NEWARK, Del. --- College of Charleston volleyball fell in their bid to sweep the weekend series from Delaware on Sunday by a 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-10) score.
 
Sopheea Mink put down a career-best 16 kills in the loss and finished the weekend with a team-high 29 while hitting .431 across nine sets. She was joined in double figures by Lexi Wierzbicki (11), Sofie Vogel (10) and Anna Smith (10) while Morgan Cobb added a season-high nine.
 
Charleston took the first two sets Sunday after winning the final three Saturday, but the Blue Hens used a 7-0 start in the third and eventually won it 25-16 to keep the match alive. Delaware got seven of their 14 service aces in that third game to turn the tide.
 
Delaware was led the trio of Gha'Naye Whitfield-Moss (13 kills), Kirah Johnson (13) and Savannah Seemans (10) with Seemans collecting five aces and 17 digs. Charleston was able to keep CAA Preseason Player of the Year Lani Mason below .125 for a second-straight match but the high-powered Blue Hens used the balanced attack to force the weekend split.
 
Charleston's backline saw a match-high 25 digs from Tynley Smeltzer, who was named CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Week, and a double-double from Emma Appleman (29 assists, 12 digs) for a second-consecutive day.
 
Just 24 hours after setting a career-high in blocks with six, Cailyn Bolser led the Cougars at the net with seven Sunday for 13 total and 1.44 per set.
 
QUICK SETS
Final Score: Delaware 3, Charleston 2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-10)
Location: Bob Carpenter Center | Newark, Del.
Records: Charleston (5-21, 2-4 CAA), Delaware (10-4, 3-3 CAA)
 
Key Cougars

• Sopheea Mink paced the Cougar attack once again with a career-best 16 kills on 33 swings, finishing the day at a .394 mark.
• Cailyn Bolser made it back-to-back days setting career marks in blocks, this time deterring seven Blue Hen attempts. She finished the weekend with 13 over nine sets for a 1.44 average.
• Sofie Vogel finished the day with a .500 clip putting down 10 kills to join Mink in double figures.
• Lexi Wierzbicki almost had her fifth double-double of the season finishing with 11 kills and eight digs and Anna Smith added 10 kills a pair of blocks giving the Cougars four in double figures.
• Emma Appleman made it back-to-back double-double efforts with 29 assists and 12 digs – her third-straight such performance against the Blue Hens dating back to last season.
• Tynley Smeltzer led the Cougar backline with 25 digs. The junior had 50 on the weekend for 5.56 per set.

 
Match Notes

• Mink led the Cougars in kills for a third-straight match putting down a career-high 16 on Sunday. The graduate outside hitter has hit .394-or-higher in each of those matches including back-to-back .480 performances versus Stony Brook and Delaware.
• Appleman made it three-straight double-doubles against the Blue Hens collecting her 16th as a Cougar. Each of Appleman's last three double-doubles have featured 20-plus assists to go along with 10-plus digs.
• Bolser's career-best seven blocks Sunday marked the seventh six-plus block performance from a Cougar this season.
• Sunday was just the third five-set match of the season for Charleston, all coming inside CAA play.
• Charleston had 10 blocks for a fourth time in league play and had 70-plus digs for a fourth time in conference matches.

 
Up Next
College of Charleston welcomes rival UNCW to TD Arena next weekend for a pair of 1 p.m. matches.