College of Charleston
Davidson
Cougars Sweep Davidson To Open 4-0 In SoCon
9/30/2012 8:39:00 PM | Volleyball
The Cougars (11-5, 4-0) captured their fourth consecutive SoCon road sweep for the first time since 2005 while Davidson fell to 6-8 and 2-2 in SoCon play.
College of Charleston made the sweep despite some inconsistent play on the court. CofC hit just .237 and made a season-high nine service errors. However, the Cougar defense notched 10 blocks, out-dug the Wildcats 44-39 and held Davidson to a .115 hitting mark.
"It's great to come out of here with a 3-0 win," head coach Jason Kepner. "Davidson was a tough opponent on the road, especially after an emotional match yesterday. I was pleased with the overall outcome, but I want us to continue to eliminate some of our mistakes and be more consistent. However, any time you can open the SoCon with four road wins, you ultimately have to be happy."
Darcy Dorton, the conference's leader in kills per set, once again paced the Cougars with 14 kills and nine digs. Sloane White posted a team-best .435 hitting mark as she made 12 kills.
Freshman Melissa Morello made 10 kills and five digs as she continues to reach double digits in every three-set match that she's played in. Junior Taeler Davis made 35 assists and four blocks and seven digs. Emily Shelton finished with 16 digs for the Cougars.
Davidson's Tindall Sewell led the Wildcats with nine kills and Caroline Brown notched eight kills. Sewell also finished with four blocks.
College of Charleston got off to a slow start in the first set, falling behind 6-2 and forcing an early timeout. However, the Cougars responded and quickly took an 8-7 lead on the serve of White. The teams remained within a couple of points throughout most of the set, but Davidson made a run to get to 20 first after a CofC service error. Dorton and White responded with consecutive kills to tie the set at 20 and make Davidson take a timeout. White then recorded three kills and made a block in the final points of the set to give CofC a 25-22 set victory. White finished with eight kills in the first set, her most in any one set this season.
Although the Cougars only hit .176 in the second set, the CofC came to the front, limiting Davidson to just .062 hitting and recording five blocks. College of Charleston jumped out to a 10-4 off a block from Davis and Neideffer. CofC extended the lead to 14-7 on two kills from Dorton and a solo block from Davis. Although CofC led 20-14 at one point, Davidson rallied with several blocks of its own to bring the margin to 22-20. A Wildcat service error gave CofC some breathing room and Dorton finished the set with a solo block and a kill, 25-20.
Morello came alive for the Cougars in the third set, notching six kills on eight attempts with no errors. The Cougars broke open a 14-14 game to build a 20-15 lead after a kill from Morello. Several late attack errors doomed the Wildcats late, and the Cougars came away with a 25-19 set three victory.
College of Charleston returns home on Tuesday night for a non-conference match against Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
