College of Charleston Volleyball Kicks Off Southern Conference Play With Trips to Wofford and Furman
9/25/2008 4:00:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Following a highly competitive non-conference slate that saw them travel to the west coast and face Clemson and Duke, the College of Charleston volleyball program will open defense of its seventh consecutive Southern Conference title this weekend with trips to Wofford and Furman.
Charleston will travel to Wofford for a 7:00 p.m. match on Friday, September 26 to open conference play before facing South Divison rival Furman at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 27. This season marks the Cougars 11th in the Southern Conference since joining in 1998 from the Trans America Athletic Conference.
Team Capsules
College of Charleston Cougars
2008 Record: 7-5
2007 Record: 26-8, 16-2
The College of Charleston enters this weekend's action with a 7-5 mark following a strong performance over the weekend at the Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Invitational in Charleston, S.C. After falling 3-0 to 2007 ACC Runner-up Duke in the tournament opener, the Cougars pounded the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs by a 3-0 score and downed 2007 NCAA Second Round participant Delaware in the tournament finale.
Sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) was led the way for the Cougars, posting 96 assists, 22 digs, six blocks and seven kills over nine sets while freshman libero Emily Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished with 41 digs. Both were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts.
Dawley leads Charleston with an average of 9.69 assists and is second on the team with 2.41 digs per set and a .343 hitting percentage. Additionally, she has posted average of 0.69 blocks and 1.18 kills from the setter position. Sophomore outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) leads the offensive attack with an average of 3.31 kills to go along with 2.14 digs per set while freshman middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) is hitting a team-best .345 and is averaging 2.11 kills and 0.84 blocks. Junior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) is second on the squad with 2.90 kills per set and adds 1.82 digs.
Defensively, Emily Shelton leads the team with an average of 4.18 digs per set while junior middle blocker Jennifer Darty (Orlando, Fla.) is averaging a team-best 1.20 blocks. Sophomore right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) is averaging 2.18 kills, 0.62 service aces and 0.77 blocks per set. She currently ranks 11th in the country in service aces.
Wofford Terriers
2008: 10-5
2007: 9-22, 2-16
The Terriers have opened 2008 with a 10-5 record behind the strength of a seven match win streak that featured victories over Canisius, Southern Wesleyan, Radford, USC Upstate, UNC Asheville, Hampton and Kennesaw State. That streak was snapped by a 3-1 loss to Charleston Southern on September 19 and began a three-game down trend with losses to The Citadel and Coastal Carolina. Wofford has won its last two matches by 3-0 scores, defeating North Carolina Central and Winston-Salem State.
Shanna Hughes leads the Terriers with 3.60 kills per game and is second with 2.79 digs while Stacy Byrd is second with an average of 3.23 kills. Joanna Suddath sets up the offense with 9.41 assists and adds 2.59 digs per set. Brittany Thompson leads the defense with 5.17 digs per game.
Furman Paladins
2008: 6-6
2007: 20-9, 13-5
Furman enters Southern Conference play with a 6-6 mark overall following an up-and-down non-conference schedule. After a 3-1 victory over Georgia State to open the season, the Paladins faced stiff competition as they fell to Georgia 3-0, Georgia Tech 3-1 and Florida International 3-1 before rebounding with four straight wins against IPFW, Murray State, Belmont and Gardner-Webb to improve to 5-3. Recently they suffered three straight losses to Valparaiso, Western Kentucky and Tennessee Tech before beating Miami (OH) 3-1.
Allison West leads the way for Furman with a team-high 3.02 kills per game and is second with an average of 2.74 digs while 2007 Southern Conference First-Team selection Nicole Palazzo is averaging 2.14 kills and a team-best 1.19 blocks. Katherine Hall is second on the team with 2.68 kills per set and adds averages of 1.24 digs and 0.49 blocks.
Series History vs. Wofford and Furman
Charleston opens the conference season facing two teams that they have had a great deal of success against in recent years. The Cougars hold an all-time mark of 23-1 against Wofford and have defeated the Terriers in each of the teams last 21 meetings while currently holding a 15-9 advantage over Furman. The Paladins enter this weekend's action having lost the last 12 meetings with the Cougars. Charleston has not dropped a set to Wofford since Oct. 19, 2001, a span of 15 matches and 45 sets.
Charleston Series Records Against Wofford and Furman
vs. Wofford: 23-1, (Last Meeting: W, 3-0 November 9, 2007)
vs. Furman: 23-1, (Last Meeting: W, 3-2 November 10, 2007)
ALL-TIME RESULTS
vs. Wofford
Nov. 9, 2007 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 14, 2007 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 27, 2006 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Sept. 29, 2006 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 18, 2005 - College of Charleston, 3-0%
Oct. 22, 2005 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Sept. 24, 2005 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 5, 2004 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 1, 2004 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 9, 2003 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 3, 2003 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 26, 2002 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Sept. 21, 2002 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 16, 2001 - College of Charleston, 3-0%
Oct. 31, 2001 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 19, 2001 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Oct. 22, 2000 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Sept. 17, 2000 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 27, 1999 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 23, 1999 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Oct. 25, 1998 - College of Charleston, 3-2
Sept. 17, 1998 - Wofford, 3-1
Oct. 26, 1996 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 5, 1995 - College of Charleston, 3-0
vs. Furman
Nov. 10, 2007 - College of Charleston, 3-2
Oct. 13, 2007 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 28, 2006 - College of Charleston, 3-2
Sept. 30, 2006 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Oct. 21, 2005 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Sept. 22, 2005 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Nov. 20, 2004 - College of Charleston, 3-0%
Nov. 6, 2004 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 2, 2004 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Nov. 8, 2003 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 4, 2003 - College of Charleston, 3-0
Oct. 25, 2002 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Sept. 20, 2002 - Furman, 3-2
Oct. 20, 2001 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Oct. 12, 2001 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Oct. 21, 20000 - Furman, 3-1
Nov. 18, 2000 - Furman, 3-1%
Sept. 18, 2000 - Furman, 3-0
Oct. 22, 1999 - Furman, 3-2
Oct. 13, 1999 - Furman, 3-2
Oct. 24, 1998 - Furman, 3-2
Sept. 18, 1998 - Furman, 3-2
Nov. 2, 1996 - College of Charleston, 3-1
Sept. 25, 1993 - Furman, 3-1
Players Mentioned
