CSU Volleyball vs. Winthrop Match Notes

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern competes at home for the third time in five days, playing host to Winthrop at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Bucs currently stand at 6-10, 1-2 in Big South play, while the Eagles are 1-1 in conference tilts and 4-10 overall.

CSU won its conference home opener for the second year in a row, sweeping Radford Friday, Sept. 24. Amanda Hill led the way with 20 kills and added 12 digs. Her 20 kills Friday made her the 10th player in Big South history with 1,600 or more kills. The Lady Bucs got seven blocks from Cori Holeman and four from Crissy Skokan, and a match-high 27 digs from Tricia Rodl. On Saturday, the Lady Bucs fell to High Point, 3-1.
Winthrop opened the conference slate with a narrow 3-2 setback to High Point Friday before sweeping Radford.

These two teams meet for the 71st time, with Winthrop leading, 54-16. The Lady Bucs won the most recent meeting, 3-2, on Nov. 19, 2009 in the Big South Quarterfinals.

CSU Match Notes

Live Stats

SCOUTING WINTHROP
Winthrop enters Tuesday’s matchup with a 4-10 record overall, and is 1-1 following a weekend with home matches against High Point (L, 2-3) and Radford (W, 3-0). The Eagles have faced tough competition, and have wins against SEC foe South Carolina and Big East opponent Seton Hall on their 2010 record.

The Eagles play solid defensively, posting 2.27 blocks and 16.3 per set, tops in the Big South.

Kaley Viola leads a balanced attack with 2.84 kills per set, while Becca Toor paces WU with a .296 attack percentage. Kelsey Hall averages 8.88 assists, while Kelsey Harrison leads with 3.89 digs per set. Sara Felts records 1.18 blocks per set, and adds 2.45 kills on average.

LADY BUCS SPLIT HOME-OPENING WEEKEND
Charleston Southern began the home portion of the 2010 Big South schedule Friday, earning a sweep against Radford. The Lady Bucs were then defeated, 3-1, by High Point on Saturday.
Friday’s match saw the return to the lineup of junior middle blocker Crissy Skokan. Skokan earned four blocks and helped the Lady Bucs stymie the Highlander attack. Cori Holeman added seven blocks and Tricia Rodl earned 27 digs. Amanda Hill posted 20 kills and 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Amy Nokes had nine kills, 24 assists, and 10 digs.

TOP OF THE HILL
Senior outside hitter Amanda Hill, a three-time All-Big South honoree, holds the all-time program records for kills and attack attempts. On Friday, she became just the 10th player in Big South history with 1,600 or more kills. Her career total stands at 1,625. She is also the leader in kills among current Big South players, leading Coastal’s Chelsy Kimes and Kelsey Benorden of Asheville.

Hill was named Big South Choice Hotels Player of the Week Sept. 13. It was her sixth player of the week honor for her career.

She has posted 11 double-doubles this season, and averages a Big South-leading 4.74 kills. Her 3.89 digs rank 6th in the conference. She has been ranked as highly as third in the nation in kills per set this season.

MOVIN’ ON UP
Several Lady Bucs players appear in career records in program history. All five seniors are in the top 15 in at least one category.

Amanda Hill owns the all-time records in kills (1625) and attempts (4121), setting both Sept. 10 in Jacksonville.

On Friday, Tricia Rodl passed Kim Duncan into 4th all-time in digs and has 1,169 digs at present.

Cori Holeman has earned 8th place in program history with 304 total blocks, and is fourth with 250 block assists.

Amberle Trinder made her 100th career start vs. Radford, and is 10th all-time in block assists.

Emily Libertowski is 13th in digs (851) and 14th in aces (80)..

THE LAST TIME
The Lady Bucs earned a thrilling 3-2 victory over Winthrop Nov. 19, 2009 in the Big South Quarterfinal, giving CSU its first tournament victory since 1992. The victory highlighted a late-season surge which also included victories over top rivals College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina.

The Lady Bucs took sets one and three by two points apiece, while the Eagles won the second and fourth sets in convincing fashion. CSU earned victory with a 16-14 win in set five, capped by an Emily Libertowski ace.

Amanda Hill paced the Buccaneers with 14 kills and 15 digs. Amberle Trinder posted 11 kills and Cori Holeman added 10. Tricia Rodl earned a then-career-high 28 digs.

Five Winthrop players reached double-figures in kills, led by Kellie Sellers with 16. Sellers was one of three Eagles to record double-doubles, joined by Kaley Viola and Kelsey Hall.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES ABOUND
Amanda Hill and Amy Nokes have both registered double-doubles in each of the last two matches. The duo has earned double-doubles in the same match on five occasions this season.

Hill and Nokes each posted double-doubles against Elon to open the season, and also did so vs. Delaware State Aug. 28 and Sept. 11 vs. Chattanooga.

ON THIS DATE IN 2007
The last time the Lady Bucs competed on Sept. 28 was three years ago, during the freshman year of six current CSU players.

On Sept. 28, 2007, the Lady Bucs played host to Presbyterian, falling 3-1. Presbyterian won set one before the Lady Bucs responded to take set two.

Amanda Hill earned a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. Freshman setter Amy Nokes earned the first double-double of her career with a then-career-high 34 assists and 10 digs. Tricia Rodl added 14 digs, while Amberle Trinder posted two blocks assists and Emily Libertowski contributed a service ace.

THIS IS OUR (FIELD) HOUSE - BUC DOME ADVANTAGE
The CSU Field House has provided a distinct home-court advantage recently. CSU won its home opener Aug. 31 vs. The Citadel, the team’s fifth straight home-opening victory. The team also defeated Radford Friday in the conference home opener, the second year in a row in which the Lady Bucs have won their first conference home match.

The Lady Bucs went 5-3 in Big South home matches in 2009.

CSU has found success at Buccaneer Field House over the past three seasons. The team posted a 6-4 home record in 2008 and 2009, and won seven times at the Buc Dome in 2007.

The home crowd has infused energy into the game-day experience, as the team has averaged 473 fans per match so far.

SETTING IT UP
Redshirt junior Amy Nokes has seized the setter position, and also has provided offense as a hitter. She averages 7.61 assists per set this season, and has two 10-kill performances and five double-doubles this season.

Most recently, she posted 23 assists and 10 digs Saturday vs. High Point in addition to eight kills.

Nokes broke her previous career high of 34 assists with 54 vs. Delaware State Aug. 28. Her 54 assists were the most since Sam Sasan dished out 64 at UNC-Asheville Oct. 2, 2009.

Freshman Laura Grace Swindler earned double-figures in assists in each of the last two matches, including a career-high 15 Friday.

IMPACT FRESHMEN
Several freshmen have stepped up for the Lady Bucs this season.

Kayla Klinger is tied for second on the team with 1.64 kills per set, is second with 14 aces and third with 122 digs.

Setter Laura Grace Swindler set a career high with 15 assists Friday, and added 12 helpers Saturday.

Libero Maggie Murphy posted her first double-digit dig match, collecting 10 digs Sept. 18 at Georgia Southern.

Erin LaVenice posted 13 block assists at the UNF invitational, and averages 0.68 blocks per set.

Andrea Keesee contributed two big block assists at the end of the Lady Bucs’ 5-set win over The Citadel Aug. 31.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN VS. WINTHROP SERIES
Winthrop holds a 54-16 edge in the all-time series, wihch will see its 71st edition Tuesday. Winthrop is one of two teams that CSU has faced in all 32 years of sponsoring varsity women’s volleyball; Coastal Carolina is the other team.

The Eagles have won 32 out of the last 33 meetings, with CSU claiming the most recent matchup, Nov. 19, 2009 in the postseason. CSU has fared well historically in the conference tournament against Winthrop, going 3-2 vs. the Eagles in postseason play. The Lady Bucs downed Winthrop in the Big South Final in 1988 for their second conference championship. Winthrop defeated CSU in the Big South Quarterfinal in 2006 and 2007, winning their fifth straight conference title in 2006.

WU won 19 out of the first 20 meetings. The Lady Bucs then went on a 13-3 surge in the series from 1986-1994.