Double digit kills by four Cougars and stellar senior leadership propelled CofC over Appalachian State in a thrilling five game match come from behind victory in Boone, N.C. With the win, CofC improves to 10-5 on the season and remains unbeaten and atop the Southern Conference with a 5-0. Appalachian State, who defeated The Citadel Friday, fell to 5-10 and 2-1 in league play.
“This is a great win for us. Appalachian State played really well throughout the entire match and forced us to raise our level of play to come away with a win. Our seniors played really well at the end of the match to secure the victory,” Head Coach Jason Kepner said. “It's nice come home after going 2-0 on the weekend. We are looking forward to being at home for the next few conference matches.”
Charleston got off to a slow start in game one, allowing App State to open the match with a 4-0 run. Emily Sawin had a kill of a Lindsey Kane set to put the first point on the board for the Cougars. With the Mountaineers up 10-5, Charleston was forced to take the first time out of the match. Charleston fought back to within four after their own 4-0 run which caused Appalachian State to take a time out at the 25-21 mark. Charleston rallied again to within two before the Mountaineers sealed the win, 30-27.
In game two, Charleston scored the first point off a kill by Deanna Patrick. The lead wouldn't last as Appalachian State scored the next four points. The game was kept close with the teams trading points over five straight possessions. After a 5-0 run that saw Charleston take the lead, Appalachian State took the first time out of the game. The Cougars went on to score the next two points, increasing their lead to14-11. Appalachian State would not give up as they went on to tie the game at 29. After failing to convert five game points, Charleston went on to win the game 34-32.
Appalachian State opened the third game with a 6-1 run. Charleston fought their way back to within one with the score 13-12. The Mountaineer lead did not get above three until the 24-20 mark. With Appalachian State leading 28-21, the Cougars score four consecutive points but it would not be enough as the Cougars fell 30-25.
Game four started with a service error by Appalachian State's Jordan Jesberg. Blum scored the next point with a kill from Kane to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. With the Mountaineers leading 9-6 a pair of kills be Sawin and Blum brought the game within a point. Another service error by Jesberg tied the score The game remained close as neither team led by more than a point over twelve possessions until a block by Annie Uthe and Patrick gave CofC a 17-14 lead. The Cougars did not see that lead slip and took game four 30-27.
With the match knotted at two, Charleston opened the final game with a kill by Whitney Russell. The game was tied at two after a service error from Charissa Clearman. The Cougars took the lead on three consecutive attack errors by Appalachian State and never trailed again. The Cougars scored five of the last seven points to secure the 15-10 victory. The match point was scored off a Tiffany Blum kill from Kane.
Blum and Patrick tallied 17 kills each, with Sawin (14), and Russell (12) adding double digit kills to the total. Three other players in Uthe (9), Kane (5), and Paige Johnson (1) had at least one kill in the win. Kane had a match high 55 assists. As a team, CofC hit a .212 attack percentage and earned a season high eight service aces. Johnson recorded a career best four service aces.
Defensively for the Cougars, Blum led the team with five assisted blocks. Patrick had three assisted blocks of her own while Sawin, Uthe, Kane, and Russell combined for nine additional assisted blocks. Cole Dawley led the team in digs with 21.
For the Mountaineers, Brittany Zahn had a match high 24 kills, while Dianna Thomas had 15 and Carla Durham earned 13. The team hit a .253 attack percentage in the effort.
Becca Norris led Appalachian State defensively with six assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Durham added four assisted blocks and one solo block, while five other Mountaineers recorded at least one block. Cassie Engelgau paced the team with 15 digs.
Charleston volleyball returns to action Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. when they host Georgia Southern at the John Kresse Arena.
