Cougars Open Home SoCon Slate versus Wofford, Furman
10/4/2012 6:54:00 PM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston (12-5, 4-0) will play its first home matches of SoCon play this weekend when the squad welcomes Wofford (9-7, 0-4) and Furman (13-5, 2-2) to TD Arena on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Both matches are slated for 2 p.m.
The Cougars are one of two teams in the conference to be undefeated after two weeks of play, joining SoCon North leader Samford at 4-0 in SoCon play. Both Furman and Wofford will play The Citadel the day before playing the College of Charleston.
College of Charleston is coming off a 3-1 win over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night. The Cougars won their sixth straight match despite only hitting .189 with 24 attacking errors. Coastal Carolina could not overcome 12 service errors as the squad surrendered late leads in both the first and fourth sets.
Junior Emily Neideffer had a strong effort as she tied her career high with 14 kills and a .423 attack percentage. She also had a hand in three of the Cougars' six team blocks.
Melissa Morello (13) and Darcy Dorton (13) each tallied double-digits in kills for the eighth-straight match in which they've appeared in at least three sets.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at CofCSports.com and the Charleston Sports Network will broadcast the match live on CofCSports.com.
Series Records
The Cougars have only lost to Wofford once in 32 meetings, holding a 31-1 series advantage and sweeping both matches last season. Furman and College of Charleston have had a rich and competitive rivalry with CofC holding a 20-14 all-time advantage. Last season, the squads split the series with the Cougars sweeping at home and Furman winning 3-1 on the road.
Scouting The Competition
After starting the season 8-3 with a win over Ole Miss, Wofford has lost four of the last five all against SoCon teams, with Furman taking a sweep at Wofford on Tuesday.
Amanda Liquori leads the Terriers with 2.77 kills per set despite hitting just .151. Wendy Burnett leads Wofford with 0.86 blocks per set. Reagan Styles averages 4.1 digs per set as the Terriers make 15.8 digs/set as a team.
Furman comes into the weekend after sweeping Wofford on Tuesday. The Paladins have suffered conference losses to Georgia Southern and Samford this season after knocking off Clemson in the non-conference schedule.
The Paladins' Natalie Braun was named the SoCon Player of the Month for September after averaging 4.10 kills per set. She has hit .250 for the season with 19 blocks. Caroline Adams and Christina Dorismond are forces in the middle with 51 and 44 blocks, respectively. Freshman Jo Wilks has averaged 12.14 assists per set, leading the SoCon.
Cougars Ranked Nationally
College of Charleston was ranked 90th in the first edition of the 2012 RPI released this week. That ranking is the highest among SoCon schools with Furman coming in at 101 and Samford at 121.
College of Charleston kill leader Darcy Dorton ranks 36th in the country in kills per set with 4.11, the best average in the Southern Conference. Senior Emily Shelton is currently second in the SoCon with 5.23 digs per set, ranking 33rd nationally.
As a team, the Cougars rank 47th in kills (13.86) and 44th in digs (16.83) in the country.
Nothing Like A Good Winning Streak
College of Charleston has won six straight matches, dating back to a Sept. 18 win at Charleston Southern. Last season, the Cougars ended the regular season on a nine-match winning streak and added two more at the SoCon tournament.
CofC's four straight road SoCon sweeps is the longest such streak dating back to 2005.
College of Charleston has won 20 straight home SoCon matches dating back to 2009. That streak currently stands as the seventh-longest in the nation.
Home Conference Winning Streaks
1. Texas - 35
2. Hawaii - 30*
T-3. Dayton - 29
Lipscomb - 29
Northern Iowa - 29
6. Maryland-Eastern Shore - 26
7. College of Charleston - 20
Winning At The Tournament Location
The College of Charleston Cougars have appeared in the SoCon Tournament championship match in every season since 2002. In the years that the Cougars won the championship, they were 4-1 in the venue earlier in the regular season. In the years that they lost, they were 0-2 at the venue.
The 2012 SoCon Championship will be held at Davidson's Belk Arena. The Cougars recently swept Davidson 3-0 on September 30.
Taeler Davis Named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week
College of Charleston junior setter Taeler Davis was tabbed the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
Davis helped lead the Cougars to a 3-0 week with road sweeps at Citadel, Georgia Southern and Davidson. A native of Phelan, Calif., she averaged 11.89 assists per set with a .402 set percentage. She also converted five kills on dump attempts and was a part of eight total blocks, including a big solo block at Davidson.
Since taking over as the starting setter against Georgetown (Sept. 14), Davis has averaged 11.79 assists per set.
Elon's Ali Deatsch and UNCG's Lauren Betlach won Defensive and Freshman honors, respectively.
This week marks the third straight time that the Cougars have been represented on the SoCon Weekly Honor Roll. College of Charleston's four overall honorees ties Furman for the most in the Southern Conference this season.
Players Mentioned
