College of Charleston
UNCW
CofC Volleyball Takes Down UNCW in Thriller
11/11/2015 3:03:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – In a battle between preseason favorites, the College of Charleston volleyball team defeated UNCW 3-2 (25-23, 10-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-13) on Tuesday at TD Arena.
CofC (17-12, 9-6 CAA) trailed late in all three sets it won, but managed to fight back to earn a crucial Colonial Athletic Association victory. UNCW (20-7, 11-4) entered the game second in the league standings and the winner of the previous match between the schools.
Senior Melissa Morello started out hot with nine kills in the first set, but cooled in the middle frames only to post five in the deciding set including the final four Cougar points. She finished with a match-high 21 kills and 11 digs; it was the fifth game this season with 20 or more kills and her second consecutive.
“That was an important match, an important win,” head coach Jason Kepner said. “Obviously, you would like to play your best volleyball heading into the conference tournament. We have one more regular season match and we need to continue playing the way the did tonight.”
The Cougars have now won four straight including victories over the top two teams in the league (James Madison on Nov. 1 and UNCW).
Freshman Kennedy Madison posted 12 kills while fellow frosh Devon Rachel chipped in with 11. McKala Rhodes ended the night with 22 digs and Allison Beckman recorded 49 assists. The Cougars were able to walk away with the win despite hitting just .156.
CofC trailed by five in the first set, four in the third and three in the fifth, but rallied each time. The Cougars went on a massive 12-2 run to close out the third. Trailing 5-2 in the final frame, Rachel recorded a kill to kick-start a 7-0 run, which included a pair of aces from Taylor Foley. Entering the break, The College had managed just one block, but rebounded to post six in the third set alone.
CofC travels to Delaware for its regular season finale on Friday. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
For more information on College of Charleston volleyball, visit CofCSports.com or follow the team on Twitter at @CofCVolleyball.
