2 run featuring five kills gave the Cougars a 25-20 set victory and a 3-0 decision in the match.
Senior middle hitter Shannon Sitzmann led the offensive attack for the Eagles with a match-high 10 kills and sophomore setter Kelsey Hall finished with a team-high 21 assists. Defensively, sophomore outside hitter Kaley Viola led Winthrop with eight digs along with five kills while sophomore outside hitter Kellie Sellers finished with seven kills and seven digs.
Whitney Russell led Charleston with a match-high 12 kills, seven of which came in the decisive third game, while Cole Dawley did it on offense and defense with match-highs of 24 assists and nine digs to go along with six kills and two blocks. Sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) had a solid all-around match with eight kills, six assists, five digs and three service aces. Junior middle blocker Jennifer Darty (Orlando, Fla.) finished the night with a match-high eight blocks.
The Cougars wrap up the tournament against 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Champion Clemson at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 13.
NOTES
The match marked the first televised match in program history as action was carried locally on SCETV ... the Cougars have now won their last four meetings against Winthrop with the last loss coming on September 5, 1998 (3-0).
South Carolina 3, College of Charleston 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Sophomore middle blocker Megan Laughlin led three Gamecocks in double figure kills with 15 as South Carolina (6-1) defeated the College of Charleston (4-3) Friday morning at the Carolina Classic in Columbia, South Carolina. USC picked up the victory by scores of 25-13, 25-16 and 25-22.
After a brief 1-0 Cougar lead in Game 1, South Carolina wasted little time in putting together a 5-1 run to jump out to a 6-2 lead. Following a 3-1 Cougar run that narrowed the gap to 7-5, the Gamecocks charged back with a 7-1 surge to push their lead to 14-6 and carried that to a 25-12 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
South Carolina began the second set by taking advantage of an attack error and pounding a kill and a block for an early 3-0 lead before extending out to a 9-4 advantage. The Cougars put together a 5-3 stretch over the next several points to close to within 12-9 before the Gamecocks responded with six straight points to push the lead to 18-9. With the score at 21-10, Charleston mounted a late rally, posting a 5-1 run, to narrow the margin to 22-15. At that point, USC rattled off the three of the next four points to close out the set with a 25-16 victory.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Cougars took an early 2-0 lead before the Gamecocks stormed back with three straight points to take a 3-2 lead. Charleston would keep it close as they allowed South Carolina only a three point lead at 9-6 and stayed within one to two points through the first half of the set. With the score at 11-10, USC pounded four kills and took advantage of an error to go up 16-11 before a CofC kill snapped the run.
The Gamecocks eventually pushed their lead to 18-12 before a kill and a pair of service aces from junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) made the score 18-15 and forced a USC timeout. A return error and Cougar block made it 18-17 before an exchange of points put the score at 19-18. Back-to-back points gave South Carolina a 21-18 advantage, equaling their largest of the set. Sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) then narrowed the margin to 21-20 with a kill and service ace.
With USC leading 22-21, Sawin drilled a set-tying kill to make it 22-22 before the Gamecocks rallied for the final three points to take the game 25-22 and the match 3-0.
Megan Laughlin led three Gamecocks in double-figure kills with a match-high 15 while junior outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic finished with 13 kills and a match-high 12 digs. Junior setter Bridget Denson-Dorman dished out a match-high 50 assists while junior defensive specialist Sarah Cline finished with 11 digs and redshirt-senior middle blocker Belita Salters posted 12 kills.
For the Cougars, sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) finished with a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs while Emily Sawin added nine kills. Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) led the team with 18 assists while and chipped in with six digs and four kills. Freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished the day with a team-high tying seven digs.
The Cougars conclude opening day action with the program’s first ever television match when they take on Winthrop at 5:00 p.m. The match will be carried locally on SCETV.
NOTES:
The loss snaps the Cougars two-match winning streak against the Gamecocks dating back to 2005.
Georgia Southern 3, UNC Wilmington 0
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern volleyball team hit .297 and recorded 13 blocks in the Eagles’ 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16) victory over UNC Wilmington Friday afternoon at the Bash in the Boro.
GSU ends a three-match losing streak to even their record at 4-4. UNCW drops to 5-2.
“I thought it was our most disciplined effort of the season,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “I thought they came out focused and I was really impressed with the little things that we took care of. That was one of the things we stressed and hadn’t been able to execute. This was the first time that we took what we’ve been doing in our training and it translated on the floor for us.”
The Eagles held the Seahawks to a .086 attack percentage (second-lowest this season by an opponent) and recorded 13 blocks ? eight assists from sophomore Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) and five from sophomore Blaire Brueggemeyer (Burleson, Texas).
“We worked hard on our blocking this week,” said Callihan. “It had been a strength for us the first weekend and we kind of lost it last weekend ? just missing a lot of assignments and too much guessing ? so we really worked on it this week. It was good to see some of the things that we made an emphasis on at practice be our strong point today.”
Freshman Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) recorded a match-high 11 kills and no errors and Uzoh was also flawless with six kills on 15 attempts. Nine different players tallied a kill.
“That’s exactly what we want to see,” said Callihan. “We’ve got some good young talent but we just feel like we want to spread the ball around. Bethany had a great match for us but she was a game-time decision as far as an ailment ? she had been taking it light this week ? so it forced our setters to look for some other people. Our setters gained some confidence through the week and our attackers felt more comfortable. So I think that’s why we saw the well-rounded effort as far as our attacking was concerned.”
Junior Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) had a team-best 15 digs and Sanford completed her fourth straight double-double with 12.
The Eagles return to the court at 7 p.m. when they take on Charleston Southern.
Georgia Southern 3, Charleston Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Freshman Bethany Sanford recorded 16 kills and a .419 hitting percentage to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) volleyball sweep of Charleston Southern Friday night at the Bash in the Boro.
GSU improves to 5-4 on the season and has won both matches thus far in the tournament. CSU drops to 3-6.
“I thought it was a good effort,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “I thought we came out and established ourselves early and that’s what we had been talking about ? trying to make an impact in the first 10 points of the game and set the tone for the match and I thought we did that in both game one and game two. We lost that a little bit in game three but overall I thought it was a good effort.”
The Eagles held their second straight opponent to under a .100 attack percentage and totaled 11 blocks. The Lady Buccaneers committed 22 errors for a .054 percentage.
“We did a good job blocking,” said Callihan. “We did a better job of picking up our hitters early so there wasn’t as much guesswork. We had a good feel for what their attackers were going to do before the ball was set. We’ve been working on trying to shade ahead of hitters and being ready early and it’s really starting to pay dividends for us.”
Sophomore Blaire Brueggemeyer (Burleson, Texas) tallied 37 assists and was one of three players with four blocks, joining sophomore Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) and Sanford.
Sanford, a native of Avondale, Ariz., notches her fifth straight double-double with 10 digs. Over her last two matches she is averaging 4.5 kills per set and a .421 hitting percentage.
“Bethany’s been great all season for us,” said Callihan. “She’s got a great all-around game, she’s a high-level attacker but she keeps her errors low which is probably her best attribute right now. You don’t see a true freshman come out and take that many swings and only have three errors. I’m very pleased with what she’s doing and I just hope the work ethic continues.”
Both teams wrap up play tomorrow. Georgia Southern takes on Eastern Michigan at noon and Charleston Southern faces UNC Wilmington at 10 a.m.
Elon 3, Robert Morris 2
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon volleyball team defeated Robert Morris 3-2 (20-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18, 16-14) in a thrilling, come-from-behind opening match of the Robert Morris Invitational in Moon Township, Pa. With the win, Elon improves to 6-2 this season, while Robert Morris drops to 6-2.
Elon fell behind 0-2, before fighting back to take the third set 26-24. The Phoenix posted a 25-18 victory in the fourth set that forced a deciding fifth set. Elon trailed 14-13 in the final set before scoring three consecutive points to take the set 16-14 and the match. The match marked the first five-set match the Phoenix have participated in this season. The team is 4-0 in matches decided by more than three sets.
Junior Emily Regan and freshman Traci Stewart each recorded a double-double in the win. Regan paced the Elon offensive attack with 44 assists, while also recording 11 digs. Stewart continued her success with 14 kills and 15 digs.
Sarah Schermerhorn led the team in kills with 15 for a hitting percentage of .556. Freshman Carolina Lemke added 10 kills in the win.
Defensively for the Phoenix, Schermerhorn notched five solo blocks and one assisted block. Stewart added three solo and one assisted block to the defense that held the Colonials to a .209 team hitting percentage. Elon had three players in double-digit digs in Kelley Blakewood (14), Regan (11), and Stewart (15).
For Robert Morris, it was Amanda Graham that led the team in kills with 19. Charla Drabant also reached double-digits in kills with 14. Pacing the offense was Alyssa Bennett with 43 assists.
Alaina Gibson recorded a match-high 18 digs in the effort, while Emily Wolthuis and Drabant added 11 each. The Colonials had five players record one block in the loss.
Elon returns to the court at 3 p.m. when they face Youngstown State in the third match of the Robert Morris Invitational. Results and full coverage of the match will be available at www.elonphoenix.com .
Elon 3, Youngstown State 0
MOON TOWNSHIP, PA. ? The Elon volleyball team defeated Youngstown State 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-17) at the Robert Morris Invitational in Moon Township, Pa. With the win, the Phoenix improve to 7-2, while Youngstown State drops to 4-3 on the season.
Traci Stewart earned match-high 12 kills in 20 chances for a hitting percentage of .600. Also earning double-digit kills were Caroline Lemke with 11 and Sarah Schermerhorn with 10. Emily Regan set the pace of Elon’s offense with 23 assists. As a team, Elon recorded five service aces, with Lizzie West leading the way with two.
Defensively for Elon, it was Schermerhorn who came up big for the Phoenix, notching three solo blocks. Stewart added on block to Elon’s total. Kelley Blakewood recorded a match-high 14 digs, while Stewart added 13.
Ruth Boscaljon led the Penguins in kills with eight. Ebony Barbosa and Haley Kapferer each earned seven kills. Karla Everhart paced Youngstown State’s offense with 30 assists.
Tasha Reid and Kapferer led the team in blocks with three assisted blocks a piece. Kaitlin O’Hara notched one solo block and one assisted block.
Elon returns to the floor tomorrow at 9 a.m. when the face Howard in the opening match of Saturday’s competition. The team will also face St. Peter’s tomorrow at 2 p.m. Full coverage of tomorrow’s matches will be available at www.elonphoenix.com .
Western Kentucky 3, Furman 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? The Furman Paladin volleyball team fell in three sets to 34th-ranked Western Kentucky.
After taking an early lead in the first set, the Paladins were unable to hold on, with Western Kentucky tying the match at eight and eventually winning 25-16. The Hilltoppers ran through the second set, winning 25-9.
Down 7-10 in the third set, the Paladins went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-10 lead, but allowed the Hilltoppers to tie the game at 16 and take the set 25-22.
Alison West led the Paladins with 9 kills, while Nicole Palazzo added 6.
Setter Kelsey Salava led the offense with 23 assists and added 3 kills and a .429 attack percentage. Libero Brooke Ellison led the defense with nine digs.
Brittany Bowen led Western Kentucky with nine kills, while three Hilltoppers added eight. As a team, the Hilltoppers out-dug the Paladins
43 to 26.
With the loss, Furman falls to 5-4 on the season, while Western Kentucky remains undefeated at 8-0. The Paladins will face Valparaiso on Friday night in their second match of the tournament.
Valparaiso 3, Furman 1
BOWLING GREEN, Kent. ? The Valparaiso Crusaders downed the Furman Paladins in four sets in volleyball action Friday evening at the Lady Topper Invitational hosted by Western Kentucky.
The Crusaders crushed Furman in the first set, holding the Paladins to only seven kills and a .030 hitting percentage en route to a 25-13 win.
The Paladins rebounded in set two, evening the match at one set apiece with a 29-27 win.
Valparaiso took the third set by a score of 25-18, after taking a 9-5 lead early in the match and never leading by less than three points.
Furman fought back in the fourth game, which featured 18 ties and five lead changes. The two teams were tied at every point from 18 to 23, before senior middle blocker Nicole Palazzo recorded a kill to put Furman up 24-23. Valpo’s Angie Porche responded with three straight kills to help the Crusaders take the match.
Palazzo led the Paladins with 13 kills and two solo blocks, while freshman right side Kelly Kirby and senior outside hitter Alison West each added seven kills for Furman. Libero Brooke Ellison racked up 18 digs and West added 13 defensive saves.
Valpo was led by Porche and Allison Sears, who each recorded 17 kills, and Val Bollenbacher, who added 12. Porche and Bollenbacher both racked up double-doubles, with 17 digs apiece.
With the loss, Furman evens its record at 5-5, while Valpo improves to 7-1 on the season. The Paladins will take the court again on Saturday as they face Tennessee Tech and Miami (Ohio).
Alabama 3, Samford 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team fell to Alabama Friday afternoon in its first match of the Crimson Tide Invitational. The Crimson Tide swept the Bulldogs (25-21, 25-20, 25-22) in three of the closest sets that the Bulldogs have played all year. Samford is now 6-2 on the season while the Tide is 5-2.
“You cannot fault our effort today, or our determination,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “Alabama played a very strong match. In our only other loss on the season, we had some frustration but today we just fought for every point. We will learn how to execute better one some off those plays after 20 and grow from this loss.”
Sara Sears led the Bulldogs with 12 kills while hitting .308 and Rachel Gadberry led in hitting with a .455 percentage while grabbing seven kills and one block assist. Ashley Adams added 10 kills and four digs, while Sheriden Stangohr contributed six kills and three digs.
Hillary Fountain dished out 38 assists and posted four aces and two kills while Courtney Gay grabbed 11 digs, five assists and one ace. Samantha Bland posted five kills and six digs, and Kirstein Sosnowski added two kills and one block assist. Sarah Gardner also added two aces, five digs and one kill.
The Bulldogs continue play at 5 p.m. tonight against the Racers of Murray State. Follow the action via live stats on www.rolltide.com and find a full recap and results on www.samfordsports.com following the completion of the match.
Samford 3, Murray State 2
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team won a hard fought match with Murray State Friday evening, taking three out of five games (25-19, 26-28, 26-28, 25-22, 15-8). The Bulldogs (7-2, 0-0 SoCon) came back from a 2-1 deficit and grabbed their seventh win of the season taking a 4-3 lead in the overall series with Murray State.
Ashley Adams broke a school record for kills in a single match in the contest against Murray State. Adams posted 31kills and grabbed her third double-double on the season adding 14 kills, while hitting .435 and grabbing one assist. Kirstein Sosnowski led the Bulldogs in hitting with .500, having only one error on 24 attempts and grabbing one kill. She also added two digs and two block assists. Leading the Bulldogs in digs was Courtney Gay, posting 18 digs while having one kill and one ace.
Hillary Fountain had a team-high 65 assists with 14 digs, making that her first double-double of the season. She also had five kills, five block assists and two aces. Sheriden Stangohr had a team-high seven blocks, two solo and five assisted. She also added 11 kills, hitting .308, five digs, one assists and one ace. Sara Sears knocked down 13 kills with three digs, one assists and two block assists. Rachel Gadberry had six kills, four block assists, one assist and on dig while Samantha Bland added nine digs and one assist. Sarah Gardner posted 11 digs, two aces and one assist while Katie Luckman added three digs and one kill.
The Bulldogs will wrap up play in the Crimson Tide Invitational tomorrow at noon when they take on the Bulls of South Florida. Follow the action via live stats on www.rolltide.com and find a full recap and results on www.samfordsports.com following the completion of the match.
Troy 3, Chattanooga 0
CONWAY, S.C. ? The weekend got off on a sour note for the Chattanooga volleyball team on Friday, as the Lady Mocs fell to Troy 3-0, in the first game of the Courtyard by Marriot Chanticleer Invitational. The Trojans took the first three sets of the match, 25-23, 25-19, and 26-24, to drop UTC to 2-5 on the season.
Jessica Scott paced the team in the loss with nine kills on the afternoon. Freshmen Ellie Kuhn continued the strong start to her UTC career with seven on only 11 attempts. She committed one error for a .545 hitting percentage, the highest on the team. Setter Michaela Huff aided the offense with 26 assists, which tied for the match-high with Troy’s Megan Henderson. Lara Newberry continued her assault on the NCAA’s record books with 13 digs in the match, which led the team, and tied for the most in the game.
The Lady Mocs opened up the match storming out of the gates, as UTC scored 14 of the opening set’s 18 points. The Trojans would then answer with a six point run to put Troy within four. Troy would get within one at the 17-16 mark of the set, only to see UTC pull back ahead by scoring four of the next five points. The Trojans answered right back however, with five straight points to take the late lead, their first since scoring the first point of the set. Once Troy regained the lead, it would not relinquish it as the Trojans took the opening set 25-23. The Lady Mocs outhit their opponents .237-.132 in the set, thanks to six of Scott’s kills, and eight of Newberry’s digs, both the most in the frame.
The second set was a polar opposite of the first for UTC in regards to offense. The Lady Mocs had a team hitting percentage of only .030, as the Trojans took a 2-0 lead with the 25-19 win. The set started with both teams exchanging points all the way to the 4-4 mark. From there, the Trojans went on runs of four and six points and soon found themselves up 15-6. The Lady Mocs would not lie down and die however, as UTC went on runs of its own to eventually climb back within three at the 22-19 mark. Unfortunately, that would be the last point of the set for Chattanooga, as Troy ended the set with three straight points to end the set, and give the Trojans a 2-0 lead. Aurore Kullak provided the offense in the set for the Lady Mocs, as the sophomore tallied four of her seven kills in the frame.
The third set of the match began much like the second for the Lady Mocs in regards to the set’s scoring. Both teams remained very tight throughout the set’s opening points, all the way to a 7-all tie, the first of 12 ties in the set. Unlike the first two frames of the match, neither team could piece together a long rally. Kuhn and Ashley Yeager provided the majority of the offense for UTC with three kills apiece. Kuhn was extremely efficient as the San Antonio, Texas native posted a .600 hitting percentage. The Lady Mocs would find themselves down match point late, only to tie the match up at 24 with a Scott kill. The Trojans would prove to be too tough in the end however, as Troy finished off the Lady Mocs with back-to-back kills from Meghan Gilroy, who would finish with a match-high 14 kills.
Chattanooga will return to action on Saturday, as the Lady Mocs have two games on the slate. At 10 a.m., UTC will take on Georgia State, and to wrap up the tournament, the Lady Mocs will play the invitational’s host, Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Binghamton 1
CHARLOTTSVILLE, Va. - Four players recorded double-figure kills as Appalachian State University volleyball picked up its second-straight win with a 3-1 victory over Binghamton in the Jefferson Cup opener on Friday afternoon, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19 and 28-26.
Lauren Swecker led the Mountaineers (2-6) with a season-high 17 kills and a .244 hitting percentage to go along with 14 of ASU's 63 digs. Jordan Jesberg nearly matched Swecker and posted a double-double of her own with a career-high 16 kills and 12 digs, and an identical .244 hitting percentage.
Maggie Seeds had arguably the best match of her young career, as the freshman put down 11 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and a pir of blocks. Junior libero Cassie Engelgau led the team with 15 digs. It was her fifth double-figure dig performance of the season.
Three of the day's four sets were decided by just two points, as a remarkable 10 of 29 sets for the season have been. ASU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off a 26-24 first set win. Both teams hit .178 in the opener with 14 kills.
Binghamton (3-5) knotted the match with a 25-23 win in the second set, despite the Apps hitting .333 with 16 kills. After the intermission ASU regained its swagger from the first set and held the Bearcats to a .000 hitting percentage en route to a 25-19 win. The Mountaineers then closed out the match by squeaking past BU 28-26 in the fourth set.
ASU pounded 17 kills in the final stanza to finish the match with a team .226 hitting percentage. Each team picked up five aces, including two from Charissa Clearman, and the Apps collected eight blocks compared to seven for Binghamton. Clearman notched her first double-double of the season with 44 assists and 11 digs - both season bests.
Senior Carla Durham was a part of six blocks for the squad, which upped her career total to 316 block assists. She moved into sole possession of fourth place on ASU's all-time list and is now just one behind Deanna Kean. First place may be within reach for Durham by the end of the season, as Stefanie Panzer blocked 417 in her four years on the mountain.
ASU has now had 10 of its 29 sets on the season decided by the minimum two points, compared to 24 of 125 sets in 2007.
The Mountaineers close out the tournament Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. match against Virginia Commonwealth and a 7 p.m. tilt with host Virginia.
Davidson 3, Charlotte 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Sophomore outside hitter Sarabeth Peele tallied a match-high 19 kills to lead the 'Cats to a thrilling 3-2 win (25-20, 17-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-10) over cross-county rival Charlotte in the team's opening match at the Mizuno Wildcat Classic on Friday night at Belk Arena.
Peele also hit a match-high .348 (19-3-46) and had six kills on 10 swings in the fourth set to send the match to a fifth.
"We were down 2-1, and I wasn't really happy with the way that we were playing," head coach Tim Cowie said. "But I thought that we did a great job regrouping and refocusing, and we really took control of game four. I felt the momentum shift at the end of the third game, and I thought we did a good job capitalizing on that."
Davidson improves to 2-5 on the season. Senior middle blocker Kittery Neale also posted double-digits with 10 kills, while sophomore setter Hayley Lawson picked up assists on 39 of the Wildcats’ 50 kills. Freshman Erin Lupfer tied a single-match record with nine service aces, including five in the fourth set to force the decisive set. Holt Hathaway fired nine aces against UNC Greensboro on Oct. 28, 1988.
Charlotte, who drops to 5-4, got 17 kills from Kathleen Hicks and 10 from Kara Raker. Setter Courtney Cowles had a match-high 43 assists, while Carly Romberg led all players with 21 digs.
In the opening set, the 'Cats took an early 5-2 lead behind the balanced attack of Peele, Neale and freshman Madison Benedict. Charlotte knotted the score at five and flirted with the lead for a few points, but couldn't pull away. With the score tied at 10, the 'Cats won a couple of points to take a slight lead and opened a 15-12 lead behind a 5-2 run. Charlotte took a timeout and regrouped, winning three straight to tie the score at 15, but Lawson got the possession back for Davidson, who would hold the lead the rest of the way, for a 25-20 win.
Controlling the second set from the start, Charlotte jumped out to a commanding 13-6 lead and went on to even the match at a set a piece with the 25-17 win. In the third set, the 49ers again pulled in front early, 6-3, but the 'Cats kept it close. A kill from Peele and a hitting error put Davidson within one, 11-10, but Charlotte would win three straight points to take a slim, but sufficient 14-10 lead. Davidson would never get closer in the set, as Charlotte pulled ahead 2-1 in the match with the 25-18 win.
Peele recorded the first point of the fourth set, and Davidson dominated play the rest of the way. A hitting error on Charlotte gave Davidson a 9-6 lead, and after a 49er timeout, the 'Cats opened an 18-8 gap behind an eight-point serve, including five aces, from Lupfer. Charlotte fought off seven set-points, but Davidson evened the match with a 25-19 win.
In the fifth and final set, Davidson got off to the necessary good start and took a 6-1 lead on a Peele putaway and an ace from freshman Christine Perzinski. Kaitlin Knight put the niners within a score, 8-7, but back-to-back kills from Madison Benedict and Peele shifted the momentum towards the 'Cats, who won the match, fittingly, on a Lupfer ace, 15-10.
George Mason (2-5) defeated Rutgers (1-6), 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-20) in the first match of the day. The final day of the Wildcat Classic will feature four matches, kicking off with Charlotte and Rutgers at 10 a.m. Davidson will hit the court for the first time at 12:30 taking on George Mason, and after the Patriots battle the niners at 4:30, the 'Cats will wrap up tournament action with a 7 p.m. showdown with Rutgers.