CHARLESTON, S.C. – Haylie Clark turned in a 52-assist, 11-dig double as Elon University volleyball opened conference play with a 3-1 win at College of Charleston on Friday night, Sept. 17 in TD Arena.

"It's hard to play on the road in the CAA," said head coach Mary Tendler. "So proud of our players for earning the win. They fought hard for each point, which is what we will need to do again tomorrow."
 
Elon 3, Charleston 1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23)
THE RUNDOWN
The Cougars (7-5, 0-1 CAA) jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set, but a Jenn Krzeminski and Leah Daniel block allowed the Phoenix (6-5, 1-0) to pull even at 17-17. Both sides traded the lead down the stretch, and Clark set up Sydney Love for a kill to tie the score at 24-24. However, the hosts grabbed the next two points for the 26-24 decision.

An early 3-0 run helped the Phoenix take control of the second set, 7-3. CofC got to within a point at 9-8, but a pair of kills from Daniel highlighted another 3-0 run. A Kellyn Trowse kill opened a 5-1 push that created some separation at 18-12. Charleston won the next two rallies, but again the maroon and gold took off with four unanswered points. Daniel then converted an attack as Elon pulled even in the match at a set apiece.

Neither side could break through in the third set until a pair of Cougar attack errors and a Jordan Gower service ace gave Elon the lead at 14-11. The teams continued to trade points Elon capped off the set with a 5-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back aces from Clark.

The fourth set resembled the third, with Charleston using a 6-1 swing to wrestle away the lead at 16-15. However, Elon put together a 5-1 response to go up 20-17. A Krzeminski kill and service ace helped Elon pull away 24-20, but the Cougars refused to go down without a fight as they won the next three points. Daniel snuffed out any hopes of a fifth set, though, scoring the match point on a ball from Clark. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Clark also added three kills with three aces and two blocks to her match totals. Daniel led the team in scoring with 23 points and 22 kills and made two blocks with three digs. Also reaching double-digit kills were Love with 11 and Cummins with 10. Krzeminski led the team with seven blocks and finished with eight kills, two aces and three digs. Gower totaled a team-high 21 digs and Alex VanWestrienen chipped in 10 digs.

"We had a very good offensive night," added Tendler. "Haylie did a nice job of putting her hitters in positions so that they could score."
 
NOTES
- Elon edged Charleston in points (76.0-61.0), kills (61-51), aces (7-6), blocks (8-4), assists (56-44) and digs (61-53).
- The match featured 27 ties and 11 lead changes.
- Elon opens league play with a win for the second time in the past three seasons.
- As a team, the Phoenix swung for a .346 hitting percentage, its second-best of the season. Elon posted a .355 clip in its win at Furman on Sept. 4.
- Clark's previous career best was 42 assists at Virginia Tech on Aug. 28 earlier this season.
- Clark eclipsed 1,300 career assists on the night.
- Daniel is now just three kills shy of 1,000 in her time as a Phoenix.
- Also reaching a career milestone was Cummins, who surpassed 300 kills.
- Krzeminski tied her season high in blocks.

UP NEXT
Elon and Charleston meet again tomorrow with first serve scheduled for 4 p.m.