CHARLESTON, S.C. --- College of Charleston finished off a highly-competitive weekend sweep of Hofstra Sunday doing so in 3-2 fashion (25-21, 26-28, 25-27, 25-21, 15-11) sending their three seniors – Sofie Vogel, Sopheea Mink and Lexi Wierzbicki – out with a home victory.
 
All three of Mink, Vogel and Wierzbicki had career-best performances in one way or another as Mink had 17 kills, Vogel blocked 12 attempts and Wierzbicki put down four aces – three on three-consecutive serves in the second set.
 
Charleston opened the match with a 25-21 win for their fourth-straight set victory of the weekend before Hofstra answered with a pair of wins in sets two and three via extra points (28-26, 27-25). The Cougars responded in a big way taking the fourth set 25-21 getting three-plus kills from Vogel, Mink, Anna Smith and Wierzbicki while Jasmin Goei had a career-high five kills in that set alone.
 
The final five of Charleston's season-best 18 blocks came in the fifth and final set as Vogel, Smith and Cailyn Bolser had two-or-more to complete the comeback.
 
Hofstra got 16 kills from each of Yagmur Cinel, Izadora Stedile and Sarah Pierre but the Cougar block showed up time-and-again.
 
Sunday's win ended the home season for Charleston at 8-3 with six-straight victories to close it out. Charleston has also won their last four matches inside TD Arena against the Pride and reclaimed the series lead 13-12 in the process.
 
QUICK SETS
Final Score: Charleston 3, Hofstra 2 (25-21, 26-28, 25-27, 25-21, 15-11)
Location: TD Arena
Records: Charleston (12-15, 9-7 CAA), Hofstra (18-9, 8-8 CAA)
 
Turning Point
Hofstra took a 10-9 lead in the fifth set but it was short-lived as Sofie Vogel, Anna Smith and Cailyn Bolser combined for two blocks and Sopheea Mink put down her 16th kill of the match for a 3-0 run and 12-10 lead. Charleston would go on to close the match from there to secure the weekend sweep.
 
Key Cougars

• Sopheea Mink had a career-best 17 kills and hit a team-high .406 adding three blocks for a personal-best 18.5 points. Mink had at least two kills in every set heighted by five on just seven swings in the third set.
• Sofie Vogel had a career-best 12 blocks – eight coming in the first and third sets. She added three in the final set becoming the first Cougar with 10-plus blocks in a match this season.
• Anna Smith added 10 kills and four blocks while Lexi Wierzbicki added 12 kills, nine digs, six blocks and career-best four service aces – three coming on three-consecutive serves in the second set.
• Emma Appleman and Jasmin Goei combined for 36 assists and 20 digs at the pivot with Goei landing a career-high five kills in the fourth set to help swing the match back in Charleston's favor. Appleman had yet another double-double with 20 assists and 11 digs.
• Tynley Smeltzer led the Cougar backline with 23 digs with seven assists and Chandler Manusky added 17 herself.
• Cailyn Bolser had two blocks but made her presence felt seeing time in just the fifth and final set.

Match Notes

• Charleston's seniors – Sofie Vogel, Sopheea Mink and Lexi Wierzbicki – had performances to remember in their final home matches. Vogel had 12 blocks, Mink landed 17 kills and Wierzbicki served up four aces.
• Vogel's 12 blocks marked the first time a Cougar had 10-plus in a match this season and was the first such performance since Emma Falk had 10 against Northeastern in October, 2022. Vogel also finished just one block shy of tying the single-match program record of 13 in a five-set match by Elyse Chubb back in 2008.
• Charleston's 18 blocks were a season-high breezing past the 15 they had at William & Mary back in September.
• Jasmin Goei had a career-best five kills, lading all five in the fourth set after Hofstra had taken a 2-1 lead in the match.
• Charleston finished their home slate 8-3 and 7-1 in conference play, winning their final six.
• Emma Appleman had her 20th career double-double finishing with 20 assists and 11 digs.

Up Next
Charleston heads to Hampton for the final two regular season matches currently holding the final CAA Championships spot and would be the No. 6 seed if the standings were to hold. Saturday's match is the first meeting with the Pirates since they joined the CAA.