LONG BEACH, Calif. – Sloane White posted a career-high hitting percentage and tallied a season high in kills to lead College of Charleston to a 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22) win over Seattle in the Walker Pyramid at Long Beach State University.
Charleston (8-0) tied the program's best start to the season with its eighth-straight victory, tying the 2005 squad that finished 32-2. Seattle (2-8) rallied after two poor sets, but could not keep up with the Cougars' firepower.
Charleston continued its high-efficiency attack, hitting .327 for the match and holding Seattle to .170. The Cougars also finished with 12 blocks and outpaced the RedHawks in digs 44-33.
White had a bounce-back performance after only landing six kills against Indiana last week. She terminated 14 kills and only had one error for a career-best attack percentage of .650. She also made a season-best four blocks.
Darcy Dorton finished with 11 kills and Cara Howley added nine kills and four blocks for the Cougars. Melissa Morello posted 14 digs with seven kills. The Cougar middles played well with Emily Neideffer scoring five kills and three blocks, while freshman Maddie Hills had a season-high five blocks.
Seattle's Iris Ivanis and Alex Goodrie both finished with 10 kills for the RedHawks.
Charleston opened a 6-1 lead in the first set with two kills from White and an overpass kill from Neideffer. The RedHawks pulled it to 8-6, but then Charleston raced away and never looked back. It was 14-6 before Seattle scored again, and Charleston eventually won the set 25-14. CofC hit .500 in the set, led by White's four kills.
The Cougars and RedHawks grappled through errors to start the second set, but Charleston eventually pulled ahead to grab a 15-10 lead. The momentum continued through strong hitting from White on the right and patient defensive play, with Charleston making five blocks and holding the Redhawks to .067 hitting in the set. CofC won the set, 25-18.
Despite tallying an identical nine kills with the Redhawks in the third set, the Cougars fell behind early and ill-timed setting and serve receive errors doomed CofC late. The Redhawks made four aces in the set and Charleston committed three ball-handling errors. Charleston was never closer than two at 8-6, before Seattle ran out to an 18-9 lead. White had three kills in the set, but it wasn't enough as Seattle won a 25-16 decision.
The fourth set was a nail-biter for fans of both allegiances as Seattle built an early lead before Charleston tied it at 12. The teams traded points throughout the middle until SU went up 19-16. CofC immediately responded with four straight points on kills from Morello, Dorton, Howley and Hills. White finished the match for the Cougars with her 14th kill, giving Charleston a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
CofC has a quick turnaround before facing Long Beach State on its home court at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The 49ers defeated Loyola Marymount on Thursday night in the first match of the tournament.
