CHARLESTON – Charleston Southern closed their first home weekend of 2023 on Saturday in a commanding sweep over the Southern Illinois Salukis, their first loss of the season. The match marked the end of the CSU Invitational presented by O'Charley's and Panera Bread.
 
The first set saw the two teams trade blows until the Bucs used a four-point surge to put them ahead 13-11, the Salukis drew back within a point multiple times but were never able to tie it back up. Another 4-0 run put CSU in a great position with them ahead 21-16 as they cruised to the set win at 25-18 with the final two points off kills from Indigo Young and Jyriah Morgan.
 
During the second, the Salukis brought the score even at 5, but the Buccaneers scored ten of the next 13 points to turn the score into a 15-8 lead. Charleston Southern kept Southern Illinois at bay the rest of the way, never allowing them back within five points and getting the frame 25-15 with kills by Emmy Rollins and Brenna Rowland scoring the final kills to get it to a 2-0 lead. In total, the team had a .556 hitting percentage in the set connecting on 17 kills, the most they have had in a set so far this season.
 
The third and final set of the day went to the Bucs again as they won it 25-19. The Buccaneers took the lead again with a 3-0 run after it was tied at 10-10 and never surrendered the lead again. A five-point unanswered stretch in the third put CSU ahead at 20-13. The final point came on Young and Rollins blocking an attack attempt by Nataly Garcia for the 25^th of the frame.
 
Morgan led the team in kills with 11, setting a new season high for herself. Skylar Yates had 10 in the category as she posted double figures in it for back-to-back games now as well. Rowland had another stellar game as she posted seven kills to go with a .636 hitting percentage while adding three solo blocks and two block assists for 11 points. Ilaria Durante dished 27 assists in the matchup for the game-high.
 
On the defensive end of the court, Angelika Rusin led the team in digs again as she had 13. Durante added nine, Yates finished with eight and Julia Fledderjohn had five. In all, CSU played an incredibly clean match as they had just nine attack errors, one ball handling error and zero block errors. As a team, they had 39 kills and hit .341.
 
Following the end of the final match, the All-Tournament Team was announced with Charleston Southern having a pair placed on the list. Young and Durante were the two Buccaneers on it. The full listing can be found at the end of the article.
 
Charleston Southern returns to the court as they look to defend the Buc Dome against a cross-town rival in College of Charleston on Tuesday, September 5 with a first serve slated for 6 p.m.
 
All-Tournament Team for 2023 CSU Tournament Presented by O'Charley's and Panera Bread:
 
MVP - #7 Morgan Romano - Chatt
#3 Paige Gallentine - Chatt
#11 Ilaria Durante - CSU
#8 Indigo Young - CSU
#2 Cecilia Bulhamn - SIUC
#3 Kelly Franklin - SIUC
#21 Naiya Sawtelle - NC A&T