Charleston defeated Chattanooga 3-2 (30-25, 30-28, 23-30, 22-30, 15-13) in the semi-final round of the 2007 Southern Conference Tournament, being held in Chattanooga, Tenn. The win marks the sixth straight season the College of Charleston has advanced to the championship round of the SoCon Tournament.
Charleston improves to 24-7 overall (16-2 SoCon) and is 18-4 in SoCon Tournament play since joining the league in 1998. Chattanooga finishes its season with a 19-14 record, including a 13-5 mark in the league.
“It was great to come out on top in that match. Chattanooga played well and took us out of our game after the break,” Coach Jason Kepner said. “Tiffany [Blum] and the seniors really took over in the fifth game to lead this team to another championship round. I am really looking forward to tomorrow's championship match.”
Charleston opened game one with a 3-0 run before surrendering its first point to the Lady Mocs. The Cougars made it a 7-4 game after a block by Tiffany Blum and Cole Dawley. The Cougars entered double digits off a kill by Blum which was followed by a service ace by Dawley that forced Chattanooga to use their first timeout of the game. Charleston opened to a 17-10 lead, its greatest of the game, after a kill by Blum. Chattanooga used a 4-0 run to bring the game within three at 17-14, but a Blum kill ended the run. A kill by Sara Bass scored the 20th point for UTC and forced the College to call their first timeout of the tournament. The Lady Mocs would come within one three times but would not gain control as the Cougars scored three unanswered points to extend their lead to 26-23. A kill by senior Annie Uthe, who hit a game high .625, clinched game one 30-25.
Neither team hit over a .200 and tied 10 times in the second game of the match. Despite scoring only three of the first ten points of game two, the Cougars rallied and won 30-28. UTC held a 7-2 lead before a kill by Blum ended a 4-0 run. Charleston then used a 6-0 run to knot the game at 10 and force a Lady Moc timeout. Following the timeout, Emily Sawin recorded a kill to continue the Charleston surge and give the Cougars a 11-10 advantage. Chattanooga would answer with five consecutive points of its own points to take a 15-12 mark that caused CofC to use a timeout. Charleston would tie the game at 16 before taking a one point lead off a Blum kill. The teams would tie three more times before a block by Deanna Patrick and Blum gave the Cougars a two point lead at and forced UTC to use their final timeout. Consecutive service aces by Lindsey Kane gave Charleston a 25-22 advantage. An attack error by Dawley gave the Lady Mocs their 26th point to tie the game and caused the Cougars to use their final timeout of the game. A kill by Bass gave Chattanooga the lead but CofC answered with a point of its own to tie the game for the ninth time. The teams would trade points on the next two possessions before Blum earned the 29th point for the Cougars. The College would take the game off a service error by the Lady Mocs.
The Cougars fell to Chattanooga 30-23 in game three. Charleston never gained control of the game falling behind 6-4 before a kill by Blum ended the UTC run. Chattanooga put together a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 15-8. CofC answered with a 5-0 run to narrow the Lady Moc lead to two at 14-16. The teams traded points on seven possessions to keep the game within reach for the Cougars at 23-21. Chattanooga scored seven of the final nine points to take the game and cause a fourth game.
The teams tied five times in the first 16 possessions, with neither team owning more than a two point advantage. Chattanooga mounted a 19-7 lead with a 6-0 run that put the game out of reach for Charleston. Sophomore Emma Racila ended the run with a kill that put the Cougars in double digits. Despite the Cougars scoring seven of the final nine points of the match, Chattanooga took the game 30-22 and force a fifth and final game.
Charleston took a 3-1 lead in game five before a kill by UTC's Julianna Martinez made it a one point game. Blum scored the next two Cougar points with a block and a kill to give CofC a 5-2 edge. The teams tied three times in six possessions before a kill by Jamie Engel of Chattanooga sparked a 3-0 run by the Lady Mocs to put them on top, 10-7. Consecutive kills by Blum knotted the match at 11, causing Chattanooga to call a timeout. Charleston scored on four of the final six possessions to seal the game 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Blum led the Cougars with 21 kills and a .231 hitting percentage, followed by Uthe with 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .270. Kane paced the offense with 54 assists, while also adding six kills, two assisted blocks, and 19 digs in the win. Charleston out-dug the Lady Mocs 92 to 85 with senior Megan Parkerson leading the team with 23 digs. Blum led the team in blocks with nine, with Dawley and Sawin adding five each. Four additional Cougars combined for eight more blocks.
For the Lady Mocs, Martinez led the offense with 21 kills and a match-high .333 hitting percentage. Four other member of the Chattanooga team recorded double-digit kills. Bailee Chastain earned a match-high 68 assists in the effort. Libero Lara Newberry, who set the NCAA record for most digs in a season during the match, earned 39 digs to pace the Lady Moc defense. Leslee Ball and Marinez each recorded five blocks to lead the team.
Charleston returns to action Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. in the championship round of the 2007 Southern Conference Tournament where they will face the winner of the UNC Greensboro/Appalachian State match. Results and full coverage of the match will be available at www.CofCSports.com
