ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Charleston Southern volleyball team advanced to the Big South Semifinals for the second year in a row, earning a 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-18) victory over No. 3 Asheville (19-12) Thursday, Nov. 18 at Winthrop Coliseum. The Lady Bucs (13-19) are the first No. 6 seed to sweep a third-ranked team in Big South tournament history.

CSU will next play No 2 High Point in the Big South Semifinal Friday, Nov. 19 at 4:30 p.m. at Winthrop Coliseum. High Point swept Radford in the quarterfinal Thursday.

This is the first time that CSU has qualified for the Big South Semifinal in back-to-back years since making the semis in each of the first five years of tournament history, 1986-90.

The Lady Bucs recorded a dominating performance, hitting .265 for the match while holding the Bulldogs to a .073 attack percentage. CSU registered 10 blocks to UNC-A's six, and posted 61 digs on the afternoon. It was the team's third straight 10-block performance.

Amanda Hill, named the 2010 Big South Player of the Year, led the way with 19 kills and added 10 digs for her 20th double-double of the season. She now has posted 553 kills this season, the highest total by a Big South player since 2005, and has 1,889 career kills.

Kayla Klinger recorded 11 kills, posting a .409 attack percentage, her sixth double-digit kill match this season. Cori Holeman collected eight kills and eight blocks, tying her career high in total blocks.

Emily Libertowski recorded 20 digs, entering the top 10 in program history with 961 career digs. Tricia Rodl tallied 11 digs and two aces. Amy Nokes dished out 35 assists.

Cindi Miller led Asheville with eight kills, while Alex Stewart paced the Bulldogs with 12 digs. Hallie Morse recorded 15 assists.

For the third time this season, CSU won the first set against Asheville, downing the Bulldogs, 25-19. The Lady Bucs recorded 25 digs during the opening set, leading to several extended rally points. Hill and Holeman evenly split 10 kills for CSU, while Shelton posted five kills for Asheville.UNC-A stormed out to a 12-7 lead, but a 5-1 CSU rally tied the set at 13-13. Following a brief exchange, CSU led, 16-15. Hill sent down two kills and combined on a block with Holeman during a 5-0 rally for a 22-16 lead. The Lady Bucs closed out set one, 25-19.

CSU built a quick 5-0 lead on Libertowski's service, and continued to pour it on. They vaulted to an 11-3 edge after 14 serves of the second set, yielding a UNC-A timeout. One more point gave CSU a 12-3 lead. The Bulldogs pulled to within eight points at 14-6 before CSU staged a 5-0 run while Libertowski served. The closest that Asheville sliced the deficit was to 12 points, 23-11, before CSU took set two, 25-11.

During set two, CSU hit .405, with 18 kills, compared with .054 and seven kills for the Bulldogs. Hill posted seven kills and Klinger added five during the second set. The Lady Bucs registered four team blocks compared to one for Asheville.

It marked the third time this season that CSU has held a conference opponent to 11 points in a set. The 11 points are the fewest that the Lady Bucs have allowed in a conference tournament set during rally-scoring format.

CSU put the match away with a 25-18 victory in the third set. The Lady Bucs earned four aces during the frame, receiving two from Rodl and one apiece from Hill and Michaela Luna. Hill registered seven kills, and Klinger posted three kills and two blocks. Amberle Trinder recorded two blocks in the third set. The Lady Bucs jumped out to a 15-9 lead, and did not allow Asheville to within four points the rest of the way.

Charleston Southern Head Coach Danyel Bellush
"Asheville is a very worthy opponent. We switched up our attack to take them out of rhythm. We stopped their best hitters and made sure we had at least two sets of hands on their attacks. I'm proud of our team."

UNC Asheville Head Coach Julie Torbett
"I'm disappointed; it is a tough way to end a pretty good year. Amanda Hill is the best player in the league and she carried her squad to a good win over us."

Post-match interview