College of Charleston
Winthrop
Cougars Win Five Set Thriller
9/4/2010 3:40:00 AM | Volleyball
Rock Hill, S.C. – In front of a hostile crowd the College of Charleston volleyball team spoiled the Winthrop home opener with a victory against host-school Eagles in their first game of the Carolina Challenge Friday night at the Winthrop Coliseum (19-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 15-8.
“It was a great win,” said Head Coach Jason Kepner. “We played three good games and two really bad games. Winthrop is a good team, you can't give them anything. In the end we snuck out with a victory on their home court. It was a home opener for them so I knew they would be fired up and ready to go so I'm happy to get the win.”
The match did not start the way the Cougars (4-1) expected, as Winthrop (1-3) jumped out to an early 7-3 lead and led by as much as eight at 11-3. Despite a .025 hitting efficiency the team did not give up, closing the gap but still dropping the first set 19-25.
In the second set the veteran Cougar squad took command early and built a 14-9 lead on a kill by senior Ginny Phillips off of one of fellow senior Cole Dawley's 53 assists.
The attack was much better in the second set for CofC as they collected 20 kills compared to the Winthrop Eagles 11 kills. An aggressive attack and .318 hitting percentage carried the Cougars to a 25-22 set victory.
The third set followed the beginning script as the Eagles stormed out to a 6-0 lead after two CofC attack errors. Senior Whitney Russell tried to bring her team back with two of her team-high 15 kills, but Winthrop pulled away to take a 20-10 advantage. Again CofC battled back to close the gap to seven, before going down 16-25.
With the Cougars facing a must-win set in game four junior Sarah Havel came to the rescue with two kills and a block assist with Russell to build an early 9-5 lead.
When Winthrop narrowed the Cougar lead to two at 19-17 CofC clamped down and went on a 6-1 run led by back-to-back kills by Russell and freshman Madelyn McGinnis. Fellow freshman Kallie McKown towered over the competition with three straight service opportunities to secure the Cougars key points down the stretch.
Going into the fifth and deciding set the momentum was on the side of the Cougars. After trading points back and fourth the score stood at 3-3. Hitting at a .263 clip CofC went on a 6-0 run and pulled away to secure the set victory and the match with a 15-8 triumph.
“We were a little more consistent in the fifth game,” Kepner said. “We passed much better than we did last weekend against Northern Illinois. I think that allowed our offensive to be a little more successful. We were a little out of sink last weekend, but tonight we were in control.”
The Cougars balanced attack included four players with double-digit kills and four with double-digit digs, including a combined 41 digs from liberos Emily Shelton and Paige Johnson.
The Cougars resume action tomorrow with a 12p.m. match against South Carolina and a 5:30 contest with Clemson.
