WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The College of Charleston sand volleyball team opened its 2012 season against Florida State and Stetson on Thursday in the Aspire Higher tournament in Winter Haven, Fla.
The Cougars lost to Stetson, 3-2, and lost to Florida State, 5-0, in dual meet scores. FAU did not compete in the meet. After Thursday's duals created the seeds, all of the top three CofC pairings advanced in the double elimination winner's bracket for Friday.
"We played hard today," said head coach Jason Kepner. "Obviously we would have liked to see a little more success, but it was a great learning experience to play something completely different in a competitive environment. We improved match-to-match and I look forward to continual improvement tomorrow."
Playing as the top Cougar pair, senior Elyse Chubb and freshman Lizzie Theesfeld lost to Stetson's top pair in the first two sets, 16-21 and 14-21. The group also fell to FSU's top team, 17-21 and 14-21. Because of the pairing format, the two played against the Cougars' fifth squad, Catey Warren and Kallie McKown, and won 21-13 and 21-10.
The number two Cougar group was junior Kelly Kolich and Emily Shelton. That pair played Stetson's twos close in the first set, falling 18-21, before losing in the second set, 10-21. FSU's second pair also managed two wins against the Cougars with a 15-21 set and 12-21 decision. Kolich and Shelton picked up a win over Stetson's four group with a 21-12, 21-16 victory.
In the three spot was College of Charleston's Kerstin Koehler and Andi Zbojniewicz. After losing to Stetson's threes in the first set, 18-21, the two reeled off two victories of 21-19 and 15-11 to take the game. FSU's threes defeated Koehler and Zbojniewicz by a score of 19-21 and 15-21. The two played Stetson's threes again and won in straight sets, 21-15, 21-19.
In the four spot for CofC was a mix of McKown, Emily Neideffer and Sloane White. McKown and Neideffer fell to Stetson's fours (21-19, 17-21, 8-15), while White and McKown lost to FSU's fours by a score of 15-21 and 8-21. White and Neideffer also had to face Stetson's twos where they could not pull out a victory (12-21, 16-21).
McKown teamed with Warren in the five spot for CofC, falling to CofC's ones (13-21, 10-21) and Stetson's fours (26-28).
The Cougars will continue in competition against FSU and Stetson on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Aspire Higher tournament.
