CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The College of Charleston volleyball team saw its 2018 campaign come to an end on Saturday evening in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, as the third-seeded Cougars fell to second-seeded James Madison in a four-set bout between two conference heavyweights.
 
James Madison (22-6) won the match by scores of 25-19, 28-26, 22-25, and 27-25 to advance to the championship match. The Cougars end their season with a 21-11 record after finishing third in the league standings with an 11-5 mark against conference foes. The Dukes finished the match with 65 kills, 70 digs, 16 blocks, and a .256 hitting percentage, while the Cougars posted 64 kills, 77 digs, and nine blocks to go along with a .185 attacking clip.
 
Senior Devon Rachel (Louisville, Ky.) led the way for the Cougars with a match-high 19 kills on 60 swings, while adding five digs and two blocks. Kennedy Madison (Evansville, Ind.) recorded 16 kills and four blocks, as Peyton Eisnaugle (Dallas, Texas) tied her career-high with 11 kills in addition to four blocks. Mandy Napierala (Rochester, N.Y.) chipped in eight kills and a .389 attacking clip (8-1-18).
 
Senior setter Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) turned in her 23^rd career 50-assist performance, and 33^rd career double-double with 55 assists, 12 digs, and two kills to pace the offense. Fellow senior McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) collected a match-high 25 digs to go along with three assists, as Lauren Freed (Troy, Ohio) tallied seven kills, 13 digs, and three blocks. Logan Manusky (San Diego, Calif.) finished with nine digs.
 
Briley Brind'Amour paced four Dukes in double figures with 17 kills, as M'Kaela White recorded a double-double with 14 kills and a match-high 11 blocks. Bryn Recker and Kelly Vahos posted 15 and 10 kills, respectively, while Sarah Driscoll led the team with 20 digs. Sarah Martin dished out a match-high 58 assists while adding six blocks, five kills, and five digs. Savannah Marshall and Tilbe Yaglioglu each collected 12 digs.
 
Beckman will go down as one of the top setters in both program- and CAA-history. The 2017 CAA Setter of the Year and four-time All-CAA selection ranks second all-time at CofC, and third in the CAA with 4,821 career assists – a mark that stands alone atop the rally scoring era leaderboard in both school and league history. A native of Apex, N.C., Beckman finishes her career with 940 digs, 164 kills, 145 blocks, and 91 service aces, and ranks as one of only two players in program history with four straight 1,000-assist seasons. Beckman finishes her career ranked fourth all-time in assists per set (10.79), and owns the program's single-match mark for assists in a three- and five-set match, as well as total assists.
 
Madison put together a career season to cap her four-year tenure at The College in style, totaling 403 kills (3.47/set), 114 digs, and 75 blocks while posting a personal-best .318 hitting percentage. The Evansville, Ind. native finishes her career with 1,356 kills (2.90/set), 335 digs, 291 blocks (0.62/set), and a .267 attacking clip. A four-time All-CAA honoree, Madison ranks 10^th all-time in kills and total points, and 12^th in solo blocks, block assists, and total blocks. Madison reached double-digits in kills in 75 matches during her career, including a career-high 23 on two occasions – both against JMU in 2015 and 2016.
 
Rachel caps a tremendous career at The College, finishing her four-year tenure with 1,299 career kills (3.21/set), 1,102 digs (2.72/set), 156 blocks, and 68 service aces. The 2018 CAA Player of the Year is one of nine players in program history with more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs, while ranking fifth all-time in attack attempts, 10^th in kills per set, 12^th in kills, and 17^th in digs. Rachel also holds the program's single-match records for kills in both a three- and four-set match during the 25-point rally scoring era.
 
For Rhodes, she ends her career at The College as one of the top liberos in both program- and CAA-history despite never being named to the All-CAA team. The Charleston native totaled 1,928 digs (4.10/set), 283 assists, and 66 service aces in her tenure, and owns the single-match program-record for digs in a three-set match during the 25-point rally scoring era. Rhodes ranks third all-time at CofC in both total digs and digs per set, while ending her career ranked 10^th in CAA history in total digs. She was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week four times during her career.
 
The Cougars are expected to return 10 letter-winners from this year's squad, including rising seniors Freed, Napierala, Eisnaugle, and Kayla Demari (Dana Point, Calif.).