CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston pulled out a close first set and then rolled to a 3-0 (28-26, 25-15, 25-19) victory over UNC Asheville on Saturday afternoon in the CofC Holiday Inn Classic.

Charleston (10-3) rebounded from a tough loss to SMU last with a strong all-around performance, outhitting and tallying more blocks than Asheville (8-6). CofC hit .246 as a team and held the Bulldogs to .026 while making 10 blocks.

Cara Howley led Charleston with 13 kills and a .600 hitting percentage, while Darcy Dorton also played strong, terminating 11 balls, digging 12 balls and making three blocks. Sloane White tallied nine kills and Melissa Morello finished with six.

Emily Neideffer and Kerstin Koehler each had three blocks from their middle blocker position and the Cougar setters tallied 46 assists with 22 going to Kallie McKown and 16 coming from Taeler Davis. McKown also had 12 digs for her second double-double of the season.

Christine Lakatos played well for Asheville, leading the team with 11 kills and making four service aces, all in a row. Katie Davis had 18 assists and nine digs.

Charleston was in control in the first set until four straight aces tied the score at eight. Both teams played close throughout and emotional points pushed past 25. A UNCA service error gave CofC a 27-26 advantage and an attack error from Bulldogs ended the set for the Cougars, 28-26.

The Cougars went on a 7-0 run in the second set to build an 8-3 lead, and never looked back from there. The Cougars posted a sideout percentage of 80 in the set and hit .464 to put away the Bulldogs, 25-15.

Charleston led throughout the third set, but UNCA pulled to within 20-17 late. Kills from Howley helped push CofC ahead and attack error from Lakatos ended the match for the Cougars, 25-19.

Since College of Charleston has already won two matches on the weekend, the CofC-Ball State finale at 7:30 p.m. will decide the CofC Holiday Inn Classic champion. Ball State defeated SMU earlier in the day.