CHARLESTON, S.C. - CSU volleyball played their first two home matches of the regular season Friday on day one of the Buc Dome Invitational presented by O'Charley's. 

The first contest was against the Leathernecks of Western Illinois. Two of Carry Brown's outside hitters, Savannah Freeman and Luana Carvalho, contributed greatly to the Bucs' offensive effort. Even better, both Freeman and Carvalho came off the bench, and contributed 10 kills a piece to the team's total. Indianapolis native, Faith Burch contributed 8 kills of her own in the Western Illinois match-up as well. All those kills had to be set up by someone, and the CSU setter-duo of Ilaria Durante and Tristin Sutton did just that. The duo dished out 38 assists in the contest, 23 courtesy of the veteran Durante.

Unfortunately, the Bucs did fall short in three sets, giving the Leathernecks their first win in this year's invitational tournament.

Roughly five hours after their first appearance, CSU returned to the court for night one's main event. The Buccaneers would face off against the Sacred Heart Pioneers in a match that would have the walls of Buccaneer Fieldhouse shaking.

The first set was excruciatingly close, and was eventually won by the visiting Pioneers (25-22). Savannah Freeman, who made a statement off the bench in the first match of the day, continued her contribution early in the Sacred Heart match-up. Freeman finished the match with 8 kills and a .250 attack percentage. When the Buc Dome thought a set could not get much more competitive than the first, the Bucs took the Pioneers to a 27th point. Although the set was won by SHU, Carry's crew wanted to keep fighting.

The third set of the main event match was undoubtedly the most exciting of the entire day. The Bucs were down 21-17, and the possibility of a sweep was on the table. That was until sophomore Faith Burch cranked up the heat to a flammable level. A monstrous comeback and a handful of kills by Burch in the set's final moments awarded the Bucs a winning set (25-22). Burch finished the match with a team high 16 kills.

The fourth set continued the match's ultra-competitive trend, and although CSU showed a lot of the same fight they displayed in set three. Sacred Heart walked out with a win (25-22).

On the day, several Bucs added nicely to their statistical totals. The libero duo of Julia Fledderjohn and Presley Morris collected 25 digs on the day. Ilaria Durante and Tristin Sutton dished out 73 assists through the Bucs' two matches. Middle blocker Brenna Rowland recorded 14 kills and a .233 attack percentage. Freshman, Penelope Van Eman saw her first regular season action of the year in the Sacred Heart match-up. The day's MVP for Charleston Southern was certainly Faith Burch. Burch racked up 24 kills, 8 digs, and 25.5 points on day one of the Buc Dome Invitational.

The Buccaneers return to their home court tomorrow, September 21, at 1:00 PM for the final match of the tournament against the Spartans of Norfolk State.