CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston recorded a season-best 14 blocks en route to a 3-1 match victory (25-18, 20-25, 25-11, 25-19) over The Citadel in the first conference contest of the season at TD Arena on Friday night.

College of Charleston (9-7, 1-0) finished the match with a .236 attack percentage while holding The Citadel (6-6, 0-1) to just .015 from the floor. The 14 team blocks marked the fourth time that CofC has reached double digits in blocks this season.

Freshman Sloane White continued her strong week by leading the Cougars with 14 kills and three block assists. Senior Elyse Chubb hit an impressive .500 as she racked up 10 kills on 16 attempts and turned back seven attempts for blocks.

Junior Kelly Kolich tallied nine kills and Sarah Havel made seven kills and seven total blocks. Kallie McKown registered 27 assists and 11 digs for the double-double while Emily Shelton led the team with 16 digs.

The visiting Bulldogs were led by Kaona Mercer's 10 kills and three blocks. Kathryn Johnston contributed nine kills and Cassie Uribe tallied eight.

The Cougars broke open a tight first set by reeling off five straight points including two aces from Lizzie Theesfeld to take a 12-7 lead, followed by another six-point run to lead 18-8 after numerous Bulldog errors. The Citadel committed thirteen total attacking and receiving errors in the first set and College of Charleston was able to capitalize. College of Charleston won the first set, 25-18, behind a .348 hitting percentage.

The Citadel responded strongly in the second set, using team defense to notch four blocks and 15 digs. The Bulldogs scored the set's first five points. Despite a furious a College of Charleston comeback that saw the Cougars take a 13-10 lead, The Citadel went on the offensive again behind the play of Mercer, breaking a 15-15 tie to lead 21-16. The Cougars could not make up the margin in the final points and The Citadel tied the match by winning set two, 25-20.

College of Charleston bounced back from a low hitting percentage in the second set to put up an efficient .355 in the third as the Cougars rolled to a 25-11 third set victory. White landed five kills with no errors for a .556 attacking mark. After being tied at four, the Cougars went on consecutive four- and five-point swings, eventually leading 21-10. Kills from White and Theesfeld ended the set quickly to the Cougars' advantage.

The CofC defense took charge in the fourth and final set as Shelton tallied seven digs, many of which in spectacular form. The Cougars combined for five blocks with Havel accounting for one solo block and two block assists. The Cougar run came after The Citadel pulled to within four at 14-10. The Cougars won six of the next eight points to lead 20-12. Despite a furious Bulldog rally to bring the margin to 21-18, College of Charleston won the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.

UNCG 3, Elon 2

GREENSBORO, N.C. - After dropping the first two sets to UNCG, the Elon volleyball team came back to win the next two and tie the match before falling 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 7-15) inside Fleming Gym. The Phoenix is now 11-5 after dropping its first Southern Conference match of the season, while the Spartans hold a 1-0 SoCon record and an 8-8 season record. 

Freshman Chanelle Smith and junior Allison Johnson each finished with a double-double with 17 kills/18 digs and 11 kills/17 digs, respectively. Senior Traci Stewart and junior Carly Ledbetter both recorded nine kills, while senior Megan McMahon recorded 44 assists.

On defense, junior Ali Deatsch tallied 35 digs with senior Caroline Lemke earning four blocks.

After falling behind the Spartans, 5-1, in the first set, Elon scored four straight off two kills by Lemke, one by C. Smith and an ace by Deatsch to tie it at five-all. UNCG moved on top by three, 10-7, forcing Tendler to call her first timeout of the match. Out of the break, the Phoenix scored three of the next four with kills by Lemke and freshman Kris Harris to cut the deficit to one, 11-10. The Spartans took as much as a five-point lead, 15-10, but Elon slowly chipped away at UNCG's advantage with strong play at the right side of the net by Stewart. A kill by freshman Danielle Smith pulled the Phoenix back within one, 21-20, forcing UNCG to call a timeout. The Spartans went on to win the set, 25-21, and take the match lead.

Johnson kept the maroon and gold in the set early with back-to-back kills to make it 3-2 in favor of the Spartans. But Elon quickly found itself in a big hole after UNCG went on a 12-2 run to take a 15-4 advantage. Down 22-12, Elon scored five unanswered off kills from Johnson and C. Smith and a block by Lemke and C. Smith to pull within five. After a Spartans score, a quick three-point run cut the UNCG advantage to just four, 23-19. However, the Spartans won the next two points to take the set, 25-19.

Kills by C. Smith, junior Celia Rose Eddy and Stewart helped give Elon its first lead of the match, 4-3, at the beginning of the third set. Up by three, 11-8, another kill by C. Smith and a solo block by Johnson gave the Phoenix a five-point advantage, 13-8. After the Spartans pulled within one, 15-14, the maroon and gold went on a 5-2 run to regain a five-point lead, 21-16. An ace by C. Smith put the Phoenix up by seven, 24-17, and led the way into a 25-18 third-set win to keep the match alive.

Elon kept the momentum going into the fourth set as an ace by Deatsch, who ranks 10^th in the country in aces per set, put the Phoenix up 4-2. Up 8-5, a kill by C. Smith started a three-point run that gave the maroon and gold a six-point advantage, 11-5, and forced UNCG to call a timeout. After a quick point by the Spartans, Elon scored three unanswered, including two more kills by C. Smith to go up by nine, 15-6, and cause UNCG to call its final timeout. Back-to-back kills by Stewart and Johnson helped Elon maintain its nine-point lead, 18-9, until three-straight scores by the Spartans caused the Phoenix to take its first timeout of the set. Kills by C. Smith and Eddy gave Elon a 24-15 set-point opportunity, but three unanswered by the Spartans delayed the win until another kill by C. Smith, her eighth of the set, tied the match with a 25-18 victory.

The Spartans jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth and final set before a kill by Lemke pulled the Phoenix within two, 6-4. UNCG maintained its lead going up by five, 10-5, and force Elon's last timeout of the match. A kill by C. Smith would put the Phoenix within seven, 11-6, but the Spartans' lead was too much to recover from as UNCG won the set, 15-7, and the match.