Charleston Returns Home to Host Hampton Inn Charleston/West Ashley CofC Invitational

Friday, September 20

TD Arena

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

Charleston Southern

Charleston Returns Home to Host Hampton Inn Charleston/West Ashley CofC Invitational

9/19/2019 3:43:00 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)

HOW TO FOLLOW THE COUGARS
Twitter: @CofCVolleyball
Live Stats: CofCStats.com
Video: Charleston Sports Network

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The College of Charleston volleyball team returns home to the friendly confines of TD Arena this weekend to host the Hampton Inn Charleston/West Ashley CofC Invitational featuring Charleston Southern, Jacksonville State and New Orleans. The Cougars will take on Charleston Southern at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, and will conclude the weekend on Saturday with matchups against Jacksonville State and New Orleans at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. respectively.

THE OPPONENTS
Charleston Southern carries a 6-5 record this season and is currently riding a six-match winning streak. The Buccaneers are averaging 11.5 kills and 2.0 blocks per set thus far while compiling a .201 hitting percentage as a group. Carsyn Starr and Brooke Monssen lead the attack with 3.81 and 3.76 kills per set respectively, while Paige Reagor is averaging a team-high 0.97 blocks per frame.

Jacksonville State is 4-5 so far this season with wins over Southeastern Louisiana, North Alabama, Sam Houston State and Stetson. The Gamecocks boast an offense averaging 13.70 kills per set led by Lena Kindermann with a 3.91 average. Lexie Libs directs the attack with 11.00 assists per set while Erin Carmichael paces the back row with 3.45 digs per frame.

New Orleans has compiled a 6-5 record thus far and carries a three-match winning streak into the weekend. The Privateers feature a strong attack averaging 13.0 kills per set and are hitting .211 as a team. Brianna Vega paces the offense with 3.78 kills per set while Lucie Pokorna's .307 hitting percentage leads the squad. Andrea Nava is averaging a team-best 4.24 digs per frame.

QUOTABLE
"I am looking forward to getting back to TD Arena after seven straight road matches. This weekend is another great opportunity for the team to work on our side of the court and focus on playing clean volleyball. Our three opponents bring different challenges and will definitely push us to play at a high level." – head coach Jason Kepner

NOTABLES

The Cougars carry a two-match win streak into the weekend following back-to-back sweeps of UConn and The Citadel.
Four Cougars are averaging more than 2.00 kills per set over the last three matches, with Peyton Eisnaugle leading the way at 2.50 per frame. The senior middle blocker is also attacking at a .382 clip in that span.
Junior Logan Manusky has been a stalwart on the back row over the last three matches averaging a squad-best 5.20 digs per set. She posted 21 digs in the Cougars' sweep of The Citadel on Tuesday.
Redshirt freshman Claire Campbell has committed just one error in the last three matches with 11 kills and a .625 hitting percentage in that span. She put together perhaps her best performance as a Cougar with eight kills on 12 swings without an error against UConn.
Senior Lauren Freed has been lethal from behind the service line so far this season with 16 aces through nine matches. Her average of 0.50 aces per set ranks third in the CAA and 62^nd in the nation.
The Cougars' blocking corps has put on a show over the first three weeks of the season with an average of 2.13 blocks per set, which ranks third in the CAA.
Kepner, the Cougars' all-time wins leader, needs 10 victories to reach the 300-mark for his career.
Charleston is picked third in the CAA Preseason Poll behind Hofstra and preseason favorite James Madison.