The Buccaneers were able to start their weekend road trip off with a 3-1 match win over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Friday night. 

Peyton Thompson led the team in both digs (10) and kills (19) on the night. Emilee Karelse led all scorers with 41 assists for the Bucs, and Emily Struckmeyer had five blocks. 

Set One
After Charleston Southern jumped out to a 4-1 lead, UNC Asheville was able to fight back to cut it within one at 7-6. Then, CSU went on a run to push the lead to 15-9. Giada Pais-Marden had two kills and a block, and Indigo Young capped off the run with a service ace.

The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to within three for most of the set, but Pais-Marden finished the match with a kill as the Bucs took set one 25-22.

Set Two
Charleston Southern took control of this set from the very beginning, as they began the set on a 10-5 run. Madison McNally had two kills during that run as well as Pais-Marden and Young. Later in the set, the Bucs pushed the lead to 19-12 two kills each by Peyton Thompson and Young.

Then, Asheville tried to make a comeback in this game, going on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to tie it at 20 and force a timeout by CSU. Two of those points were by service aces. The Bucs were able to stop the run with a kill by McNally. Despite ending the run, the Bucs were unable to stop the momentum of the Bulldogs, who finished the set outscoring CSU 13-3 and winning 25-23.

Set Three
After jumping out to a lead, the Bucs once again found themselves behind as the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to take a 13-11 lead. CSU followed that up with an 8-2 run of their own. Thompson had three kills and a service ace in that span. 

After an attack error by the Buccaneers, they were able to close the set on a 4-0 run with two more kills by Thompson to win 25-18.

Set Four
After a tough start, the Bucs found themselves behind to start the set, but after that, they took control and never looked back. A 17-1 run to give themselves a 21-8 lead gave them all that they needed to take the match from the Bulldogs. Two kills from both Thompson and Jyriah Morgan led the run for the Buccaneers. Karelse also gave CSU a spark with a service ace, and four attack errors by UNC Asheville led to the Bucs' 25-14 victory inside The Justice Center on Friday night.

Charleston Southern looks to continue their success tomorrow, as they travel to Spartanburg, SC to take on the USC Upstate Spartans. The match starts at 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.