Junior setter Cole Dawley, from Charleston, S.C., had an impressive overall performance with 33 assists, six kills and seven digs and sophomore middle blocker Sarah Havel, from Carmel, Ind., drilled 11 kills as the College of Charleston (9-10, 5-2) downed Chattanooga (10-9, 2-5) 3-0 Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference match in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Cougars claimed the victory by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-23.
The Cougars took control of Game 1 early as Dawley notched two of the team’s three service aces in a 6-2 run to open the frame. C of C kept the pressure on Chattanooga, extending their lead to 12-6 before six kills and a service ace over the next ten points stretched the score to 19-9. A late rally by the Lady Mocs narrowed the gap to seven points several times before the Cougars claimed a 25-18 opening set victory.
Following an even beginning to the second set that saw the teams battle through three ties and deadlock at 5-5, the College of Charleston took an 8-5 lead on three straight kills, including back-to-back from Sarah Havel. UTC closed to within 11-9 over the next several rallies but would see that effort evaporate behind an 8-2 Cougar run that featured three more kills from Havel and left the score at 19-11. Chattanooga made it 20-13 before three errors and a pair of kills from Dawley and junior outside hitter Whitney Russell, from Decatur, Ga., helped seal a 25-16 Cougars’ victory.
Having dropped the first two sets and facing a quick end to the match, the Lady Mocs fought their way out to a 9-5 lead before C of C notched six straight points, with the last four coming off UTC errors, to take their first lead of the set at 11-9. The Cougars would then push their lead to 15-11 and overcome another late rally that saw Chattanooga close to 24-23. At that point, junior right side hitter Ginny Philips, from Raleigh, N.C., drilled her eighth kill of the day to put the match away with a 25-23 victory.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Laura Brock and freshman outside hitter Heather Parman led the offensive attack for the Lady Mocs with eight kills apiece while Brock and freshman libero Paula Passmore finished with a team-high eight digs each. Senior setter Cassie Conner paced the offense with 24 assists and added five digs and sophomore middle blocker Ellie Kuhn contributed three blocks.
Dawley’s all-around performance of 33 assists, seven digs, six kills and four service aces led the College of Charleston while Havel finished with 11 kills, three blocks and a .348 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Russell added her first double-digit kill outing of the season with 10 while Phillips and sophomore middle blocker Elyse Chubb, from Peachtree City, Ga., rounded out the offensive performance with eight and seven kills, respectively. On defense, junior libero Paige Johnson, from Sleepy Hollow, Ill., had a match-high tying eight digs and senior middle blocker Jennifer Darty, from Orlando, Fla., notched a match-best five blocks.
The Cougars wrap up weekend action with a 2 p.m. EST match against Samford (11-9, 5-1) tomorrow afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.