UNCG, CofC Set to Play in SoCon Semifinals

UNCG, College of Charleston Set to Play in Southern Conference Semifinals

BOONE, N.C. - After the first matches of the 2010 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, the first semifinal matchup is set after UNCG and College of Charleston won their quarterfinal matchups against Furman and Samford, respectively.  The No. 2 North seed UNCG defeated the No. 3 South seed Paladins 3-2, while the No. 1 South seed College of Charleston won against the No. 4 North seed Samford, 3-1, at Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C on the campus of Appalachian State University.

In the opening match of the championship, UNCG fought back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Furman Paladins, 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-9), to advance to the semifinals.  The Spartans improve to 22-11 on the year while the Paladins finished the season 17-12.

In the first set, UNCG jumped out to a 5-1 lead and took the first set, 25-18.  The Paladins closed within one at 10-9, but could not get any closer.  The Spartans were led by junior outside hitter Ariel Newman who tallied seven kills and six digs while recording a hitting percentage of .500 in the opening set.

In a back and forth second set that saw eight ties and four lead changes, Furman used a 5-1 run of its own when the score was tied at 20 to take the set, 25-21.  First team all-SoCon selection Kelly Kirby led the charge for the Paladins as she had five digs, four assists and three kills in the second set. 

The third set began just like the second, as neither team could establish a lead of more than three points for most of the set.  With the score tied at 18, Furman capitalized on back-to-back blocks to spark a 4-1 run and take a 22-19 lead.  The Spartans fought back to equal the set at 22 and forced Furman to call a timeout.  The Paladins came out of the break and scored the final three points of the set to win, 25-22.  There were 13 ties and 7 lead changes in the set.  The Paladins were led by junior middle blocker Alexis Shaffer, who had two block assists and five kills on 11 attempts with one error for a .364 attack percentage in the set.

The fourth set was controlled by the Spartans, who claimed a 25-19 win.  UNCG never trailed in the set, and after jumping out to an early 5-2 lead, the Spartans distanced themselves from the Paladins and led by as many as seven.  Senior middle blocker Kayren Finney led the Spartans attack in the fourth set with four kills on seven attacks with no errors for a .571 hitting percentage.

In the deciding fifth set, UNCG once again jumped out to a 5-2 and claimed a 15-9 set win to claim the match.

Overall, the Spartans were led by Newman and senior outside hitter Caley Redden, who both record double-doubles.  Newman tallied 17 kills and 18 digs, and Redden tallied a game-high 18 kills and 17 assists.  In a losing effort, the Paladins were led by Kirby, who had 19 assists and 19 digs in the match.

In the second match of the day, the Southern Conference regular season champions College of Charleston defeated the Samford Bulldogs, 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 30-32, 25-18)  The Cougars improved to 28-5 on the year, while the Bulldogs fell to 14-17.

In a closely fought opening set, College of Charleston claimed a 25-22 win.  The first set saw five lead changes and seven ties with both teams leading by as many as four points.  Leading the Cougars to the win was SoCon Player of the Year Cole Dawley.  The setter had 13 assists, two digs, one block solo and one block assist.  Dawley also tallied four kills on five attempts and no errors for a .800 attack percentage to open the match.

In the second set, College of Charleston was once again led by Dawley on their way to a 25-19 win.  Dawley, a first team all-SoCon team member, recorded nine assists, two digs, one block assist and one service ace.  The senior had a hitting percentage of .333 in the set with one kill on three attempts and no errors in the second set.

After fighting off four College of Charleston's match points, the Bulldogs used its third set point to win, 32-30.  After battling back and forth throughout the set, Samford's sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Neisler put away her eighth kill of the set to clinch the win for the Bulldogs.  Neisler, a second team all-conference performer, had a team-high eight kills for Samford in the set.

In the fourth set, College of Charleston used a 6-0 run to close out the set, 25-18.  After having the Bulldogs close the Cougars' lead to 19-18, College of Charleston used a timeout and then proceeded to win remaining points of the match.  Second team all-conference member senior Ginny Phillips led the Cougars in the set with six kills on nine attempts with one error for a .556 attack percentage.  Phillips also had two kills, two assists and one block assist.

For the match, College of Charleston was led by Dawley with 51 assists, six blocks, one block solo and three block assists.  Dawley also tallied eight kills on 14 attempts with no errors and hit .571 for the match.  For Samford, Neisler led the Bulldogs with 20 kills and hit .304 for the match.

The semifinal match tomorrow between the UNCG Spartans and College of Charleston Cougars is slated for 2 p.m.

Photos from the 2010 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship can be purchased at SoConPhotos.com