College of Charleston
Appalachian State
Cougars close out regular season with 12 straight wins and 24-6 record with 3-0 win over Appalachian State
11/16/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Boxscore - Appalachian State at College of Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Playing on her old high school court, sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) dished out a match-high 26 assists and added 11 digs and freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) continued her torrid hitting with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage as the College of Charleston (24-6, 17-1) closed out the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Appalachian State (7-25, 3-15) in Charleston, S.C. The Cougars claimed the match by scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 25-21.
Having dropped the first two sets in their previous meeting in Boone, N.C., the Cougars made certain that they would not face those same circumstances again as they quickly built an 8-1 lead in Game 1 before pushing their advantage to 13-3. With the score at 19-9, the Mountaineers used an 8-3 run that featured six kills and a pair of service aces to close to within 22-17. That would be as close as they would get, however, as Charleston responded by scoring three of the next four points to take the set 25-18.
Trailing 1-0 in the match, ASU came out strong at the start of the second set as they took a 4-2 lead behind back-to-back service aces from junior defensive specialist Heather Kale. While the lead would be short lived as the Cougars tied the game at 7-7, the Mountaineers would not go away.
The two teams would deadlock seven more times over the next 16 points before reaching a 15-15 score. A pair of kills and a pair of ASU attack errors then keyed a 4-0 Charleston run that gave them a 19-15 advantage and spurred the Cougars on to a 25-19 victory and 2-0 match lead.
It would be another closely contested affair in Game 3 as neither team would be separated by more than three points as the Cougars managed leads of 9-6 and 12-9. Appalachian State stayed close, evening the set at 16-16 before Charleston would take the lead for good at 17-16.
From there, a 7-3 run would bring the set to match point at 24-19 before junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) ended it with her sixth kill of the afternoon. The 25-19 victory closed out the 3-0 sweep of the Mountaineers and the 2008 Southern Conference regular season. The Cougars finished with a 24-6 overall record and 17-1 mark in the conference.
Junior middle blocker Becca Norris led Appalachian State with a match-high tying nine kills while junior outside hitter Maja Jechorek finished with seven kills, eight digs and team-high three blocks. Freshman setter Kasey Sauls and senior setter Charissa Clearman split the setting duties with 14 and 11 assists, respectively. Heather Kale led the team with 11 digs and posted a match-high three service aces.
Elyse Chubb drilled a match-high tying nine kills and posted a .533 hitting percentage, along with four blocks, while Cole Dawley finished with 26 assists and 11 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double. Sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) pounded nine kills and hit .467 while adding two service aces and sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) had seven kills. Freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the defense with a match-high 12 digs and Emily Sawin chipped in with nine digs to go along with her six kills.
The Cougars are the No. 1 seed out of the South Division for the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament and will face No. 4 Elon from the North Divison at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 21. The tournament will be held in Greensboro, North Carolina from November 21-23 with the champion receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Stayed tuned to www.CofCSports.com for extended coverage of the College of Charleston in the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament.
NOTES
Elyse Chubb hit .656 and finished with 23 kills (3.83 p/s) and nine blocks (1.50 p/s) on the weekend ... the Cougars 17-1 Southern Conference record marks the fifth one-loss conference season in the Division I history of the program ... Charleston finished 17-1 in 2006, 15-1 in 2004, 17-1 in 2003 and 19-1 in 2001 ... the 2005 team posted an 18-0 record for only the second undefeated mark since the Cougars joined the Southern Conference in 1998 ... Charleston has won 12 straight matches and 19 of its last 20 ... the Cougars played their final home game at Bishop England High School, the alma mater of current setter Cole Dawley.
