College of Charleston
Elon
College of Charleston advances to semi-finals of Southern Conference Tournament with 3-1 victory over Elon
11/21/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Boxscore - Elon vs. College of Charleston
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) delivered 38 assists and 11 digs and junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) posted a match-high tying 12 kills and career-best five aces as the College of Charleston (25-6, 17-1) eliminated Elon (19-15, 8-10) 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament Friday evening. The Cougars earned the victory by scores of 30-28, 20-25, 25-19 and 25-23.
A tightly contest affair early in Game 1, the two teams battled through four ties, deadlocking at 6-6, before Charleston took a 9-8 advantage. At that point, the Cougars used a 6-2 run to push their lead to 15-10 and eventually extended it to 19-13. Elon then responded with a 7-2 run of their own to get back into the set, drawing to within 21-20.
Following back-to-back points by the Cougars to make it 23-21, the Phoenix scored the next three points to pull ahead 24-23 and force set point. The teams then traded a pair of points, Charleston taking a 25-24 advantage and Elon 26-25, before consecutive kills by Emily Sawin and freshman middle blocker Sarah Havel (Carmel, Ind.) gave the Cougars a 27-26 lead.
An attack error followed by a kill by junior outside hitter Mandy Wilson once again gave the Phoenix the opportunity to take the set at 28-27. It would be an opportunity they would not get again as CofC took advantage of a service error and back-to-back attack errors to claim the set 30-28 and pull ahead 1-0 in the match.
Following their second longest set of the season, Charleston jumped out ahead in Game 2 as they took leads of 6-2 and 8-4. The Phoenix responded with a 7-2 stretch that featured six kills, including four total and three in a row from sophomore outside hitter Lauren Copenhagen, to take their first lead of the set at 11-10. Trailing 13-11, the Cougars used a 3-0 run to take the lead at 14-13 that included back-to-back service aces from Sawin.
From there, Elon put together a 5-1 run to retake the lead at 19-15 before CofC narrowed the gap to 19-18 by taking advantage of three consecutive errors. Back-to-back scores by the Phoenix then extended their lead to 21-18. A kill by freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) made it 21-19 but it would not be enough as Elon used a 4-2 run, fueled by three kills from sophomore middle blocker Sarah Schermerhorn, to close out the set at 25-20 and even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, it would be a different story as the Cougars charged out of the gate, scoring six of the first seven points and powering out to a 10-4 advantage. They would increase that lead to 15-8 behind three kills and a pair of Elon errors before the before the Phoenix battled back to within 18-14. That would be as close as they would get, however, as Charleston used a 5-2 run to push the lead back to 23-16 before taking the set 25-19 and pulling ahead 2-1 in the match.
Game 4 would see the Cougars open up an early 4-1 lead before Elon closed to 5-4. With the score tied at 7-7, back-to-back points by CofC continued the back-and-forth affair and made the score 9-7. Consecutive scores by the Phoenix then evened the set at 9-9 before the teams exchanged the next four points to tie the score at 11-11. A pair of kills from Elon freshman right side hitter Traci Stewart and freshman outside hitter Caroline Lemke made it 13-11.
With the score tied at 15-15, the Phoenix made a move to take control of the set with a 8-1 run that left them with a solid 22-16 advantage. It would not last as the Cougars blitzed Elon with a 7-0 run, fueled by three service aces by Sawin, to not only draw even but take the lead at 24-22. A service error staved off elimination for one more play for Elon before sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) drilled her 11th kill of the match to seal the set, and the match, 25-23.
Freshman outside hitter Caroline Lemke and Traci Stewart paced the Phoenix with a match-high tying 12 kills apiece while Lauren Copenhagen finished with 11 kills, 10 digs and four service aces. Freshman setter Megan McMahon setup the Elon offensive attack with 35 assists and pitched in on the defensive side with 11 digs for a double-double and Sarah Schermerhorn notched a match-high five blocks. Senior libero Kelley Blakewood finished her career with a match-high 26 digs.
Emily Sawin led the College of Charleston with a match-high tying 12 kills, career-high five service aces and nine digs while Whitney Russell pounded 11 kills and delivered three blocks. Cole Dawley came within three kills of a triple double as she dished out a match-high 38 assists, posted 11 digs and drilled seven kills while hitting a match-best .636. The double-double was her team-leading 13th of the season. Elyse Chubb rounded out the offensive attack with eight kills and added three blocks and a .250 hitting percentage.
Defensively, freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished with a team-high 23 digs while freshman setter Hayley Harrell (Charleston, S.C.) and sophomore defensive specialist Paige Johnson (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) added seven and six digs, respectively. Sarah Havel added a team-best four blocks.
The Cougars advance to the semi-finals of the Southern Conference Tournament where they will face the winner of the UNC Greensboro/Georgia Southern match. First serve for that match is set for 4:30 p.m. following the Samford/Furman semi-final.
NOTES
The Cougars have now won 13 consecutive Southern Conference Tournament matches dating back to 2004 ... the victory also stretches their current win streak to 13 consecutive matches ... with 12 kills on the evening, Emily Sawin moves into sixth place in the Cougars all-time record book ... Emily Shelton's 23 digs give her 485 on the season which is the fifth highest single-season performance in College of Charleston history.
