CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern volleyball team utilized an efficient attack on the way to a 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-22) sweep over the Savannah State Tigers (2-19) Tuesday, Oct. 12 at the CSU Field House. The Lady Bucs (7-13) hit a season-best .398 in snapping a four-match winless streak.

CSU earned 45 kills on the evening, compared to 26 for Savannah State. The Lady Bucs also contributed four blocks and five service aces, while SSU did not record a block or an ace in the match.

Amanda Hill led CSU with 21 kills and nine digs, and connected at a .410 rate. Tuesday was her second straight match with 20 or more kills, and she is now one kill shy of 1,700 for her career.

Amy Nokes paced the home team with 33 assists and added two service aces, tying Hill for the team high in aces. Cori Holeman and Amberle Trinder added five kills and one block apiece, while Holeman tallied a kill on each of her attack attempts.

Colleen Hargrove posted a season-best four kills and two block assists, sharing the team lead in blocks with Erin LaVenice. Emily Libertowski contributed six digs.

For SSU, Jennifer Lowe led the team with seven kills and a match-high 10 digs. Ashlee Butler dished out 22 assists for the Tigers.

The Lady Bucs led from the opening serve in set one, and were in front by as many as 17 points, at 24-7, before prevailing 25-9. CSU hit .520 during the opening set, with Hill posting eight of the team's 14 kills.

Set two began with Savannah State jumping out to a 3-2 lead. A 4-0 CSU rally gave the Lady Bucs a 6-3 advantage, as LaVenice contributed a kill and a block assist and Hargrove added two block assists. The Tigers kept the score close, at 11-9, but The Lady Bucs pulled away for a 25-13 victor. CSU connected at a .478 clip during the middle frame.

CSU, holding a commanding 2-0 lead going into set three, utilized a lineup largely composed of freshmen. The third set was tied at 6-6 before Carley Reiter sent down her first career kill, spurring a 3-0 CSU rally.

SSU stormed back to tie the set at 11-11, and again at 13-13. The Lady Bucs led by just one point, 22-21, before a Trinder kill and a Tiger attack error yielded three set point opportunities. Hill ended the match with a kill, clinching the sweep with a 25-22 set-three victory.

"We're happy to be back in the win column. We were glad to be able to work on some things. The team displayed great intensity in the first set," said CSU Head Coach Danyel Bellush. "We're pretty pleased that everyone got some playing time. There were some young players that got their first kill tonight, and that was exciting. Carley (Reiter) got her first collegiate kill, and I'm proud of her. The crowd was great again."

The Lady Bucs' next five matches are all away from Charleston. This coming weekend, CSU plays at Presbyterian Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. before competing at Gardner-Webb Saturday, Oct. 16. Savannah State plays host to USC Upstate Thursday.

Match Highlights