College of Charleston
Furman
Furman snaps Cougars record streak of four consecutive SoCon Championships with 3-2 victory
11/23/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Boxscore - Furman vs. College of Charleston
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) notched a triple-double with 44 assists, 15 digs and 10 kills and freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) delivered a career-high 32 digs but it was not enough as the College of Charleston (26-7, 17-1) fell to Furman (21-13, 11-7) 3-2 Sunday afternoon in the championship match of the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament.
Following their upset victory over Samford in the semi-finals, Furman came out strong in Game 1, scoring the first four points behind back-to-back service aces from freshman setter Carolyn Nicoletti. An 8-2 run, fueled by four kills, put the Cougars in the lead at 8-6 before a 3-0 Paladin run gave them back the lead at 9-8. Back-to-back points by CofC made it 10-9 before the teams traded the next six points and Furman notched a 14-12 advantage.
The teams continued to battle and eventually knotted at 18-18 before consecutive scores gave the Paladins a 20-18 advantage. Back-to-back errors tied the set at 20-20 and the Cougars eventually closed to 24-23 but it would not be enough as Furman wrapped up the set 25-23 and went up 1-0 in the match.
The start of the second set was almost a complete reversal of the first as Charleston opened with a 4-0 run before pushing out to a 7-3 advantage. Following back-to-back kills by senior outside hitter Alison West that narrowed the margin to 7-5, CofC pounded three straight kills, two by junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.), and added a block to extend to a 11-5 lead. At that point, Furman used a 9-4 run to close to within 15-14.
Trailing 17-15, the Paladins used a 5-0 run to power ahead 20-17 before the Cougars responded with a 4-0 run to retake the lead at 21-20. After two straight points gave Furman a 22-21 lead, the two teams exchanged the next five points before consecutive errors gave Charleston the set at 26-24.
Having evened the match at one game apiece, the Cougars opened Game 3 by scoring six of the first eight points before the Paladins tied it at 7-7 with a 5-1 run. Over the next 16 points, the teams deadlocked eight times before reaching a 15-15 tie. Sawin then sparked a 3-0 run with back-to-back kills that left the Cougars with an 18-15 advantage. A Paladins' kill and a service ace brought the score to 18-17 before CofC used a 4-0 run to extend to a 22-17 margin.
After Furman scored three of the next four points to pull to within 23-20, sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) and Cole Dawley ended all thoughts of a Paladin comeback with back-to-back kills that wrapped up the set 25-20 and gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead in the match.
Charleston wasted little time at the start of Game 4 as Elyse Chubb drilled three kills to help the Cougars out to an 8-4 lead which they soon extended to 17-12. Furman kept the score close, drawing to within 20-18 before CofC responded with back-to-back kills from Chubb and Dawley to make it 22-18. The Paladins would not go away, however, as they rallied to tie the score at 24-24. An error and a kill by senior outside hitter Alison West then gave Furman a 26-24 victory and sent the match into a fifth and final set.
In that set, Furman opened with three straight points behind a pair of service aces before the Cougars rallied to tie the game at 4-4. Following an exchange of points, the Paladins recorded back-to-back kills to go up 7-5. A Sawin kill made it 7-6 before Furman scored to make it 8-6 and send it to the break.
Charleston came out of the break with a 3-1 run, all on kills, and tied the set at 9-9 before the teams traded the next two points to make it 10-10. Whitney Russell then drilled a kill that gave the Cougars an 11-10 lead before Furman tied it at 11-11. The back-and-forth battle continued as Cole Dawley put the Cougars up 12-11 with dump over the net and the Paladins responded with consecutive scores to make it 13-12.
CofC fought off a 14-12 match point following a kill by freshman right side hitter Kelly Kirby but could not rally to tie the set as junior right side hitter Emily Harby sealed the match at 15-13 with a kill.
Alison West led four Paladins in double-figure kills with a match-high 21 and added 21 digs while Kelly Kirby finished with 14 kills and 21 digs. Emily Harby totaled 13 kills and senior middle blocker Nicole Palazzo finished with 11 kills and six blocks. Carolyn Nicoletti posted a team-high 26 digs and junior setter Kelsey Salava led Furman with a match-high 54 assists.
For the College of Charleston, Cole Dawley notched her first career triple-double with 44 assists, 15 digs and 10 kills while Whitney Russell and sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) led five Cougars in double-figure kills with 11. Phillips also finished with four service aces, four blocks and five digs. Emily Sawin collected a double-double with 13 kills and 21 digs while Elyse Chubb had 10 kills and eight blocks. Emily Shelton led the defense with a career-high 32 digs.
Both Elyse Chubb and Cole Dawley were named to the All-Tournament Team following outstanding performances over the course of the weekend.
The Cougars will travel to Rock Hill, S.C. on Wednesday, November 26 for a 2:00 p.m. match against Winthrop and then will have to await word on whether they will receive an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
