Charleston Southern Drops Gardner-Webb 3-1 in Big South Conference Volleyball Action
October 31, 2009 | Volleyball
Charleston, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team had its regular season series sweep of Big South Conference foe Charleston Southern erased on Friday night, as the Lady Buccaneers defeated the Lady Bulldogs 25-19, 28-30, 25-11 and 25-19 to take the 3-1 match win in Charleston, S.C.
With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs fall to 11-16 overall and 3-7 in conference play, while with the win, Charleston Southern improves to 13-14 overall and 4-9 in the Big South.
Gardner-Webb got off to a slow start in the opening set, as the Lady Bulldogs found themselves down big at 12-1. However, Gardner-Webb clawed its way back into the set, cutting the Charleston Southern lead to five at 17-12 on back-to-back Lady Buccaneer attack errors.
The two teams' then traded points, as each scored five points apiece, allowing Charleston Southern to hold on to a 22-17 lead.
Despite outscoring the Lady Buccaneers 18-13, the slow start and early deficit proved to be too much for the Lady Bulldogs, as Charleston Southern held on for the 25-19 set victory and took a 1-0 match advantage.
The second set started out much different than the first, as Gardner-Webb pulled out to a 4-1 lead on a Brett Wilson service ace. However, Charleston Southern fought its way back into the match with three straight points to knot the set up at 4-4.
Gardner-Webb then ran out to an 8-4 lead on four straight points, only to have the Lady Buccaneers storm back to tie the score up at 12-12.
After a GWU timeout, the Lady Buccaneers took its first lead of the set at 13-12 on a kill by Crissy Skokan. Yet the Lady Bulldogs had an answer, this time retaking the lead at 16-14 on back-to-back kills by Laura Wilcox and Molly Rhyne.
Next it was the Lady Buccaneers turn, as Charleston Southern pulled out to a 19-17 lead capped off by a GWU attack error.
Gardner-Webb retook the lead at 23-22 on three straight points, forcing a Charleston Southern timeout.
Out of the timeout, the two teams' continued its seesaw set, trading points back-and-forth until Gardner-Webb held on to a 24-23 lead. However, two straight kills by Nichole Diller gave the one point lead to the Lady Buccaneers at 25-24.
With set point on the line, the Lady Bulldogs stepped up with two points of its own highlighted by a Jessica Clayton kill to take a 26-25 lead and set point. Yet the Lady Buccaneers refused to let the set slip away, as the home team battled back to take the lead at 28-27.
This time the Lady Bulldogs decided to put the set away, running off three straight points to end the set 30-28 and tie the match up at 1-1.
Set three started off like set one, as the Lady Bulldogs struggled out of the gates, falling behind the Lady Buccaneers early at 9-2.
A kill by Gardner-Webb's Melissa Richie stopped the Charleston Southern run and kick started the Lady Bulldog offense, as GWU ran off three straight points to cut the Charleston Southern lead to four at 9-5.
The Lady Bulldogs failed to get any closer, as Charleston Southern used a 10-4 run to take a big lead at 19-9 and force a Gardner-Webb timeout.
Back-to-back kills by GWU's Carol Solano and Wilcox cut the Charleston Southern lead to nine at 20-11. However, the Lady Buccaneers finished the set off with a 5-0 run to take the 25-11 set win and a 2-1 match lead.
For the fourth straight set, the home team got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead before a kill by GWU sophomore Evan Moffitt got the Lady Bulldogs on the board and cut the Lady Bucs lead to one at 2-1.
After a Rhyne kill tied the score up at 2-2, Charleston Southern pulled out to an 8-5 lead on a kill by Amanda Hill. Yet, the Lady Bulldogs responded with two points of its own to cut the CSU lead back to one at 8-7.
With a 4-2 run, the Lady Bulldogs took its first lead of the set at 11-10 on a kill by Wilcox, only to have the Lady Buccaneers of Charleston Southern retake the lead at 12-ll on back-to-back kills.
The two teams' then traded the lead four times over the next several possessions with the Lady Buccaneers on top at 19-17, forcing a Gardner-Webb timeout.
The timeout did not deter the Charleston Southern offense, as the Lady Buccaneers held off a late Gardner-Webb surge to take the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
GWU's Rhyne led the way, as the reigning Big South Crons Freshman of the Week tallied a team-high 16 kills. Fellow freshman Richie added 12 kills and 11 digs over the four-set match, while Wilcox had 11 kills. Senior setter Regina Feagin dished out 38 set assists, while also recorded a team-high 15 digs, while fellow classmates Clayton and Wilson had eight kills and 14 digs, respectively.
Charleston Southern's Amanda Hill led the way with a match-high 21 kills, while Diller added 13 kills of her own in the 3-1 win. Libero Tricia Rodl recorded a match-high 21 digs, while setter Sam Sasan tallied 42 set assists, 15 digs and nine kills on the night.
The Lady Bulldogs will return home to host UNC Asheville next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. The match is scheduled to be video streamed via the Big South Network at www.bigsouthsports.com.
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| Box Score: Charleston Southern 3, Gardner-Webb 1 |
