ATLANTA, Ga. - The College of Charleston captured the team's first sweep of the season, defeating Jacksonville State, 3-0, in morning action at the Georgia State Invitational. All three games were close as the Cougars picked up wins of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-20.
Senior Elyse Chubb powered College of Charleston (2-3, 0-0) with 12 kills, while sophomore Kallie McKown tallied 27 assists and 11 digs for her first career double-double in a three-set match. Freshman Lizzie Theesfeld picked up nine kills, 10 digs and three block assists, and senior Sarah Havel compiled seven kills. Redshirt-junior Emily Shelton notched 11 digs and two aces.
Jacksonville State (1-5, 0-0) used nine kills and six digs from Stephanie Koontz in a losing effort.
"I was really pleased with our play this morning," head coach Jason Kepner said. "We changed our lineup a little bit and the team really seemed comfortable on the court. We really used the momentum from winning three straight games against Harvard last night."
After falling behind early in the first game, an ace from freshman Sloane White and several kills from Havel brought the Cougars back to even at 11. White finished with three aces in the match. College of Charleston broke a deadlock at 16 by taking advantage of Gamecock hitting and passing errors and an exciting block from Chubb and White. The Cougars went on to win the set, 25-20. Theesfeld led the team with four kills on seven attempts, while White and Chubb each had three apiece.
After trailing 5-2 in the second game, the Cougars rallied to take a 6-5 lead off of two service aces and several good swings from McGinnis, Chubb and Havel. However, the Gamecocks responded and kept the match close and both teams traded points to a 17-17 tie. After JSU went up 22-21, a Chubb kill and an ace from Shelton to give the Cougars the lead for good as kills from Chubb and Havel gave CofC a 25-23 set win.
Chubb finished with seven kills in the second set, hitting .462. Shelton tallied seven digs and two service aces.
Jacksonville State opened the third game on a tear, running out to a 9-5 lead. However, the Cougars came back to tie the game at 11, seizing on several Gamecock service errors. The Cougars broke a tie at 18 and went on to win the deciding set, 25-20.
College of Charleston will conclude action at the Georgia State Invitational with a match against the host Panthers tonight at 7 p.m.
