ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Charleston Southern earned their first win against a Big South opponent on Saturday afternoon claiming a 3-1 decision at UNC Asheville. The win pulls the Buccaneers up to 1-2 now within league play and drops the Bulldogs down to 0-3. The Bucs had four players finish in double figures in kills along with another four with
Charleston Southern dropped the first set of the day by a 25-20 scoreline. The team had their lowest hitting percentage in a set of the night in the contest as they had a .154 average.
In the second, the Buccaneers bounced right back to even the score at one apiece. CSU used a 4-0 surge after they tied at six each to start to build their lead ahead. Later in the frame, they had seven unanswered that led the team up 17-8. UNCA had a trio of errors to end the frame and have the final score for it stand at 25-19.
The third saw CSU get off to a hot start as they were up 10-5 early and had a 4-0 scoring run shortly after to get further ahead. The teams continued to trade points, but another 4-0 stretch sealed the third for Charleston Southern at 25-17 with kills by
Emmy Rollins and
Giada Pais-Marden carrying them to the win.
In the final set, the fourth, UNCA hung toe-to-toe with the Buccaneers as they brought it even at 14 apiece after CSU led for the early part of it. Charleston Southern had a pair of three-point flurries that created separation to put CSU back ahead. The day ended with Rollins finishing off another attack attempt to seal the victory.
Rollins led the team with a career-high in kills with 15 and had Pais-Marden right behind her with 14, her second time with more than ten in a match in conference play already this year.
Indigo Young and
Skylar Yates also reached ten kills for the matchup with this matching Young's sixth consecutive at that mark or more.
Ilaria Durante provided 45 assists to tie her career high.
On the defensive end,
Angelika Rusin led the team in category again as she collected 20. Durante was next on the team with 18 and Yates had 17. Also,
Presley Morris set a career-high in the statistic as she got to 13 total on the night. At the net,
Brenna Rowland led the team as she collected three blocks assist.
Charleston Southern will be back in action on Friday night with them facing Winthrop (2-1) for a 6:00 p.m. first serve. The Buc Dome is playing host for the matchup with it also being available live on ESPN+.
