Box Score

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team was unable to make it two wins in a row after losing in four sets to College of Charleston, 3-1 (27-29, 13-25, 25-20, 9-25), Saturday night at home in Alumni Gym. Elon falls to 14-12 on the season and to 6-4 in Southern Conference play, while College of Charleston improves to 20-5 (9-1 SoCon).

“College of Charleston did an excellent job of blocking tonight,” said Elon head volleyball coach Mary Tendler. “We tried a lot of different things against them but they kept adjusting and did that very quickly. After playing poorly in the second set, our girls did a good job of getting the win in the third set. We just couldn’t maintain that momentum to win the match.”

Junior Caroline Lemke led the Phoenix with 15 kills and a .345 attack percentage. Senior Lauren Copenhagen and sophomore Allison Johnson also contributed with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Junior Nickie Halbert finished with 26 assists, while junior Megan McMahon added 19 assists to the Phoenix attack.

Sophomore Ali Deatsch recorded 12 digs, while Copenhangen tallied 11 to led the Elon defense. Junior Traci Stewart led the team in blocking with three total blocks on the night. 

The Cougars jumped out to a 9-5 advantage in the opening set until a kill from Johnson pulled the Phoenix to within two at 10-8. The gap would not widen to more than three points before Elon tied the game at 13-all off a kill from Stewart. The duration of the set remained incredibly tight until the Cougars broke a 27-all tie late to claim a 29-27 win and a 1-0 match lead.

In the second set, College of Charleston jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, but Elon managed pull within four to limit the Cougars' lead to 14-10. The Phoenix was unable to match a Cougar surge and eventually lost the set, 25-13.

Elon came out of the break with the momentum and the refusal to let College of Charleston walk away with the sweep. The Phoenix took its first solid lead of the night jumping out to a 7-2 advantage off a kill from senior Sarah Schermerhorn. The Cougars rebounded to tie the score at 11-all before a four-point run pulled the Phoenix ahead 15-11. College of Charleston would close the gap to two at 18-16, but a 5-0 run gave Elon a 23-16 edge. Elon was able to keep it going and won the set, 25-20.

The fourth set started off close with the Phoenix trailing only by one, 5-4. Elon was not able to respond to several College of Charleston runs and eventually lost the set, 25-9, and the match, 3-1.

Elon will play its third game in six days when it goes on the road on Tuesday, Oct. 26 to take on Radford. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. 

-- ELON --