CHARLESTON, S.C. – Krissy Mummey (Hudson, Ohio) put down a match-high 14 kills, and Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) dished out 38 assists to lead the College of Charleston volleyball team to a straight-set sweep of Elon in Colonial Athletics Association play on Saturday afternoon in TD Arena.
 
With the win and losses by Northeastern and Hofstra last night, College of Charleston (16-10, 9-5 CAA) jumps back into a tie with Hofstra for second in the CAA standings – one game behind first-place Northeastern.
 
The Cougars won the match in straight sets by scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 25-15. Charleston tallied 45 kills, 61 digs and hit .299 as a team in the match, while holding Elon (17-13, 3-10 CAA) to 39 kills, 52 digs and a .144 clip on the attack.
 
Mummey paced the Cougars with 14 kills and a .462 hitting percentage, while Riana Brennan (Los Gatos, Calif.) recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Beckman nearly tallied a double-double of her own with 38 assists and seven digs, as McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) posted a match-high 18 digs. Maddie Hills (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Maddie LeGrande (Champaign, Ill.) each added seven kills.
 
Ally Karle led the way for Elon with nine kills and three solo blocks. Sydel Curry dished out 33 assists, while Maddie Jaudon and Sydney Busa posted 18 and 13 digs, respectively.
 
The Phoenix jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the first set, and later pushed the advantage to 13-7 with a kill from Karle. After Elon stretched the margin to 18-11, Charleston countered with five straight points to close the gap to 18-16 following a Rhodes ace.
 
A 6-2 spurt by the Phoenix would push the Cougars to set point before Charleston responded with one of the runs of the year. Within a matter of moments, Charleston erased the 24-18 deficit with six straight points after Mummey knotted the score at 24-24 with a smash. After Brennan put down a kill of her own, Mummey and Madison finished off the rally with an emphatic block to hand the Cougars a 26-24 first-set victory.
 
The Cougars carried the momentum into the second, and extended the run to 15-2 after opening the second frame with a 7-2 spurt. Elon slowly clawed back with a 9-6 stretch, which was capped by an Alexa Pavlick kill that cut the lead to 13-11.
 
The Phoenix kept pushing with a 6-3 spurt that put Elon ahead, 17-16, following an ace from Busa. The two teams would go back-and-forth over the next several minutes, with the Cougars fighting off a pair of set points before back-to-back kills from Brennan and LeGrande pushed the Phoenix to set point, 26-25. Elon then set a free ball over the end line to hand the set to Charleston, 27-25.
 
The Cougars rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the third with a 15-6 surge, and capped the spurt with a Katja Ehlers (Raleigh, N.C.) ace to take a commanding 18-12 lead. A Lauren Freed (Troy, Ohio) spurned the Cougars on another 7-2 spurt moments later, as Charleston closed out the sweep with a smash by Hills to cap the 25-15 set win.
 
Charleston will close out its 2016 home schedule on Sunday afternoon when the Cougars host William & Mary at 1:00 pm. The Cougars will honor their lone senior, Maddie Hills, with their annual senior day ceremony prior to first serve in TD Arena.