CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston came back from a tough defeat on Friday at the hands of Georgia Southern by defeating Davidson, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-18) on Saturday evening.
Although the Cougars struggled at times, especially in the first set, College of Charleston (19-7, 10-2) showed stamina and endurance to win long rallies and hold off Davidson (8-13, 4-7) in the final three sets.
The Cougars outhit the Wildcats with a 61-42 advantage in kills and .226-.136 edge in hitting percentage. CofC also outdug Davidson 72-63.
"You always want to respond to an emotional loss by coming right back out and getting a win," head coach Jason Kepner said. "We made some mistakes that gave them opportunities, but we made some plays down the stretch and that was the difference."
Darcy Dorton led the Cougars in kills with 19 against just five errors for a .318 hitting mark. Melissa Morello tallied a double-double with a season-best 16 kills and 11 digs.
Emily Neideffer made 11 kills and two service aces, and Sloane White tallied seven kills. Setter Taeler Davis made 52 assists and 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Emily Shelton made 26 digs to give her 1,989 digs in her career, just 11 away from 2,000.
Davidson was led by Tindall Sewell who made 13 kills and Caroline Brown's 11 kills and 17 digs. However, Brown also made nine costly hitting errors and two service errors.
Davidson opened the first set with a 6-1 run to build a 9-4 lead after a Sewell kill. The Cougars clawed back to an 11-11 tie with a block from Kerstin Koehler and Davis, and both teams sided out to a 18-17 DC advantage. The Wildcats then went on a big 3-0 run to take a 21-17 lead and control of the set. A service error from Dorton gave the Wildcats a 25-22 set one victory.
College of Charleston used a 6-2 run in the middle of the second set to build a 16-11 lead after a White ace. The Wildcats never got closer than four points from then on as CofC sided out on 13 of 16 chances (81 percent), and hit .379 as a team in the second frame. Kills by Morello and White sandwiched a Tindall Sewell error that gave the Cougars a 25-16 set victory.
The third set featured 16 ties and eight lead changes as neither team could take control until the very end. Both teams' defenses held down the opponents as Davidson hit just .130 and College of Charleston hit .170. The Wildcats took a 22-21 lead after a kill from Brown, but a Sewell error tied the set at 22. Sloane White gave the Cougars a 23-22 lead and then White teamed with Neideffer for a block and Morello made a solo block to give CofC the third set, 25-22.
College of Charleston did not let Davidson hang around in the third set, opening a 17-11 lead and eventually going up 20-12. Davidson managed just seven kills and Shelton tallied 10 digs in the final set as the Cougars won, 25-18.
College of Charleston will hit the road for the final time this regular season on Friday, Nov. 2 for a 6 p.m. match at Wofford.
