Cougars Clinch Regular Tiltle

Friday, November 10

Elon

7 p.m.

College of Charleston

Elon

11/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: CofCSports.com

The College of Charleston used four players in double-digit kills to take a 3-1 (30-24, 30-16, 33-35, 30-26) victory in Southern Conference volleyball action on Friday night in Alumni Gym. The win gives the Cougars the No. 1 seed going into the Southern Conference tournament next weekend in Boone. N.C., and clinches the regular season title for sixth straight year

The Cougars moved to 22-7 overall and 16-1 in the league while Elon falls to 11-17, 8-9.

Tiffany Blum led CofC with 16 kills along with five total blocks. Deanna Patrick and Emily Sawin each registered 15 kills. Marie Dobrenz paced the Cougar defense with a match-high 25 digs. Megan Parkerson added 15 digs and Alexia Lowes contributed 11. Annie Uthe posted four service aces, six total blocks and eight kills while Lindsey Kane recorded 57 assists along with 17 digs, three aces, three total blocks and six kills.

Britany Westphal led the Phoenix with 12 kills while Mandy Wilson added 11 and Juliena Gigon posted 10. Brooke Pickard led the Elon defensive effort with 20 digs while Emily Downing added 15 and Ashley Ruckert posted 10. Stefanie Meyers registered six total blocks along with three aces and nine kills while Natalie Moore notched 42 assists.

Sawin led the Cougars in game one with six kills and no errors on nine attempts. Tied at 5, the Cougars used a 6-0 run behind the serve of Sawin to take an 11-6 lead. CofC maintained the advantage through the remainder of the game and finished at 30-24 on a kill from Blum.

In game two, the Cougars tallied a .581 hitting percentage posting 19 kills and only one error on 31 attempts. CofC jumped to an early lead in the game and led by two at 13-11 before scoring the next eight points to extend its lead to 10 at 21-11. Charleston kept the lead and finished the game at 30-16 on an Elon hitting error.

In the third game, the Phoenix held Charleston to just a .017 hitting percentage to take the victory. After an 11-11 tie, Elon took the lead and extended the advantage to 10 at 26-16 on a kill by Meyers. With Elon up by nine at 27-18, the Cougars scored the next five points to cut the lead to four at 27-23. The Cougars got within two at 28-26 on a kill from Sawin but Elon scored its 29th point on a Cougar service error. The Phoenix could not tally the game point though and CofC knotted the game at 29 behind a Sawin kill, a block from Blum and Sawin and an Elon error. The two teams traded points before Elon posted two points on a kill from Wilson and a block by Downing and Meyers to end the game 35-33.

Uthe tallied five kills on five attempts in the fourth game to lead the Cougars. The game saw 14 ties, the last coming at 23-23, before CofC tallied four straight points behind the serve of Parkerson to take a 27-23 advantage. Elon got back within three at 25-28 but a Phoenix service error gave the Cougars the 29-25 lead. Elon tallied one more point on a kill from Gigon before Charleston closed the game on a kill from Lowes at 30-26.

College of Charleston travels to UNC Greensboro for a 2 p.m. match on Saturday.