TOWSON, MD. – Sophomore Devon Rachel (Louisville, Ky.) posted a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs to lead the College of Charleston volleyball team to a nail-biting five-set victory over Towson in Colonial Athletic Association play Friday evening.
Charleston (10-5, 3-0 CAA) won the match by scores of 27-25, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25 and 15-11 to extend its win streak to four matches. Towson falls to 13-3 overall and 1-1 in CAA play with the loss. The Cougars recorded 48 kills, 15 blocks and 81 digs in the match compared to 63 smashes, 10 blocks and 77 digs for the Tigers.
"I'm very proud of how the team played," said head coach Jason Kepner. "We were very disciplined the first two games and I thought we took Towson out of their offense. The next two games, they really were aggressive and took it to us. But this team has always found a way and did it again in the fifth with big play after big play. I am very excited for to be 3-0."
Rachel and Maddie Hills (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) led the Cougars with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) added a double-double with 41 assists and 13 digs. Kennedy Madison (Evansville, Ind.) totaled eight kills and a match-high nine blocks. McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) chipped in 15 digs.
Jocelyn Kulian and Jessica Lewis paced the Tigers with 20 and 19 kills, respectively, as Marrisa Wonders posted a double-double with 30 assists and 15 digs. Anna Holehouse and Lewis added 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
Both offenses stumbled out of the gate in the first set, as the teams combined for 24 kills and 19 errors in a frame that saw Charleston edge the Tigers, 27-25, to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Cougars were forced to bounce back late in the frame, with Peyton Eisnaugle (Dallas, Texas) evening the tally at 24-24 before she combined with Madison for the huge block to end the set.
Charleston held a narrow 10-9 advantage in the second before Rachel put down her fourth smash of the night, and kick-started a 7-2 spurt for the Cougars. Towson would chip away at the lead over the next several minutes, but Eisnaugle stopped the bleeding with a kill to give Charleston a 22-17 advantage. Mills capped the set moments later to put the Cougars on top in the match, 2-0.
Towson rebounded in the third, as the Tigers opened the frame with a 5-1 spurt that quickly turned into a 15-7 lead on back-to-back aces from Flaherty. Four of the next five points would fall for the Cougars to trim the margin to 16-11 before two straight Lewis kills stretched the Towson advantage to 19-11. The Cougars kept fighting with a 9-4 spurt to cut the lead to 23-20, and force a Tiger timeout following a smash from Katja Ehlers (Raleigh, N.C.). Towson would answer with back-to-back points out of the break to take the set, 25-20.
The Cougars countered with a 4-2 spurt to open the fourth before a Flaherty kill capped a 3-1 stretch, and evened the tally at 5-5. A corresponding 6-2 run would hand Charleston an 11-7 lead following a smash from Rachel. Towson quickly answered with a 7-3 spurt to knot the score at 14-14, and after a Lauren Freed (Troy, Ohio) kill, took its first lead on a Lewis smash to kick-start a 10-2 surge that pushed Charleston to set point at 24-16. A smash from the Tigers' Candace Steadman sent the match to a deciding fifth set moments later.
The Tigers carried the momentum into the fifth with a 4-2 spurt, before back-to-back Tiger miscues evened the tally at 4-4. With Towson holding an 8-6 advantage moments later, Charleston countered with five straight points to claim an 11-8 lead following an ace from Riana Brennan (Los Gatos, Calif.). The Cougars would push the Tigers to match point on a smash by Madison, and after back-to-back Towson tallies, finished off the win with a Rachel kill to take the fifth set, 15-11.
Charleston wraps up its two-match weekend swing on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Delaware in Newark, Del.
