Samford 3, Marshall 0

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- After a tough opening weekend in Miami, Samford volleyball rebounded in a big way with a convincing sweep over Marshall in the opening match of the Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky.

Samford (1-3) found a strong rhythm thanks to a steady offensive attack, as the Bulldogs held the 47-25 edge in kills, limiting the opponent to a .027 hitting percentage.  Michaela Reesor led Samford in kills with 14 to go along with nine digs.  Elizabeth Neisler also earned double-digit kills, tallying 12, while Chelsi Carter, Taylor Chao and Alexis Bauer all earned double-digit digs.  Freshman Emily Meitz made her Bulldog debut, earning three kills and four block assists.

It is only Samford’s second win in program history over any current member of the Big East, their first since defeating South Florida in 2008.  Marshall (3-1) struggled offensively, though Laura Der led all players with 16 kills.

The Bulldogs jumped ahead early in the first set, building a 9-6 lead before going on a 5-0 run to stretch the lead even further to 14-6.  A handful of Bulldog errors helped the Thundering Herd to draw a bit closer, as Samford called a timeout with a 15-11 lead.  Samford had a six-point lead, up 19-13, but a kill and back-to-back Marshall service aces forced the Bulldogs to regroup with another timeout.  Up 22-20 late, Samford rallied to knock in three in a row with Louisville native Casey Garvey earning the final point of the frame to give the Bulldogs the 25-20 win.

Samford had another fast start to begin set two, jumping ahead to a 6-1 lead, forcing an early Marshall timeout.  The Bulldog offense continued its steady pace, building as much as a ten-point lead, up 17-7.  A 7-4 run put the Bulldogs in position to seal the frame and it was Garvey who again earned the 25th point, giving Samford its most decisive set victory so far this season, 25-11.

The action was more even in the early stage of set three, with the teams tied at 8-8.  Samford began to build some momentum, moving up 11-9 as Marshall called a timeout.  The teams traded points evenly for the majority of the set, with neither side taking more than a two-point lead.  Tied at 24-24, Garvey knocked in the 25th point and Neisler slammed one home to seal the 26-24 set-three win and the sweep for the Bulldogs.

Samford continues action at the Cardinal Classic tomorrow, as they will face Duke (3-0) at 1:30 p.m. ET and host team Louisville (3-1) at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Elon 3, Gardner-Webb 0

ELON, N.C. – The Elon volleyball team kicked off its annual Elon Phoenix Classic today, August 31, with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) win over Gardner-Webb. The Phoenix improves to 2-3 with the victory, while the Runnin’ Bulldogs drop to 0-5.

Sophomore Kris Harris led all players with 12 kills, while also recording one ace and two blocks. Senior Celia Rose Eddy hit an impressive .533 after eight kills of 15 attempts and no errors. Freshman Ana Nicksic finished the match with 30 assists and three blocks. On defense, senior Ali Deatsch tallied 14 digs, while junior Maggie Reichard recorded eight.

With the first set tied at three, the Phoenix scored three straight with the help of a kill by Harris to take a 6-3 advantage. The Runnin’ Bulldogs would then chip away at Elon’s lead and tie the set again at 14-all. The set remained tied, 19-all, until the maroon and gold went on a 4-0 run off the serve of Reichard to go up 23-19. The Phoenix would go on to win the set, 25-21, with a final kill by Chanelle Smith.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair as the score remained tied every other point until Elon took a three-point lead, 15-12, off a kill by Nicksic. Gardner-Webb responded with the next three points to tie the set at 15-all. With the set tied at 17, C. Smith recorded a kill and an ace to put the Phoenix up two, 19-17. Up by three, 23-20, the Phoenix scored the final two points, including a kill by Megan Gravley, to win the set, 25-20, and take a 2-0 match lead.

With a one-point lead in the third set, 6-5, Elon scored five straight with the help of a block by Eddy and Nicksic, a kill by Eddy and an ace by Harris to go up by six, 11-5. The Phoenix increased its advantage to eight, 18-10, off a kill by Harris and a block by Harris and Nicksic. After a Runnin’ Bulldog timeout, Elon used some GWU mistakes and an ace by Allison Johnson to lead by 10, 21-11. The maroon and gold won the set by a final of 25-13 to earn its second straight match sweep.

Elon will play its remaining two games of the Elon Phoenix Classic tomorrow, Sept. 1. The Phoenix takes on North Carolina Central at 12:30 p.m. and Alabama at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym.

Davidson 3, Winthrop 2

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After a rocky first set, the Davidson volleyball team battled to a 3-2 win over the Winthrop Eagles to move to 2-0 on the season on Friday evening at the Wake Forest Invitational.

Tindall Sewell, who led the NCAA in hitting percentage last season, led the ‘Cats with 16 kills and a .696 hitting percentage in the match.  Caroline Brown added 15 kills, nine digs and two solo blocks while senior  Molly Crenshaw had 16 digs.  Megan Chamberlin also had a solid day; recording a team-high five service aces and 17 digs.  Hannah Rau also produced two service aces in the match and Ariel Ley had 49 assists.

Stephanie Palmer had a team-high 14 kills for the Eagles, while Catherine Brusie led the way with 18 digs.  Kristin Cruse added in a pair of service aces, and Amy Zimmer posted a pair of block assists.

The Wildcats stumbled in the first set, finding themselves down 6-1 early on.  Rau was able to pick up two points on block assists, combining with Taylor Pisel on the first and Ley on the second, but a service ace by Jessica Codato put the Eagles in front 13-3.  Sewell added a pair of kills, but the ‘Cats couldn’t work their way out of the hole and fell 25-9.

A stronger Davidson team showed in the second set, as the ‘Cats were able to keep things tight despite an early 5-2 Winthrop lead on a kill by Stephanie Palmer.  Five straight kills by the ‘Cats and a block by Brown tied the set at 7-7 before two more kills would push them ahead 11-8.  Three consecutive miscues by the Eagles, along with a pair of kills from Rau, kept the Wildcats in front 16-13. Chamberlin produced trio of service aces and a kill before a kill by Sewell would finish things off as the ‘Cats took the set 25-17.

Rolling into the third set, the ‘Cats took a 6-2 lead on a kill by Sewell from Ley.  A kill from Brown stretched the advantage to six at 10-4, and the squad was able to ride the lead from there.  Back-to-back kills from Brown put Davidson ahead by eight and a pair of aces from Chamberlin ended the set at 25-15.

The ‘Cats were unable to finish off the match in the next set, as they fell behind 7-3 on an ace by Winthrop’s Jennica Mullins.  A kill by Rachel Lenz put the Eagles in front by 10, and the ‘Cats were unable to overcome the deficit as they fell 25-14.

Capitalizing on some Winthrop errors, Davidson took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker set before a kill from Lenz tied things up.  Pisel had a pair of kills as the ‘Cats went ahead once again and a kill from Chamberlin gave the team the 15-13 win in the set for the 3-2 match victory.

The Wildcats will conclude their appearance in the Wake Forect Invite tomorrow, facing the host Demon Deacons at 12:30 p.m. before wrapping things up with a 4:30 p.m. match against UNCW.

Wofford 3, Florida Atlantic 1

Wofford 3, Hampton 1

DELAND, FLA. – Led by Amanda Liguori’s second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 15 digs, the Wofford volleyball team opened the Clarion Invitational with a 3-1 (26-24, 26-28, 25-15, 25-15) win over Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon.

Liguori earned her 14th career double-double with her 15 kills on 31 attempts with only one error for a .452 hitting percentage.  Her 15 digs gave the junior her third consecutive double-digit match in four games this season.

Bekah Dorsey picked up her first double-double of the season with a season-high in both assists, 31, and digs, 11.  Reagan Styles collected a team-high 18 digs, while Rachel Woodlee and Wendy Burnett had 11 kills and ten kills respectively for the Terriers.  Woodlee also had a team-high four total blocks, two solo and two assists.  Kelsey Bagwell tied a career-high with four service aces.

Wofford broke a tie at four with 5-0 run started by a Liguori kill to take a 9-4 lead.  Tara Gough had an ace during the stretch as well for the Terriers.  After trading points, the Owls trimmed a 16-10 deficit down to one point, 16-15, with a 5-0 run highlighted by Thacilli Pereira kills.  Wofford answered as they extended the margin out to three points, 20-17, with a Liguori kill, but Florida Atlantic again cut the lead to one point, 22-21, as they took advantage of three errors by the Terriers.  Wofford used an Owl service error and Bagwell ace to take a 24-21 lead.  However, FAU rallied back with a 3-0 run as they fought off three set points to tie the match at 24 on a kill by Darija Sataric.  Wofford answered with a kill by Burnett followed by a Liguori kill to take the 26-24 lead.

In the second set, Wofford broke a tie at 11 with a 5-2 run to take a 16-12 lead with the aide of four straight Owl errors, three attack errors and one service error.  The Terriers would push the lead out to six points, 20-14, but Florida Atlantic tie the match at 22 with a 8-2 run Pereira had two kills during the Owl rally.  After trading points, Florida Atlantic won the set on back-to-back kills from Sataric to give the Owls the 28-26 win.

Set three was all Wofford from the start as they exploded out to an 11-4 lead.  The lead never got smaller than six points, 16-10 and 17-11, before the Terriers ended the set 25-15.

The fourth and final set, was a similar story as Wofford opened with the first eight points of the match and pushed the lead out to 11 points, 16-5.  The Terriers took the set, 25-15, to earn the win and improve to 2-2 overall on the season.

The Terriers finished the match with a .315 hitting percentage with 53 kills on 130 attempts and 12 errors, while the Owls ended the match at a .153 clip with 51 kills on 150 attempts and 28 errors.  Wofford also held a 66-58 advantage in digs, despite being outblocked in the match eight and a half to seven.

Sataric paced Florida Atlantic with 16 kills, while Alessia Pizzocheri and Pereira had 12 kills and ten kills respectfully.  Sataric also earned a double-double as she added 13 digs.  Cinta Nightingale collected a team high 21 digs.  Jelena Jovanoic handed out 42 assists.

It was the first of four matches in a span of 24 hours for Wofford as they return to the court at 7 p.m. to play Hampton.  The Terriers will play their third match at 9 a.m. against Central Arkansas and their fourth match against host Stetson at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Lipscomb 3, Appalachian State 0
Appalachian State 3, Houston 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Appalachian State University volleyball picked up its first win of the 2012 season when it split a pair of matches at the Lipscomb Volleyball Invitational on Friday at Allen Arena.

The Mountaineers (1-5) fell to the host Bison (1-3) by scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 28-26 in the first match of the day before snagging a victory over Houston (0-5) in a grueling five-set match to cap off the evening.

Appalachian continues play tomorrow when it faces Missouri at 1:30 p.m. to finish its weekend schedule.

After taking a quick 2-1 lead in the first set, the Apps fell behind when Lipscomb mounted a 14-2 run to take a commanding lead and snag a first-set victory.

The Bison were also able to maintain control throughout the second set as they scored the first point and never trailed, leading by as many as eight points (16-8) en route to a 25-18 second-set win.

Appalachian came alive in the third set when, after trailing by as many as six points (17-11) in the late stages, it rallied with a 10-3 run to grab a 21-20 lead.

Lipscomb was able to jump back in front and had a chance to close out the match, but the Mountaineers staved off defeat three times before the Bison finally put down the match winning ace for a 28-26 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Courtney Rhein finished with a team-high 12 digs while Lauren Brown and Paige Brown each registered double-digit assist totals with 14 and 13, respectively. Lauren Gray tallied a career-high nine block assists and Dalton Tolliver posted 10 kills.

Jewell Dobson and Kaycee Green paced the Bison with 15 kills apiece while Caitlin Dotson tallied a match-high 43 assists.

The Mountaineers were held to an attack percentage of just .129 while Lipscomb finished with a .235 hitting percentage, including a blistering .423 in the first set. App State totaled 13 blocks in the match while the Bison recorded just three.

The Mountaineers picked up their first win of the season in thrilling fashion in the second match on Friday. Appalachian snuck by Houston by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 24-26 and 15-8.

After storming out to an 8-0 lead in the first set, the Mountaineers were forced to hold on for dear life as the Cougars rallied several times before falling by three points.

Houston rebounded in the second set thanks in part to a late four-point run that propelled it to a 25-18 second-set win.

The third set featured five ties but just one lead change, which was all the Apps would need en route to a 25-17 set victory. With the Cougars holding an early 4-3 edge, the Mountaineers struck for three-straight points and never trailed the rest of the way to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In what turned out to be the most thrilling set of the day, the Cougars were able to stay alive by eking out a 26-24 fourth-set victory. The set featured nine ties and five lead changes, as Houston was able to stave off defeat with three-straight points to pull the match even at 2-2.

The Mountaineers dominated the final set of the match, using a 7-0 run after trailing 1-0 to earn its first victory of the season in its first five-set match of the year.

Tolliver paced the Apps with 19 kills while Jacqui Spurgeon tallied a career-high 18. Lindsey Sauls also finished with a double-digit kill total (12) while Gray led all players with five total blocks.

Rhein netted a match-high 27 digs and P. Brown finished with a season-best 38 assists. The Apps hit .273 as a team while limiting Houston to a .227 attack percentage. The Cougars finished with 23 errors and six blocks while App State committed just 18 errors and blocked nine attacks.

MATCH NOTES: The Mountaineers have now won three-straight five-set matches dating back to Nov. 13, 2011... Rhein increased her career dig total to 1,419 to move into third-place in school history in digs... Appalachian improved to 32-20 all-time against teams from Conference USA... Spurgeon double her previous career-high of nine kills, set on Tuesday at Winthrop.

Auburn 3, Georgia Southern 1

Georgia Southern 3, Jacksonville State 0

AUBURN, Ala. – Georgia Southern senior setter Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan./Bishop Miege) broke the school’s career assist record with 47 against Auburn, and the Eagles split a pair of matches at the Auburn Invitational Friday.

Georgia Southern topped Jacksonville State 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 26-24) and fell 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 28-26) to Auburn.

Van Dyke surpassed the mark of 4,180 assists, previously held by Amanda Brooks, who played at Georgia Southern from 1998-2001.

Against Auburn, Van Dyke added 18 digs for the Eagles (3-2), while Nicole Jeschelnik led the squad with 12 kills to go along with 10 digs. Meredith Paskert had 11 kills, and Moriah Bellissimo posted 10 kills and 18 digs. Alexandra Beecher collected a match-high 22 digs.

Camila Jersonsky led the Tigers (4-0) with 12 kills, while Sarah Bullock, Chloe Rowand and Katherine Culwell each posted nine kills. Auburn had 11 team blocks and 75 digs in the match, holding Georgia Southern to a .148 hitting percentage.

Down 2-1 in the fourth and trying to force a fifth set, the Eagles took a 24-22 lead as Jeschelnik and Paskert put down consecutive kills. But Culwell and Jersonsky notched consecutive kills for the Tigers to even the score. With the score tied 26-26, Bullock notched two consecutive kills to end the match.

The Eagles battled back from an early 10-6 deficit in the first set, and with the score tied 23-23, Georgia Southern got two straight points on Auburn errors to go ahead 1-0 in the match.

The second set was back and forth, and trailing 20-19, Auburn scored the next three points to open a 22-20 lead. A Bellissimo kill trimmed the margin to 24-23, but Halle Kearney’s kill ended the set to even the match.

The Tigers trailed just once in the third set and opened a 12-5 lead midway through the frame. The Eagles cut the margin to 15-13, but Auburn used a 7-2 run, capped by a MacKenzy Harper ace, to pull away.

Bellissimo notched 10 kills and eight digs to lead the Eagles against Jacksonville State (4-2), and Jamie DeRatt collected nine kills and 10 digs. Van Dyke finished with 34 assists and 12 digs to go along with six kills. Georgia Southern hit .342 in the match compared to .111 for the Gamecocks.

The Eagles did not trail in either of the first two sets and took a 2-0 lead in the match by winning the two frames by a combined 22 points. Georgia Southern battled back from an early 4-1 deficit to win the third set. Kills by Paskert and Bellissimo helped tie the score 4-4, and later in the set, the Eagles scored four straight points to open a 20-15 cushion.

Trailing 24-21, Jacksonville State scored three straight with the help of a Jen Meyer kill to tie the score 24-24. But DeRatt answered with a kill, and Jacksonville State committed an attack error to end the match.

Georgia Southern returns to action against High Point Saturday at noon to wrap up play in the Auburn Invitational.

No. 17 Oregon 3, Western Carolina 0

Athens, Ohio - Despite being tied at the halfway point of the second set (13-13) and at 18 in the set, the Western Carolina women’s volleyball team fell to No. 17 Oregon in opening day action of the Baymont Invitational in the Ohio University Convocation Center Friday.

WCU was swept for the first time this season (6-25, 19-25, 18-25), falling to a 2-2 record as the Ducks remain undefeated at 4-0. Oregon has swept its opponent in three out of its first four matches.

The Catamounts were led offensively by sophomore Caitlin Piechota. Piechota finished the match with seven kills, pacing the Purple and Gold for the fourth straight match as WCU was held to its lowest offensive output of the season.

Oregon jumped out to a quick 25-6 win of the first set before the Catamounts picked up momentum in the second set. Both teams stayed within three points of each other throughout the set with Western Carolina tying the set at 18. A four-point run by Oregon would eventually put the Ducks over the top to take the set 25-19.

The Catamounts were within three of OU at 14-11, but it would be as close as WCU would get in the third with Oregon winning 25-18.

Sophomore Leah Butler picked up three blocks and four kills, matching her career-high in kills that was set last weekend against North Carolina A&T. Freshman Nicole Ford and Abbey Scroggins also tallied four kills apiece.

Tomorrow the Catamounts take on another nationally ranked team in the No. 10 ranked Kentucky Wildcats out of the Southeastern Conference at 8 pm, playing the host Ohio Wildcats earlier in the day at 3 pm. Live stats are available for both matches, with the match against Ohio being streamed through the Ohio Athletics website, with the link available at CatamountSports.com.

Murray State 3, The Citadel 0

Radford, Va. – Outside hitter Ise d'Angelo finished with a team-high eight kills and the combination of Amanda Rudnik and Jessica Maxwell added seven kills apiece, however it was Murray State that emerged with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 win over The Citadel at the Radford University Tournament.

While The Citadel's offensive struggle continued, the team got a lift from Emily Dalton on the defensive end, as she finished with 15 digs. Teammate Lauren Hurt was also instrumental on the defense with a pair of assisted blocks. Meanwhile, freshman Mikaela Tracy dished out 21 assists from the setter position for a Bulldog unit whose record slipped to 0-4 overall.

Murray State (1-3) countered with the combination of Kristin Besselsen (16 kills) and Wendi Zickfield (13 kills), who provided a 47-31 edge on the front row. Katlyn Hudson anchored the back row with 13 digs, while Taylor OIden chipped in eight digs and three assisted blocks. The tandem of Lia Havili (22 assists) and Sam Bedard (13 assists) sparked a Racers offense that capped off the match with a .277 attack percentage.

Maxwell's three points keyed a Citadel surge early in the first set as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-2 lead. Murray State quickly rallied and knotted the game at 6-6 behind Zickfield in serve. After a d'Angelo kill and a series of MSU attack errors pushed the Dogs lead back to three, the Racers answered with six straight points to take a 13-9 advantage. The teams exchanged jabs until Havili's service game extended the lead to six points, 19-13, keyed by a pair of Bulldog attack errors. Maxwell again proved integral to the Bulldogs offense, this time by forcing an attack error in serve, as the score was trimmed to 19-16. However, Murray State closed the match with a 6-3 push to complete the 25-19 victory.

Murray State set the tone early in the second set as it streaked out to a 7-4 advantage behind a pair of kills from Besselen. Maxwell sent two of the next three points past the Racers defense, pulling the score within a pair, only to see Emily Schmahl's service game establish a 12-6 lead. Trailing 18-12 at the midpoint of the match, d'Angelo stepped in to force a series of MSU attack errors, slicing the deficit to three. Murray State responded with three kills from Besselsen and two by Zickfield to earn the 25-19 win.

The Citadel showed resolve in the third set with a four-point rally due in large part to Dalton's service game. With Dalton in serve, a series of kills by d'Angelo and Maxwell knotted the game 8-8. Murray State retaliated with an 8-4 run of its own, keyed by three kills from Zickfield, assuming the 16-12 advantage. Kills by the tandem of Farrell and Rudnik kept the Dogs within striking distance, 19-14, but it was the combination of three Racer kills, two unforced Citadel errors and an MSU service ace that made for the 25-16 victory.

The Bulldogs complete their three-match weekend on Saturday with a pair of contests against Radford (10:30 a.m.) and St. Francis (Pa.) (5 p.m.).

East Tennessee State 3, Chattanooga 0

Clemson, S.C. - The Chattanooga Mocs (3-1) volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday evening at the hands of the East Tennessee Bucs (5-1) in three sets at the Clemson Classic.

ETSU reached 25 points in three straight matches as UTC was only allowed 10, 18 and 21 points, respectively. Despite having 11 attacks blocked, Chattanooga was able to down 27 attacks while East Tennessee had only 12 more kills.

Freshman Sarah Batterton led the Mocs offense with eight kills for the match. Batterton averaged a team-best .250 attacking percentage while freshman Julimar Alvarado followed up with seven kills. Senior Heather Parman managed five kills along with a .222 percentage.

Junior Bridget Camacho was UTC's assists leader with 25 and senior Paula Passmore finished with 19 digs to lead the team on defense.

The Mocs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first set on a Christina Teter kill, but that would be the only time Chattanooga commanded a lead in the first. ETSU pulled away to take the set 25-10.

UTC battled back from a four-point deficit to begin the second set, and battled back-and-fourth with the Bucs throughout the frame. The Mocs stalled late in the set, down just 16-19, when East Tennessee's offense picked up six quick points to take it 25-18.

The deciding set came down to a 22-21 match in favor of the Bucs as UTC looked to force a fourth frame.  Back-to-back kills from Parman and Batterton brought the Mocs within one point of the lead, but ETSU's offense was able to capitalize on an attacking error late in the set to claim the match.

Chattanooga continues the Clemson Classic Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. as they take on the host Tigers. The Mocs will then face Charlotte at 6 p.m. later that evening.

North Florida 3, College of Charleston 2

CHARLESTON, S.C. - UNF slipped by College of Charleston in a tightly contested five-set match (25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13) to open the Courtyard Charleston North Classic on Friday night at TD Arena.

College of Charleston (2-2) lost for the first time this season in a five-set match, while UNF (1-3) picked up its first win of the season.

In an incredibly close match, the largest lead for any team came in the first set when UNF led 10-4. No team built a lead of more than four or five points for the rest of the match.

CofC's Darcy Dorton, the reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week led all players with 21 kills to go with 14 digs for her third double-double of the season. Senior libero Emily Shelton tied a career high with 32 kills, and Kerstin Koehler tallied seven total blocks to lead the Cougars to 14 as a team.

Sophomore Sloane White finished with 14 kills and junior Emily Neideffer was very efficient with an attack mark of .500, landing seven kills.

Three different Osprey players reached double digits in kills, led by Carolyn Jenkins' 19. Marija Pantovic had 15 kills and Dagnija Medina finished with 13 kills. Libero Nicole Baran managed 30 digs and Paige Pridgeon and Cari Whitmire each had 15.

Neither teams' attacking corps could find a consistent edge as the Ospreys notched 65 kills on 199 attempts (.141), while CofC used 187 attempts to get 54 kills (.150). Each team's total dig mark, 89 for UNF and 85 for CofC, reflected the all-around defensive deadlock.

Although UNF jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set, the Cougars chipped away and eventually tied it at 15, trading points until UNF scored a 22-21 lead. A Britt Claessens service ace drew CofC to 24-22 and a kill from Dorton made the margin just 24-23, but the Ospreys won a 25-23 set win after an attack from White went awry.

The Cougars found themselves trailing by two or three points throughout most of the second set and was two points away from losing at 23-20. But a White kill, two Osprey errors and a Neideffer kill on an over pass tied the set at 24. Dorton gave CofC a 25-24 lead with a swing from the left side and Jenkins missed for an attack error to give CofC a 26-24 win.

The third set was tight the entire way with long rallies and low attack marks. Each team hit below .100 and the squads combined for 52 digs in the set alone. Kari Fidelholtz gave the Cougars a 22-21 lead late, but Pantovic landed a kill and made a blocks to go up 23-22. A block from Neideffer tied the set, but two CofC errors made the final margin 25-23 in the go-ahead third set.

The Cougars were finally able to go on a run in the fourth set, stringing six consecutive points together to build a 20-15 lead. However, the Ospreys battled back with kills from Jenkins and pulled to within 22-20. White and senior Kelly Kolich coupled a pair of kills together at the end and CofC forced a fifth set by winning 25-23.

Although the Ospreys went up 6-3 in the final set, the Cougars rallied to tie the set at eight after a Dorton kill. UNF sprinted to a 13-11 lead from a Julie Trembley block, but CofC tied at 13 with kills from Lizzie Theesfeld and White. However, Theesfeld went long on her next attempt and the Ospreys capitalized on set point with a kill from Jenkins down the middle, winning 15-13.

College of Charleston continues play in the Courtyard Charleston North Classic tomorrow, playing the Slovenian Junior National team at noon and Memphis at 7 p.m.