CSU Knocks Off League Leading UNC Asheville in a 3-2 Win

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern managed a huge upset, taking a 3-2 match (25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8) from the league leading UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Saturday at CSU Field House.  The Bucs lost a 3-2 match vs. the Bulldogs in their first meeting back on October 2nd, but got the best of UNCA today; making it three consecutive Big South wins this week.  CSU improved to 14-14 and 5-8 in the conference, while UNCA dropped to 20-10 with a 9-2 mark in the Big South.

Amanda Hill had her third straight game with 20 or more kills, recording match highs with 23 kills and 18 digs.  Nichole Diller also reached double figures with 15 kills to go along with three blocks.  Sam Sasan filled up the stat sheet with 48 assists, 12 digs and seven kills.  The Bucs had 12 team blocks, led by Crissy Skokan and Cori Holeman with eight and six blocks, respectively.  Lauren Ficker was efficient for the Bulldogs, recording a team best 20 kills with a .447 attack percent. 

CSU started off with a 4-1 lead in the opening set, taking advantage of a UNCA miscue.  The Bulldogs turned around to tie the score at 6-6, thanks to back-to-back kills from Kelsey Benorden.  The Bucs used a 5-1 run from there to go up 11-7 and would extend their lead out to the 15-10 mark.  Three unanswered points from CSU, including a pair of kills from Hill gave the Bucs their biggest advantage of the set with an 18-11 score.  UNCA managed a late run to pull within four at 21-17, but CSU used multiple kills from Sasan to hold on for a 25-19 win. 

The second set started out with four ties and a lead change, bringing the score to 5-5.  The Bulldogs went on top with a 7-2 run, using a pair of Buccaneer errors to make the score 12-7.  CSU cut the deficit to three on a Trinder kill, moving the score to 16-13.  UNCA played comfortably from ahead however, leading by as many as six late in the set at the 23-17 mark.  A 4-1 push for the Bucs showed the chance of a comeback, but it was too little too late, as Ficker sent down another kill to give the Bulldogs a 25-21 win.

UNCA held a slight margin for most of the third set, but stayed in front the whole way.  A kill by Brooke Holliday had the Bulldogs on top early on, but a Diller kill narrowed the gap to 12-11.  Both teams managed 3-0 runs to bring the score to 16-15, before UNCA went up 21-17.  CSU then had four unanswered points to tie it up on a pair of Hill kills.  Another Ficker kill gave the Bulldogs a 23-21 lead and CSU again couldn’t complete a comeback, as UNCA finished out the set for a 25-22 win.

The fourth set was as close as it gets, complete with 12 ties and eight lead changes.  After a 2-0 lead for the Bucs, the Bulldogs rattled off six in a row to go up 6-2.  CSU quickly came back to tie it at 7-7 on a Hill service ace, starting four ties out to the 11-11 mark.  The Bucs took back the lead after a 5-0 run, using back-to-back aces from Emily Libertowski to go up 14-11.  Trading runs was the theme of the set, with UNCA taking their turn to tie it at 15 all.  The two teams were deadlocked from there out to the 23-23 mark, where Rachel Olivio tied the set with a kill.  CSU managed the next two points, with a Bulldog service error and a kill from Hill, to take a 25-23 win and tie it at two sets each.

In the fifth and final frame, the Bucs used some momentum to go up early and stay up.  CSU had the first four points of the set and then went up 7-1, after back-to-back blocks from Holeman.  UNCA showed some life with a 5-3 run that made the score 10-6, but the Bucs would not be denied, ending the set on a 5-2 run to take the set and the match with a 15-8 win.
 
After some success in the Big South this week, CSU will step out of the conference and travel to play the Savannah State Tigers on Tuesday, November 3, at 6 p.m.  Next up for UNC Asheville is Gardner-Webb on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m.