CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston volleyball team continued its home dominance, posting yet another 3-0 sweep of a top conference opponent in TD Arena as the Cougars knocked off division leader Furman on Saturday afternoon. College of Charleston won 28-26, 25-18 and 26-24.
The Cougars improved 20-9 and 11-2 in the conference, while Furman dropped to 18-8, 11-3. The win marked the 19th straight home conference win for the Cougars, a streak dating back to 2009, and 2011 became the fourth season in five under head coach Jason Kepner that the Cougars have reached 20 wins.
College of Charleston faced Furman set points in the first and third game but clutch kills from junior Kelly Kolich kept the Cougars alive each time. Kolich finished with a team-best 13 kills and a .312 hitting percentage. Freshman Sloane White also reached double digits in kills with 10, while senior Sarah Havel made eight kills and five blocks. Sophomore Kerstin Koehler saw significant time on the outside and she made seven kills and three blocks.
Redshirt-junior Emily Shelton made several spectacular plays in late-game situations as she finished with 22 digs for the game.
"It was a great home win," Kepner said. "Any time you win 3-0 against a great team like Furman, you feel good as a coach. We picked it up at the end of games one and three and that's something we've stressed all season. Now we just have to keep doing it."
Furman was led by Kelly Kirby with nine kills while Alexis Shaffer and Caroline Adams each made eight. The Paladins only hit .102 for the match. Carolyn Nicoletti made 21 digs.
The Cougars won a dramatic first set that neither team was able to control for a significant stretch. College of Charleston went up 18-14 after aces from Shelton, but consecutive blocks from Furman's Kirby brought the Paladins back within one. After a kill from Adams gave Furman set point at 24-23, Kolich landed a kill to tie the game. Both teams traded kills until consecutive points from Chubb and Kolich gave the Cougars a 28-26 set victory.
With the second game locked at 13-12, College of Charleston scored four straight points to build a 17-12 lead and reached 20 first after a block from Koehler. Furman went on a mini-run of their own to pull within 20-17, but the Cougars scored five of the next six points and won the set, 25-18, on a Paladin ball-handling error. Shelton made 10 digs in the set and the Cougars recorded five blocks to limit the Paladins to a .000 attacking percentage.
Furman seemed determined to extend the match by building an 18-15 lead in the third set. Although the Cougars pulled back to within 18-17, Furman continued to side out and making points to keep College of Charleston at bay. A service error from the Cougars gave Furman a 23-21 lead, but Kolich made a big kill on the next play to make it 23-22. Kirby responded with a kill of her own to give Furman set point. Another kill from Kolich brought the Cougars back to within one and Havel tied the game with a block on the next play. An attack error from Kirby gave the Cougars a 25-24 lead and Havel and Davis ended the match on an emphatic block.
College of Charleston hosts Senior Day tomorrow at 2 p.m. as the Wofford Terriers come to town. The Cougars will honor Elyse Chubb, Hayley Harrell and Sarah Havel in their last home game at TD Arena.
