ELON, N.C. – Sophomore middle blocker Kennedy Madison (Evansville, Ind.) paced the College of Charleston volleyball team with 14 kills and a blistering .545 hitting percentage, while junior Jane Feddersen (Leesburg, Va.) recorded a season-high nine blocks to lead the Cougars to a 3-1 Colonial Athletic Association win at Elon Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the College of Charleston (13-7, 6-2 CAA) stays one game behind first-place Northeastern (17-5, 7-1 CAA) in the conference standings, while Elon falls to 15-9 overall and 2-6 in league play. The Cougars won the match by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-17, and hit .214 in the contest with 47 kills, 11 blocks and 62 digs. The Phoenix tallied 57 kills, 64 digs and eight blocks.
"It is always good to get a road win," said head coach Jason Kepner. "Elon is a very athletic team, and I thought we did a nice job defending them today. We improved on a few things today that we have been working on in practice, which was great to see. We still haven't reached our team's full potential, which is exciting as a coach. I am looking forward to getting back in the gym this week."
Madison paced three Cougars with double digits in kills with 14, while Maddie Hills (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Riana Brennan (Los Gatos, Calif.) posted 12 and 10 smashes, respectively. Brennan also added 13 digs to account for a double-double, as McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) tallied a match-high 16 digs. Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) dished out 41 assists while Feddersen recorded nine blocks.
Sydney Busa led the way for Elon with 15 kills and 14 digs to account for a double-double, while Ebony Scott and Kam Terry tallied 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Sydel Curry posted a double-double with 45 assists and 14 digs, as Maddie Jaudon recorded 15 digs. Kayla Agae notched 11 digs and a match-high three aces.
The first set proved to be one of the most tightly contested of the match, with Charleston forcing an Elon timeout after a Hills smash gave the Cougars a 14-11 lead. Elon quickly countered with a 6-4 spurt to close the gap to 18-17 on a kill from Terry, before a block from Busa and Michelle Klein evened the tally at 20-20. A Cougar miscue gave the Phoenix their first lead of the day moments later, as Elon closed the set on an 8-4 run to win the frame, 25-22.
The Cougars responded with a disciplined performance in the second set, claiming the frame by a score of 25-16 with 13 kills and two errors. Charleston would open the period with an 11-7 run, and forced an early Elon timeout with a smash from Madison. A Busa kill moments later cut the lead to 16-13 and prompted a Charleston breather. The Cougars then countered with a 9-3 surge to quell the rally, and cap the set with a smash from Rachel to even the match at 1-1.
A 4-2 spurt from the Phoenix opened the third before Elon pushed the margin to 10-7 on back-to-back service aces from Agae. The Cougars would answer with a 10-7 run out of a timeout to even the tally at 17-17 on a Phoenix miscue. After another Elon error gave the Cougars an 18-17 advantage, Rhodes found a hole in the defense for a rare kill to put CofC ahead 19-17.
The next three points would go to Elon, with the Phoenix claiming a 20-19 advantage on back-to-back blocks before a Hills smash kick-started a 5-0 run for the Cougars. Hills would cap the frame at 25-23 with a kill moments later after Elon fought off three set points.
The Cougars carried the momentum into the fourth with a 12-7 run to start the set, which was capped by an emphatic smash from Madison. Elon would knot the score at 15-15 with an 8-3 spurt, before Hills launched the Cougars on a match-ending 10-2 surge that gave Charleston a 25-17 fourth-set win.
Charleston returns home next weekend to host Delaware on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m., followed by a Sunday matchup with Towson at 1:00 p.m. Live video will be available for the Delaware match only.
