STATESBORO, GA - At the annual SoCon Volleyball Banquet on the campus of Georgia Southern on the Thursday before the quarterfinals began, the College of Charleston women’s team was joking around with each other about the way they were dressed.

An outsider noticed their candidness and the way that they were addressing each other ? unbeknownst to the fact that this was a very tight team and they were just joking ? if there was some dissension on the squad.

The response from the team, including the most vocal and loquacious of all of the players in SoCon Volleyball Player-of-the-Year Kaycie Carr was an emphatic, “no, there is definitely no dissension on this team.”

The next day when the College of Charleston hit the court this was more than evident.

To those with a vested interest in SoCon volleyball the idea would never have crossed their mind, as the College of Charleston was stout all of the 2005 season, downing opponents with as much regularity as the sun going down.

In fact, the only school that the Cougars met their demise against the entire 2005 season going into the 2005 SoCon Volleyball Tournament was the nationally-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

The Cougars only lost three games in SoCon play (not a misprint by the way) during the season, going a combined 54-3 in games in an 18-0 regular season in league play.

The only squad that even tested the Cougars during the regular season in conference play was the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who took the Charleston team to five games in Boone, N.C.

In fact, Appalachian even owned a 2-0 advantage at one point before surrendering the final three games to the Cougars.

Still, nothing is taken for granted in the SoCon volleyball championship and the Cougars who might have been joking around and having fun at the volleyball banquet were all business once they hit the hardwood.

The top-seeded Cougars took the court for the first time at the 2005 SoCon Volleyball Championship at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 against the eighth-seeded Wofford Terriers.

The day before in the #8-#9 matchup, the #8 Terriers matriculated their first SoCon tournament win of all-time.

In their tourney opener against Wofford, the Cougars were all business in the match, disposing of the Terriers in three straight games to advance to the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket the only team in the league to give Charleston fits in 2005 was having a little trouble in their quarterfinal game.

A great deal of their struggles could be attributed to the fact that the second-seeded Mountaineers were facing their archrival in Western Carolina.

Appalachian surrendered the first two games to the Cats, but bounced back after the 10-minute intermission to acquire a 3-2 victory and move on to the semifinals where they would face off against a sixth-seeded Furman squad that had knocked off host institution and third-seeded Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals.

College of Charleston went up against the fourth-seeded Chattanooga Mocs, who had needed all of their effort to knock off Davidson in their quarterfinal match.

The five-game match with the Wildcats must have left the Mocs reeling because Charleston once again won easily in three straight games.

Appalachian made it a little easier on themselves in their semifinal match with the Lady Paladins, taking the match in four games and setting up the championship showdown with the Cougars.

The Cougars would not give in to the Mountaineers in the championship, once again taking a 3-0 shutout victory to claim the 2005 SoCon Volleyball Championship.

The championship match victory left the Cougars 21-0 against SoCon squads in 2005 and 30-1 overall entering the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

It was their second straight SoCon tournament crown and their third in the last four seasons.

The Cougars will find out their opponent in the NCAAs on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 2:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNews.

The time off between the SoCon tournament, the selection show and the eventual NCAA tournament’s commencement gives the Cougars a great deal more time to become even better much to the chagrin of those that might have to face off against them.

Nevertheless, one thing is for certain: no matter what happens in the next two weeks this Cougar team is always going to have each other’s backs.

Just ask Carr and the rest of the Cougars.