CSU Volleyball at Asheville Match Notes

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern finishes the away portion of the conference slate Saturday, Nov. 6 at Asheville, with a 2 p.m. scheduled start for UNC-A’s senior day. The Lady Bucs (11-17, 5-8 Big South) look to continue their strong play of late, having swept Coastal Carolina Tuesday, while the Bulldogs (16-10, 8-4) have claimed victory in four straight matches.

CSU posted a resounding 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-11) victory over rival Coastal Carolina Tuesday night, outhitting the Chanticleers, .305 to .057, while also posting 10 blocks and seven aces. Cori Holeman led the way, hitting .526 with 11 kills and recording seven blocks.

If recent series history is any indicator, this may be a long match, as each of the past five meetings between CSU and UNC-A have required a full five sets, with Asheville claiming the last one, Oct. 8 at CSU Field House.

Asheville Head Coach Julie Torbett celebrated her 300th career win last Friday, and Cindi Miller posted her 1,000th kill Tuesday.

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SCOUTING ASHEVILLE
Asheville, ranked third in the Big South at 8-4 going into this weekend’s play, has won each of its previous four matches, with significant milestones being set in the last two victories.

Head Coach Julie Torbett, the winningest coach in Big South history, earned her 300th career win Saturday, Oct. 30 vs. Radford.

Tuesday against Presbyterian, reigning Big South Player of the Week Cindi Miller posted her 1,000th career kill, while Kelsey Benorden added 17 kills and is now 12th all-time in Big South history with 1,655 career kills.

Asheville paces the Big South with 16.89 digs on average. Asheville’s Alex Stewart, this week’s Big South Defensive Player of the Week, averages 4.18 digs per set.
 
LADY BUCS POST SWEEP OF COASTAL
On Tuesday night, CSU registered a dominating performance in a 3-0 sweep of Coastal Carolina, its first blanking of the Chanticleers since 1993. Also, CCU scored just 11 points in set three, the fewest allowed during a set by the Lady Bucs in Big South play in 2010.

Coastal hit just .057, the lowest attack percentage against CSU in a Big South match this season.

Cori Holeman excelled, leading with 11 kills while tying a career high with three block solos to go with four block assists. Amanda Hill added eight kills and 10 digs, while Tricia Rodl collected 14 digs. Amberle Trinder (.333) and Amy Nokes (.667) posted seven kills apiece, and Nokes added 28 assists and two service aces. 

TOP OF THE HILL
Senior outside hitter Amanda Hill is third all-time in Big South history with 1,812 career kills, surpassing current Liberty assistant coach Jennifer (Belk) Vaden (1,789) Friday, Oct. 29 against Liberty.

Hill was named Big South Choice Hotels Player of the Week on Sept. 13 and Oct. 18, and was named a Top Performer by Collegiate Volleyball Update on Oct. 19.

The Moncks Corner, S.C. native is the only player in Big South history to amass 1,800+ (1,812) kills and 1,400+ (1,467) digs in a career. 

Hill has now posted the top three single-season kill totals in program history, including a record 499 in 2008 and 472 last season. She has 476 kills so far this year, and is closing in on her own single-season mark.

ROAD WARRIORS
CSU has posted a solid 3-4 record during conference away matches this season, and is 5-5 overall in road contests this season.  Last season, the team went 1-7 on the road during conference play, and 5-9 overall in away tilts.

The last time the Lady Bucs went .500 or better in conference events away from Charleston was 1994, when the team went 3-1 in such matches on the way to a 7-1 conference record. 1993 marked the last time CSU posted a winning away record overall.

THE LAST TIME
Charleston Southern and Asheville staged a dramatic five-set match Oct. 8, with the Bulldogs prevailing, 3-2.

The Lady Bucs registered a season-high 73 kills, hitting .246 as a team. CSU also added 78 digs and 12.5 team blocks. The Bulldogs posted 71 kills, 70 digs and nine team blocks.

Amanda Hill posted a career-high 31 kills in the match, hitting .349. She also added 21 digs. Her 31 kills are a Big South single-match record under the current 25-point rally-scoring format.

Cori Holeman tied her career high with 15 kills, connecting at a .393 clip. Amy Nokes dished out a match-high and career-high 58 assists. Tricia Rodl led all players with 24 digs.

Kelsey Benorden and Cindi Miller fueled Asheville’s attack with 23 kills apiece, each earning double-doubles.

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

Hill owns the all-time program records in kills (1,812) and attempts (4,708), and is second with 1,467 digs, 130 service aces and third with 469 sets played, six behind all-time leader Sam Sasan.

Tricia Rodl is third in program history with 1,332 digs.

Cori Holeman has earned third place with 299 block assists, 12 behind current assistant coach Carrie (Fenwick) Yohe’s 311.

Amberle Trinder is seventh all-time with 217 block assists, five away from fifth place, and is now 11th with 251 total blocks.

Emily Libertowski, the 11th Buccaneer all-time with 900 digs, has 923 digs to her credit, and is tied for 11th with 90 service aces.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES ABOUND
Amanda Hill and Amy Nokes have earned double-doubles in the same match on five occasions this season, including Sept. 24 vs. Radford and Sept. 25 against High Point.

Saturday, Oct. 23 at Radford, Hill and Kayla Klinger each posted double-doubles, as Klinger recorded the first of her career.

Hill has registered 17 double-doubles this season, and has posted 63 for her career. With 24 kills and 11 digs Friday, she tied her career-high for double-doubles, recorded last season.

LEADING THE WAY
CSU has recorded some of the top performances in the Big South this season.

The Bucs’ 73 kills Oct. 8 vs. Asheville were the most by a conference team this season, while their 15 blocks at Presbyterian Oct. 15 were third-most in a 2010 Big South match. Also in the UNCA match, Amanda Hill posted the most kills, 31, by a conference player since 2007. Amy Nokes’ 58 assists vs. UNCA marked the second-most among any player in a Big South match this year.

During conference play, Cori Holeman leads the Big South with 1.40 blocks per set. Hill is 1st with 4.58 kills. Tricia Rodl is second in digs in Big South competition, averaging 4.73 digs.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN VS. ASHEVILLE SERIES
Friday marks the 46th meeting between CSU and Asheville in volleyball. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 33-12. The series has been evenly-matched recently, with each of the past five meetings going the distance and Asheville leading 4-3 since 2007.

CSU and Asheville have met each of the past 25 seasons, as both programs were members of the Big South in its first season as a fully-fledged Division I conference, in 1986.

Friday’s matchup features the two Big South head coaches who have served at their current school the longest. UNCA’s Julie Torbett has coached in Asheville for 18 seasons, while CSU Head Coach Danyel Bellush is in her 14th season leading the Lady Bucs.  

CSU’s last win at Asheville came Oct. 28, 1994, during Danyel Bellush’s sophomore season at CSU, and Julie Torbett’s first year as head coach at UNCA. Bellush (then Lonigro) posted 20 digs.

DIG IN
The Lady Bucs current roster features two players in the top three in program history in digs, and three of the top 11.

Amanda Hill is second with 1,467, followed by Tricia Rodl in third at 1,332. Emily Libertowski is in 11th with 923.

Rodl has posted 389 digs this season, while Hill has 367, and each registered 400+ digs last season. Program record holder Carrie O’Connell is the only player with back-to-back 400-dig seasons, doing so each of her four seasons at CSU (1991-94).