CHARLESTON - Charleston Southern Volleyball picked up their first win of Big South play on Tuesday evening over Presbyterian by a 3-0 sweep. The Buccaneers hit .356 on the night for their highest in a conference match since November 6, 2021 against Gardner-Webb and held the visiting Blue Hose to a percentage of just .054, the lowest of a conference opponent since September 22, 2022 also against Gardner-Web.
The Bucs sprinted out to a 9-4 lead in the first set, but the Blue Hose were able to bring it within two points at 12-10. Charleston Southern then continued to find their groove, only allowing the visitors to score back-to-back points once to claim the set 25-18.
In the second, Charleston Southern was able to take control of it early and held a narrow margin at 7-6. However, the Bucs tallied four in a row to create some separation and claim the set by a decisive 25-16 edge, pushing them to just one set away from their first Big South victory of the 2024 season.
The third saw much of the same with CSU claiming the lead early and finding themselves ahead in it at 8-2. The Bucs put together five in a row in the middle of the set to climb ahead 18-8 and cruise to the victory at 25-13 to cap off the electric night in front of a raucous fan base in the Buc Dome.
The Bucs finished with 44 kills with just 12 errors on the evening.
Skylar Yates led the team with 12 while
Savannah Freeman also had with double figures collecting 11.
Faith Burch and
Brenna Rowland ended with eight and seven to help supplement the team's offense to historic night.
Ilaria Durante was on the court for the whole match as the team's setter and had 36 assists on the night to average 12 per set and help CSU to finish with 43 total. At the service line, Yates was superb, getting three service aces against the Blue Hose with each coming in crucial moments in the match.
Durante had the most digs on the team as she had 14. Yates and
Sophia Kluska each had six while
Presley Morris and
Naya Martinez had five apiece. At the net, Rowland had five blocks, including two solo, with Durante adding three and Yates with two.
This weekend, the Buccaneers will round out their stretch of five consecutive home matches as they will host USC Upstate (1-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. and UNC Asheville (1-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday's match will mark the end of the first half of conference play for the team as they will gear up to complete the double round robin Big South schedule.
