College of Charleston
VCU
VCU Captures 3-1 Decision Over Cougar Volleyball
8/26/2011 10:56:00 PM | Volleyball
The Cougars were led by the strong hitting of senior Elyse Chubb. Chubb finished with 11 kills and an attacking percentage of .231 to go along with three total blocks. Classmate Sarah Havel also tallied three blocks and seven kills, while sophomore Madelyn McGinnis delivered 11 kills. Starting the year as the team's setter, sophomore Kallie McKown set new career highs in assists (30) and digs (12). Junior Emily Shelton led the team with 18 digs from her libero position.
VCU relied on the attacks of Kristen Boyd and Jessica Ojukwu to take the first, third and fourth sets. Boyd tallied a game-high 16 kills while Ojukwu notched 15. Three different Ram players reached double digits in digs with Ojukwu (20), Cecilia Aragao (12) and Amanda Love (10).
"I thought we competed well today," head coach Jason Kepner said. "We tried to rely on our ball control, but VCU outdid us on that today. I was a little disappointed in how we handled their serve. We made some errors that made it easier for them. We had our opportunities to send it to five sets but just couldn't get it there."
The first set started with both teams trading points with efficient attacks. However, the Rams notched seven straight points to break open a 5-5 score. VCU's Boyd contributed two kills and a block in the run. Boyd finished the set with four kills as VCU won 25-14.
The Cougars battled back in the second set, responding to a 10-5 deficit with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 12. The Cougars did not trail again in the set. After a timeout with the score tied at 20, the College of Charleston came out scoring four straight points, punctuated by a Chubb kill. The Rams battled back, but Chubb delivered the winning point to give the Cougars a 25-23 set win.
VCU opened up the third set with a 9-1 run to turn a 6-6 tie into a 15-7 Rams lead. The Cougars responded to bring it to 17-13, but the Rams rallied for a 25-15 set win. Ojukwu and Boyd combined for eight kills as the Rams compiled a .345 attacking percentage for the set.
VCU jumped out to a 17-13 lead midway through the fourth set, but the Cougars continued to hang tough, bringing the margin to 19-17 after Havel scored a kill and combined with Madelyn McGinnis for a momentum-changing block.
After two errors from VCU brought the Cougars closer, Lizzie Theesfeld delivered a big kill to make the score 24-23. A tense and long volley resulted in an error from VCU's Ojukwu and the match continued.
Chubb powered through with a kill from right to left to tie the score at 25, but the Rams scored the next two points to take the set and the match.
After the match, the Mortar Board committee honored players from each team for scholarship and service. Chubb earned the Top Scholar Award, Havel won Most Improved Scholar and senior Hayley Harrell was honored with the Community Service Award.
The Cougars return to Purdue's Intercollege Athletic Facility on Saturday, Aug. 27, for a noon match against Baylor.
Players Mentioned
