CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Elon volleyball team was not able to stop an attacking College of Charleston squad tonight, Nov. 6, as the Phoenix fell, 3-0 (20-25, 17-25, 17-25), to the Cougars in front of a large, loud crowd in TD Arena.
The Phoenix (6-21, 2-11) saw a team-high eight kills from Sydney Busa who also tallied three aces and five digs. Kam Terry recorded seven kills, while Ally Karle finished with six. Sydel Curry posted 27 assists as Maddie Jaudon tallied a team-high nine digs.
“We did well in spurts tonight, but could not get into any sort of rhythm against a strong College of Charleston team,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “They were the more aggressive team throughout the match.”
Melissa Morello led the Cougars (15-12, 7-6) with 11 kills followed by 10 kills by Devon Rachel. CofC saw 37 assists from Allison Beckman to help the team hit .372, while McKala Rhodes had 20 digs.
How it happened: With the first set even at five-all, kills by Kayla Agae, Catherine Head and Ebony Scott and a Curry ace helped Elon to a 7-2 run to take an 11-7 advantage. The Cougars responded to make the set 11-all and take the lead, 16-13. Elon scored four straight off a block by Terry and Head, a Busa ace and kill and a Head kill to regain the edge, 17-16. With the score at 19-all, the Cougars managed to close out the set with a 25-20 final.
CofC jumped out to a 10-5 edge to start the second set before a kill by Terry pulled the Phoenix back within three, 10-7. The Cougars answered with the next five points to move ahead 15-7 and was able to maintain its advantage to take a 2-0 match lead after a 25-16 win.
In the third set, the Cougars grabbed an 11-2 edge before the Phoenix closed the gap to six, 15-9, with kills by Agae, Terry and Michelle Klein and a block by Alexa Pavlick and Busa. Elon would come as close as four, 19-15, before CofC finished out the set and match, 25-17
Up next: Elon plays its final regular-season road match at UNCW tomorrow night, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in Wilmington, N.C.