CHARLESTON, S.C. - Friday night, CSU Volleyball traveled to Clinton, South Carolina for a win or go home conference match-up against the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College.
Coming into the match, both Charleston Southern and Presbyterian College were both 4-9 in conference play. This year, the Big South expanded its volleyball playoff pool from four teams to six, and that sixth spot in the standings is exactly what CSU and PC would be playing for in the last match of the regular season.
The home team for the night, Presbyterian, would be celebrating their seniors as this would be their last night playing in Leroy Springs Gymnasium.
Presbyterian would begin the match hot and whenever a CSU run would begin to grow, the Blue Hose home court momentum would stifle the Bucs. PC took the match's first two sets 26-24 and 25-19. Hope would not be lost during the five-minute intermission as CSU would regroup and leave it all on the floor. The third set was all Bucs as Coach Carry Brown's crew blazed to a 25-20 set-victory. The match's fourth set was one of the closest and most nerve-racking sets of CSU's season. PC carried a slim lead for a majority of the set, and once the score reached the lower twenties for both squads, the energy in the building felt aware that both squad's seasons were on the line. The two teams would trade blows and make incredible play after incredible play to keep their goal alive, and a result of that was a lot of extra points being put on the board. It would take 30 points to achieve the set victory, but unfortunately that victory would go to the Blue Hose, ending Charleston Southern's 2024 campaign.
In the match, Faith Burch would tie her career-high in kills with 19. Ilaria Durante would dish out 49 assists as well as recording a team-high 25 digs. But perhaps the most sentimental performance of CSU's night belonged to Savannah Freeman, the Bucs one departing senior. Freeman recorded 12 kills on 27 attempts, achieving a .259 attacking percentage in her last appearance on a collegiate volleyball court.
On the year, Skylar Yates would take the statistical reins of the ball club. Yates finished the season with 310 kills (1st), 253 digs (3rd), 29 service aces (1st), and 26 blocks (4th).
On Yates' heels in the scoring column was sophomore Faith Burch. Burch, nicknamed "Phoenix" by her teammates for her dramatic rise to the top of the Bucs' offense in only her second year in the program, finished second on the team in kills (259). Burch also completed the year with 76 digs and 28 blocks (3rd).
The Bucs' junior setter, Ilaria Durante, dished out 714 assists (1st), 270 digs (2nd), and 21 blocks (5th).
Sophomore middle blocker, Brenna Rowland, finished the season ranked first in team blocks with 101. Rowland would also finish top three in kills with 183. The sophomore duo of Brenna Rowland and Faith Burch, who both finished top three in kills this season, is poised to continue to grow and become the faces of the program.
Fellow middle blocker, and team captain Emily Struckmeyer would finish near the top of the kill (4th) and block (2nd) lists. Struckmeyer, on top of her one million positive affirmations handed out to her teammates all year, would finish the season with 122 kills, 50 blocks, and 14 service aces (3rd).
CSU's libero, junior Julia Fledderjohn led the squad in digs with 275, finished second in service aces (22), and ranked third on the team in assists (86).
As for the Bucs' lone departing senior, Savannah Freeman finished her final season of collegiate volleyball with 105 kills (6th), 37 digs, 7 service aces, and 7 total blocks. The outside hitter from Pauline, South Carolina undeniably left her mark on the VolleyBucs program. Every member of the program from top to bottom has a special relationship with Freeman that is coated in funny dances, hysterical memories, animated celebrations, and some outright intense volleyball playing.
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