CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston (9-5, 2-0) will hit the road this weekend for a crucial pair of SoCon matches at Georgia Southern (11-5, 2-0) and at Davidson (5-7, 1-1). Matches are slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, respectively.
Both GSU and Davidson will play The Citadel the day before playing the Cougars.
The Eagles and Cougars are both tied for first place in the SoCon South Division which makes Saturday's bout an important early season measuring stick for both squads. Both Georgia Southern and Davidson took the Cougars to five sets on this road weekend last season.
CofC is coming off a 3-0 sweep of The Citadel on Tuesday, the second-straight SoCon sweep and third-straight road victory.
College of Charleston, who did not trail until the start of the third set, hit over .300 for the third straight match as the squad notched a hitting percentage of .301 and held Citadel to .040.
Junior Kerstin Koehler and freshman Melissa Morello led the team in kills with nine, with Morello getting all of her kills in the first two sets. Koehler also made a match-high five blocks to lead the Cougars to nine team blocks, bolstered by three blocks apiece from Emily Neideffer and Sloane White.
Junior Darcy Dorton hit .438 with eight kills against one error on 16 swings, joining White who hit .500 on eight kills as well. Taeler Davis continued to play well at setter as she tallied 37 assists and eight digs. Emily Shelton ranged the back row to notch 16 digs in the three-setter.
FOLLOW LIVE
Live stats will be available at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com and DavidsonWildcats.com. Fans can also follow along through CofC's twitter account, @cofcvolleyball.
SERIES RECORDS
College of Charleston holds a 31-9 all-time advantage over Georgia Southern in volleyball. The Cougars won both matches last year, including a thrilling five-set victory at GSU. CofC is 25-6 against Davidson all-time with the most recent Davidson victory coming in 2000.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Cougars will travel to Georgia Southern as the Eagles are riding high on a 3-0 win at Furman this past weekend. The Eagles lead the SoCon in digs with 17.71 per set, while they rank third in kills (13.6) and fourth in assists (12.6).
Setter Kate Van Dyke has returned for her senior season as the team leader. She has 11.22 assists per set which ranks second in the league. Meredith Paskert and Moriah Bellissimo are the offensive leaders at attack, averaging 3.17 and 2.87 kills, respectively.
Davidson swept Wofford, 3-0, on Saturday to earn the Wildcats' first SoCon victory of the season. The Wildcats are hitting .197 and holding opponents to a .187 average, a mark that ranks third in the conference. Davidson's 16.47 digs per set ranks directly behind CofC.
Last year, Davidson took the Cougars to five sets at Belk Arena with Caroline Brown finishing with 22 kills and 18 digs for the Wildcats. Brown continues to lead Davidson this year with a team-high 3.41 kills per set and 3.47 digs per set.
NATIONALLY RANKED COUGARS
College of Charleston's Emily Shelton and Darcy Dorton are ranked in the top 40 in the country in their respective statistical categories. As of Monday, Sept. 24, Shelton's dig average of 5.31 digs/set ranked 29th in the nation and second in the SoCon. Dorton's 4.11 kills/set leads the league and ranks 38th in the nation.
The Cougars' 17.13 digs per set as a team ranks second in the SoCon and 29th in the NCAA.
