CofC to open Carolina First Arena to volleyball with Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Classic
9/15/2009 3:00:00 PM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Following nine straight road matches to begin the 2009 season and 27 years of calling John Kresse Arena home, the College of Charleston volleyball team will return to Charleston this weekend to open the state-of-the-art, 5,100 seat Carolina First Arena for volleyball competition.
CofC will open the facility with the 2009 Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Classic featuring South Florida and Lafayette. The Cougars will face South Florida (5-2) at 7 p.m. on September 18 in the first ever match in the building before the Bulls and Lafayette square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 19. The tournament will wrap up at 7 p.m. that day as the Cougars take on Lafayette.
Team Capsules
College of Charleston Cougars
2009 Record: 2-7, 0-0
2008 Record: 27-7, 17-1
The College of Charleston begins its home season following a 1-2 performance at the Duke Blue Devil Invitational in Durham, N.C. where they faced some of the toughest competition around. The Cougars opened the weekend with a match against Duke, a team that went 25-9 a year ago and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
CofC came out strong as they took Game 1 by a score of 25-18 before the Blue Devils responded with wins of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-20 to take the match 3-1. The opening set victory was the first for the program against Duke. Junior setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) led the Cougars with 33 assists, 10 digs and five kills while junior libero Paige Johnson (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) had a match-high 18 digs.
Their next match would prove to be the toughest in program history as CofC took on No. 1 and two-time defending national champion Penn State. The Cougars came out strong, staying within three points of the Nittany Lions in Game 1 before eventually falling 25-18. That tied for the third highest point total PSU had given up all year. Penn State then showed why they had won 71 straight matches as they claimed 25-10 and 25-13 victories to notch a 3-0 decision. Junior right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) led CofC with seven kills and four digs.
In the tournament finale, the Cougars wasted little time as they dispatched Loyola in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-10 and 25-15. Dawley's 32 assists, six digs and four blocks led the way while sophomore middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) and sophomore middle blocker Sarah Havel (Carmel, Ind.) each produced seven kills and five blocks. Freshman outside hitter Kelly Kolich (Overland Park, Kan.) added 10 kills.
Phillips leads the offense with 2.26 kills per set while senior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) is averaging 2.12 kills and 2.29 digs. Dawley sets up the offense with 9.29 assists and adds 1.17 kills, 2.49 digs and 0.60 blocks per set. Defensively, Johnson leads the team with an average of 3.43 digs and Havel is averaging a team best 1.26 blocks, with 12 solo, and is also drilling 1.85 kills per set. Kolich is currently at an average of 1.96 kills.
NOTES
The Carolina First Arena officially opened on November 14, 2008 with the ESPN sponsored Charleston Classic men's basketball tournament … this weekend's action will be the first official volleyball competition in the arena.
South Florida Bulls
2009: 5-2, 0-0
2008: 17-17, 7-7 (Big East Conference)
The Bulls enter this weekend's action following a match against Central Florida on September 15. USF is off to a strong start at 5-2, posting victories over Prairie View A&M, Florida Gulf Coast, Miami, Winthrop and Florida Atlantic. Their only losses of the season have come at the hands of two of the top teams in the country, No. 4 Florida (3-1) and No. 9 Minnesota (3-0) this past weekend.
Marcela Gurgel is off to an impressive start with averages of 3.58 kills, 2.42 digs and 0.54 blocks while Alli Arbogast leads the team with 1.22 kills and is second in kills at 2.04. Janice Rivera leads in digs at 3.79 while Caitlyn Breen is second in blocks at 1.21.
Lafayette Leopards
2009: 7-1, 0-0
2008: 12-18, 5-9 (Patriot League)
The Leopards are off to their best start in four years at 7-1 and have notched four straight sets victories this season. Their only loss on the season was a 3-0 defeat to St. Peters on September 4. Since then, Lafayette has won six straight matches, including a sweep of the Crosstown Tournament featuring Niagara, Providence and Rider.
Kayly Elmer leads the team in kills with an average of 3.32 kills and adds 1.57 digs while Cara Mulholland is second in kills at 3.14 and digs at 2.41. Kari Horn leads the team in digs at 3.66 while Alana Taylor is tops in blocks at 0.62.
Series History vs. Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Classic Field
The College of Charleston has never faced either South Florida or Lafayette.
College of Charleston Series Records Against Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Classic Field
vs. South Florida: 0-0, (First Meeting: N/A)
vs. Lafayette:0-0, (First Meeting: N/A)
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