College of Charleston
Wyoming
Cougars Defeat Wyoming, Win Hampton Inn Invitational
9/18/2011 3:23:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston rebounded from a tough, five-set loss to UNF to capture the Hampton Inn Invitational championship, defeating Wyoming, 3-1, in the weekend's final match.
College of Charleston (7-7) won the first two sets, 29-27 and 25-20, before allowing Wyoming (9-5) to grab set three, 25-20. The Cougars completed the match with an exciting 25-22 win in set four.
Senior Elyse Chubb finished the match with 15 kills, hitting .371 with just two errors. Chubb eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark for her career, becoming just the ninth Cougar player to do so. She finished with 48 kills on the weekend, notching a team-best attack percentage of .390, to go along with 14 total blocks. Chubb was named Tournament MVP, her second such honor this season after winning MVP at the Georgia State Invitational.
Freshman Sloane White joined Chubb on the All-Tournament team after she landed 15 kills and made two block assists against Wyoming. Emily Shelton was also named to the All-Tournament team for tying her season high with 29 digs against the Cowgirls. Shelton made 94 digs on the weekend, averaging 5.2 per set.
"I'm proud of how hard we worked as a team to win this final match in four games," said head coach Jason Kepner. "Wyoming is a very good opponent and did not give us any easy points. Getting a win against such a solid non-conference opponent was great for our team and our conference."
The Cowgirls were led by All-Tournament honorees Jodi Purdy and Tamara Kitic. Purdy registered a match-high 21 kills and 16 digs, and Kitic finished with eight kills.
College of Charleston trailed by one or two points for most of the first set as both teams traded kill for kill with very few uncaused errors. The Cougars allowed Wyoming to build a 23-21 lead, but College of Charleston rallied to score the next three points and force set point. The Cowgirls staved off three set points before eventually taking a 27-26 lead. However, a service error from Reese Plante kept Charleston alive. A block from Sarah Havel and Madelyn McGinnis followed by a Kallie McKown ace gave Charleston a 29-27 set win.
The Cougars jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set and led for the rest of the way. Havel repeatedly forced the middle and made five kills and two block assists. Havel finished with 11 kills and seven total blocks for the match. McGinnis also made several big blocks in the set as she led the team with three total blocks. White contributed three kills on five swings as Charleston won set two, 25-20.
Wyoming responded strongly in the third set, building a 9-3 lead and never allowing the Cougars to pull closer than four points, eventually winning 25-20. Purdy hit seven kills to lead the Cowgirls in the set.
College of Charleston rallied from down 8-4 in the fourth set to tie the game at 10. Sophomore Taeler Davis rallied the offensive attack as she came in at setter, notching 13 assists, 10 digs and two kills in the fourth set. Davis' 20 total assists were a new season high for the transfer from Pacific. White finished the set with six kills including several in the final moments.
With the Cougars holding a slight 19-18 lead, White earned a disputed point that resulted in a red card against Wyoming, giving College of Charleston a 21-18 lead. Another kill from White put the Cougars up 22-18 and College of Charleston eventually won 25-22.
The rest of the Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament team consisted of Texas A&M Corpus Christi's Shannon Hullum, North Florida's Paige Pridgeon and UNC-Wilmington's Jennifer Mallard.
College of Charleston continues the home stand on Tuesday night with a match against Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
