College of Charleston
Georgia Southern
Cougars Win Key Match Over Georgia Southern
10/9/2010 2:34:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - In a battle of two of the top teams in the Southern Conference the College of Charleston volleyball team overcame a fourth set defeat to win an epic battle in the fifth and secure a 3-2 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles (24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 19-17).
For the College of Charleston (15-5, 4-1) four different players had at least 12 kills, led by 16 from senior Whitney Russell. The defensive attack was equally balanced with four Cougars picking up double-digit kills, led by senior Paige Johnson with 18. Senior Cole Dawley came within two of her career high in assists with 57. Dawley added 10 digs for her seventh consecutive double-double.
The Cougars handed the Eagles their first loss in Southern Conference play this season.
CofC Head Coach Jason Kepner said he was very pleased with the victory.
"I was very proud of the win for my team," he said. "This team played very hard and it was a good win to start the weekend."
After dropping a close set to open the contest, the Cougars evened the score in the second set led by Russell and junior Sarah Havel's four kills apiece. CofC led by as many as seven points at 21-14 and closed the set with a 25-20 victory.
With a victory in set number three the Cougars were thinking about ending the match in four sets, but the Eagles (12-7, 3-1) did not go down without a fight. The Eagles scored 11 of the first 14 points to build what seemed like an insurmountable 11-3 lead. Although the Cougars came within four points at 14-18, Georgia Southern was determined the take the match to five sets and pulled away with a 25-18 victory.
The fifth set would prove to be the most competitive of the match, but it didn't start out that way. The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but CofC stormed back to take a 5-3 advantage. In a set that featured 13 ties Kepner said he was proud of his team for showing a lot of fight.
"I thought we did a great job in that fifth game of every single play was big and we were battling and battling," he said.
The Cougars used a .333 hitting percentage led by six Russell kills to win the set and the match.
Prior to the match Dawley and Johnson were recognized for career milestones. Dawley recently recorded her 3,000th career assists and Johnson her 1,000th dig.
The Cougars continue play this weekend with a 2p.m. match against Davidson at Carolina First Arena. Kepner said his team will have to come back quickly.
"We have to focus and make a quick turnaround," he said. "We have a small amount of time to turnaround from this match, whereas Davidson did not play and they will be more fresh. I think its going to be another good match tomorrow."
