Charleston Concludes Road Swing With Trip to William & Mary

Saturday, October 2

Williamsburg, Va.

2:00 PM

College of Charleston

at William & Mary

Charleston Concludes Road Swing With Trip to William & Mary

10/1/2021 2:52:00 PM | Volleyball

William & Mary Notes (PDF)

CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The College of Charleston volleyball team is back on the road for the second consecutive weekend with a trip to Williamsburg, Va. for two matches against William & Mary on Saturday and Sunday in Colonial Athletic Association play. First serve for both matches is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from Kaplan Arena.

The Cougars split a weekend series with James Madison last weekend defeating the Dukes, 3-1, on Saturday before falling to JMU in a five-set thriller on Sunday. William & Mary is 0-2 thus far in CAA play after dropping two matches to Northeastern on Sept. 18 and 19.

QUICK HITTERS

Charleston's offense put together one of its best performances of the season last Saturday with 61 kills in the Cougars' first CAA win of the campaign. The Cougars placed four players in double figures led by 15 from Gabi Bailey.
Bailey has set the tone for much of the season leading the team with seven double-doubles and 11 double-digit kill performances. The junior outside hitter paces the Cougars from the serving line as well with a squad-best 24 aces.
Sophomore Rebeca Olariu stepped into the libero jersey for the James Madison series and delivered a pair of stellar performances with 37 digs in nine sets. After accounting for 16 digs in Saturday's 3-1 win, she recorded a season-high 21 in Sunday's five-set thriller.
Freshman Anna Smith made her first two collegiate starts last weekend and turned in back-to-back matches with double-digit kills. The Mendon, Michigan native put an immediate stamp on Saturday's 3-1 win with eight kills on 13 swings without an error in the opening frame, and finished with a season-high 13. She followed with 10 kills in Sunday's 3-2 setback.
Molly Russell continued to provide an efficient attacking threat in the middle for the Cougars hitting .421 in both matches at James Madison last weekend. The senior middle blocker put down 10 kills on Saturday and nine on Sunday, and currently ranks fifth in the CAA with a .349 hitting percentage.
Freshman setter Emma Appleman turned in her fifth career double-double in Saturday's four-set victory equaling her season-high of 47 assists to go along with 12 digs and three blocks. The Guilford, Conn. native has seized the starting setter role over the last seven matches and is averaging 9.37 assists and 2.59 digs over that span.

SCOUTING THE TRIBE

William & Mary carries a 3-4 overall record and a 0-2 mark in CAA play into the weekend after dropping two matches to Northeastern on Sept. 18 and 19.
The Tribe rank third in the league in kills (12.32) and second in assists (11.36) per set.
Julia Brown enters the weekend ranked second in the CAA in kills per set (3.20) and third in hitting percentage (.371) to pace the Tribe attack.
Amy Schwem directs the offense as the Tribe's primary setter and ranks sixth in the conference in assists per set (7.88).
Three members of the Tribe are averaging at least two digs per set this season led by Anna Porter with a clip of 3.96 digs per frame.
Sabrina Malcolm and Brown have accounted for 22 and 21 blocks, respectively, as part of a blocking corps averaging 1.84 stuffs per frame.

QUOTABLE
"The team is ready for another CAA road trip. Back-to-back weekends away from home are tough but the girls are prepared mentally and physically for the challenge. I look forward to getting back on the court and seeing how much we have grown since last weekend." – head coach Jason Kepner