Elon Phoenix Volleyball Tops Buccaneers for Second Consecutive Sweep

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team opened the 2017 Phoenix Classic with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-19) sweep of Charleston Southern on Friday night, Sept. 8, inside Alumni Gym.

FINAL STATS

“It is good to start off the Phoenix Classic with a win,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “We executed well both offensively and defensively. The team is looking very confident as we continue to gel together and prepare for the start of conference play in a few weeks.”

Elon has now earned consecutive sweeps and has won nine sets in a row after losing the first set against Liberty on Sept. 2. With the win, the Phoenix now stands at 6-3 on the season. Charleston Southern dropped to 1-8 with the loss.

THE RUNDOWN
Playing just its second home match of the season, Elon opened the night winning seven of the first eight points to put the Buccaneers on their heels early on. Charleston Southern settled in after Elon opened on its 7-1 run and stuck around to keep it a seven-point set until the Phoenix took a 16-9 lead and turned it into a set-winning 9-4 run to win it 25-13.

A tightly-contested second set saw the two teams split the opening 10 points before Charleston Southern went on a 5-2 run to go up 10-7. Elon hung tough with the Buccaneers, though, and ultimately overcame the deficit when it went on a 3-0 run to turn a 16-15 deficit into an 18-16 lead. CSU made its way back with a 5-2 run to earn a slight 21-20 lead. The two traded each of the next four points until it was tied at 22-all before Elon closed the set on a 3-0 run thanks to kills by Nori Thomas and Kam Terry and an attack error by CSU’s Logan Windsor.

The Phoenix used that bit of momentum from the end of the second set in the third by jumping out to an early 4-1 led before continuing it on to 8-3. Charleston Southern didn’t go quietly, keeping the set within five points until it made its run to pull it within one at 17-16, but Elon answered in convincing fashion by winning eight of the last 11 points to win the set 25-19.

HIGHLIGHTS
Terry and Sydney Busa each posted a team-best 11 kills. Busa finished with nine digs and Terry had five. Kodi Garcia had a double-double with 29 assists and 11 digs while Elizabeth Coil posted a season-best seven kills. She had a .429 (7-1-14) hitting percentage in the match and also added a season-high four blocks. As a team, Elon had a .250 hitting percentage with 40 kills to just 14 errors on 104 attempts. The Phoenix also finished with six blocks.

The Buccaneers were led by Hannah Western’s nine kills. She also added seven digs in the match. Kalysia Bates finished with seven kills and a block while Windsor had six kills and seven digs. Rachel Smith finished with 29 assists and 11 digs for Charleston Southern’s only double-double of the evening.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix will close the Phoenix Classic on Saturday, Sept. 9, with 12:30 and 7 p.m. matches against North Carolina Central and Norfolk State. Tournament action starts at 10 a.m. with Charleston Southern taking on Norfolk State.