College of Charleston
UNC Greensboro
Record-setting performances lead Cougars to seventh straight Southern Conference Final following 3-1 victory over UNC Greensboro
11/22/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Boxscore - UNC Greensboro vs. College of Charleston
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) delivered the most block assists in program history with 13 and hit .348 with 10 kills as the College of Charleston (26-6, 17-1) dominated UNC Greensboro (23-10, 14-4) 3-1 to advance to their seventh consecutive Southern Conference Tournament Final on Saturday, November 22. The Cougars earned the right to compete for their fifth consecutive tournament title by posting scores of 25-20, 25-17, 23-25 and 25-17.
A pair of blocks by sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) and Elyse Chubb, followed by three consecutive kills by Russell, gave Charleston an early 5-0 lead in Game 1. That quickly expanded to a 14-7 advantage before the Spartans used a 5-1 rally to pull within 15-12.
That would be as close as they would get as CofC used back-to-back kills and UNCG errors to push the lead to 19-12. The Cougars would maintain a solid lead the rest of the way as they put the set away at 25-20 and went up 1-0 in the match. For the set, Russell and Chubb each recorded four blocks while Russell drilled five kills and hit .556.
Charleston picked right back up where it had left off in the first set as they powered out to leads of 4-1 and 7-2 behind a pair of kills and blocks from Russell. Greensboro narrowed the gap to 8-7 with a 5-1 run fueled entirely by kills before the Cougars took firm control of the set with a 9-3 run that made it 17-10. CofC soon extended its lead to 20-12 before finishing off the set with a 25-17 final on yet another Russell kill.
Down 0-2 and facing elimination, the Spartans opened the third set by taking a 4-2 lead before battling through four ties to reach an 8-8 deadlock. A 5-0 Cougar run then made it 13-8 before UNCG charged back with its own 5-0 run to knot the set at 13-13. Following another block by Chubb and Russell that made it 14-13, three straight points from the Spartans gave them a 16-14 advantage.
It would be short lived as back-to-back-to-back kills gave Charleston the lead at 17-16. The two teams would then trade the next 13 points to reach a 23-23 tie before a kill by junior outside hitter Branagan Fuller combined with a Cougars error gave Greensboro a 25-23 victory and pulled them within 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set would see the Spartans jump out to a 4-1 lead before CofC mounted an 8-2 run to take a 9-6 advantage. Following consecutive points by UNCG to draw to within 9-8, the Cougars used an 8-3 streak to distance themselves with a 17-11 lead. From there, Charleston would go on to close out the set, and UNC Greensboro's season, with a 25-17 victory.
Junior outside hitter Branagan Fuller led the Spartan attack with a match-high 18 kills and added eight digs and four blocks while senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Nortz finished with nine kills and six blocks. Sophomore setter Kimiko Naito and junior setter Lisa Fawell split the setting duties, finishing with 24 and 15 assists, respectively, while junior libero Catherine Hanners paced the defense with a match-high 26 digs.
The Cougars record setting performance was led by Elyse Chubb, who delivered the most block assists in a single match in program history with 13. Her total was one shy of tying the all-time mark of 14 set by Sara Wilcox in a match against Coastal Carolina on September 2, 1997 and surpassed Wilcox's block assist total of 11 in that match. It is also the most block assists in a four-set match. The Peachtree City, Georgia native also added 10 kills for her first career double-double and a .348 hitting percentage.
Joining Chubb was Whitney Russell who drilled 15 kills, hit .312 and set a new career-high with eight blocks. She had accomplished the later feat midway through the second set as she surpassed her previous career-high of five, set earlier this season against Winthrop. Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) finished the night with a match-high 39 assists and added 13 digs for her team-leading 14th double-double to go along with five kills.
Sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) posted a solid all-around performance with eight kills, eight digs and five blocks while junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) contributed nine kills and five digs. Defensively, freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the team with 17 digs but was joined by freshman setter Hayley Harrell (Charleston, S.C.) with a career-high 16 digs.
The Cougars advance to the Southern Conference Championship Match for the seventh consecutive year and will face Furman. Earlier in the day, the Paladins upset the No. 1 seed in from the North Division, Samford, 3-2 as they won the fifth set 19-17.
First serve for that match is set for 2:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon with the winner earning the leagues automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
