College of Charleston
Towson
Volleyball Comes From Behind, Downs Towson in Five
9/27/2014 2:39:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston volleyball team put their resiliency on full display Friday night in their 2014 conference opener, coming from two sets down to hand the Towson Tigers just their second loss of the season, 3-2 (25-27, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-6) at TD Arena.
Sloane White led the way for The College offensively, registering 17 kills and hitting at a .467 clip while also digging up nine balls. Fellow senior right-side hitter Cara Howley celebrated her birthday in style Friday with a 16-kill, 14-dig performance while junior team captain Melissa Morello captured her CAA leading twelfth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 21 digs. Also chipping in was senior setter Kallie McKown who dished out 33 assists, while freshman middle Krissy Mummey continued her run of good form with another seven kills and six blocks.
It was a big win for the Cougars, who had lost three of four coming in to the night, against a 14-1 Towson team that many expect to compete for a top spot in the conference standings. The Tigers were led on the evening by Hawaiian Haley Pa'akaula, who racked up 21 kills and 13 digs. Former CAA Offensive Player of the Week, Saitaua Iosia also put away 16 kills, but only managed a .196 hitting percentage against a resolute Cougar defense.
After giving up the first set, despite being up 24-18, the Cougars found themselves with their backs to the wall after a strong game two performance from the visitors gave Towson a commanding two sets to none advantage.
The Cougars bounced back in a tightly contested third game, however, managing to take a 13-11 lead midway through the stanza following back-to-back kills from preseason all-conference selection, White, and an attack error from the Tigers. The rest of the game swung back and forth as both teams managed to side-out consistently, before a critical attack error from Iosia put the Cougars on the brink at 24-22. After a kill from sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Flaherty gave Towson hope, another Tiger error – this time on the block – gave CofC the game.
In the fourth frame, the Cougars were superb, hitting at a very high percentage and jumping out to a 10-5 lead. The set was never really in doubt from there, as the Towson continued to try to fight their way back, but got no closer than three as the Cougars ran out to a 25-18 game four victory.
In the all-important deciding fifth set, the Cougars played their best volleyball of the night, exploding offensively and flying around the back row en route to taking a resounding 12-2 lead. It was Howley, Mummey and Grace Rebarchak who provided the firepower for the rampant Cougars, combining for eight of The College's 15 points, to give CofC its opening win of the 2014 conference season in stunning, come-from-behind five set fashion.
It's a quick turnaround for the Cougars, who now welcome Delaware to town on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
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