NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team (8-14, 1-6 Big South) battled through a marathon five set match at Charleston Southern (11-10, 3-4 Big South) on Saturday night, before eventually falling 3-2

It would turn out to be a game of huge swings, with Gardner-Webb taking the first and third 25-18 and 25-22, and Charleston Southern winning the second and fourth 25-21 and 25-18. The Buccaneers scored the match victory with a narrow 15-11 win in the fifth

In the first, Gardner-Webb jumped out to a big 9-4 lead and mostly didn't look back. CSU battled back for a 16-16 tie, but the last six points would go the way of the Runnin' Bulldogs. That closing stretch included a sanction on the CSU bench, two kills from junior middle Milla Lugo and an attack error from the home side

Gardner-Webb again led big in the second, quickly jumping in front 5-1 behind three Charleston Southern errors. The Buccaneers made the most a comeback though with 8 of the final 10 points down the stretch to even the match at 1-1. 

The Dawgs used the middle of the third set to pull away, with a 6-1 run taking a 10-8 score to a 15-9 one that CSU wouldn't fully come back from. Despite an 18-18 tie, Gardner-Webb benefited from five errors in a six point run, to pull away 23-18. One last kill from freshman outside hitter Hardin Crumbley put GWU up 2-1 in the match.

After a dominant Charleston Southern fourth set win, it was all set up for a tight fifth to decide the match. As the teams ping-ponged points, Crumbley went back-to-back with redshirt junior outside hitter Serena Kohler to level the score at 10-10. From there though, it was all Buccaneers. CSU scored five of the game's final six points, including four in a row to steal one away from Gardner-Webb and win 3-2

LEADERS
Gardner-Webb got a tremendous performance out of Kohler with 19 kills and a .288 hitting percentage, sophomore setter Olivia Lefebvre recorded 20 or more assists for the seventh straight game with 28, Lugo led defensively with four block assists and three solo blocks, while graduate Libero Nalani McBride posted one of her best games of the campaign with 39 digs

UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb is back home on Tuesday, October 21st for the first of three straight home matches, taking on NC Central at 6 pm