Bulldogs Take To Road At Coastal Carolina Invitational

Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team takes to the road for their third consecutive tournament this weekend, participating in the Comfort Suites Coastal Carolina Invitational. The Bulldogs look to carry momentum from their first victory into a series of matches against Norfolk State, USC Upstate and the host Chanticleers. 

Beginning on Friday, the Dogs open with Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. The matches continue on Saturday, Sept. 11 when The Citadel meets USC Upstate at 10 a.m. followed by an afternoon contest against Norfolk State at 4 p.m. The Cadets are a combined 1-8 against the three participating teams with the victory coming against Norfolk State (15-0, 15-0, 15-0) during the 2000 season.

"This trip, combined with our win over Savannah State is a way for our players to continue building confidence while playing solid volleyball," said Head Coach Carolyn Geiger. "We'll need both strong offensive and defensive performances at this weekend's tournament.  I want to focus on spreading our offense out to get all of our hitters involved.  I think it will be a weekend of great competition."

In the home opener on Wednesday, senior Amanda Beal finished with nine kills to help lead The Citadel Volleyball team to a 25-7, 25-7, 25-15 victory over Savannah State. The Bulldogs, who had nine players finish with at least one kill, controlled the front with a .470 hitting percentage. With the victory, the Cadets have won each of the last 14 games against the Tigers, dating back to 2002 season.

The trio of Shannon Frain, Blaine McAllister and Cassie Uribe finished with seven kills apiece, as the Cadets totaled 46 kills as a unit. As for the Citadel defense, Emily Dalton tallied nine digs joined closely by Jessica Maas' seven digs. Erin Bucherl dished out a match-high 17 assists, while teammate Meredith Mutispaugh added 16 assists. The victory is The Citadel's first of the season, moving them to 1-7 overall. Savannah State drops to 1-6.

You can follow the tournament live on: http://www.goccusports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/2010-volley-invite.html. Live stats will be available for all matches located on the tournament webpage.

Previewing the Competition

Coastal Carolina (2-5 overall): In a scrappy four-set match, the Coastal Carolina University volleyball team came back after dropping the first set to defeat Campbell 3-1 on Tuesday.  The Chanticleers improved to 2-5 overall.

Senior Chelsy Kimes led the offense with 22 kills and earned her fifth double-double in a row after adding 11 digs.  Erika Lightsey tallied 13 kills and 10 digs for her first career double-double.  Lauren Alejo and Kelsie Mauck shared the setting duty for the Chants, posting 29 and 20 assists, respectively.  Lindsay Gill led the defense with 24 digs. 

With both teams evenly matched, Campbell jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third set.  Coastal battled back and after five ties, went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-9 lead.  The Camels did not go away easily and gradually came back to tie the set again at 16-all.  After the final tie at 18-all, the Coastal offense came alive, finishing the set on a 7-3 run and taking a 2-1 match lead. 

The fourth set was nothing different than the first three--a tough battle.  After six ties in the beginning of the set, the Chanticleers built up a six point lead before the Campbell offense came alive.  The Camels went on a 6-1 run and tied the set back up at 18-all, but it was the last time Campbell came that close as Coastal finished the set strong and won the match. 

Norfolk State (3-5 overall): East Tennessee State wasted little time taking care of the Norfolk State volleyball team, defeating the Spartans, 25-11, 25-10, 25-15 at the Radford Tournament at the Dedmon Center. The loss dropped NSU's record to 3-5 on the year.

Junior Jasmine Frazier and sophomore Chynna Blaker each posted five kills on the afternoon, while freshmen Noelle Eagles and Arielle Knafel contributed nine and seven digs, respectively. Sophomore Kristen Burt added 12 assists.

NSU grabbed a 3-2 lead to begin the third set after a bad set on the Bucs. Kills by redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty and Armstead helped the Spartans stay with ETSU until the Bucs went on an 11-1 run to go up by 10 at 16-6. Frazier added two kills late in the set as NSU scored 7-of-9 points later on, but a block by ETSU ended play with the Bucs winning the third set, 25-15.

USC Upstate (2-4 overall): Following a pair of tough losses earlier in the tournament, USC Upstate was ready to put a tally into the win column Saturday evening when they took the court with the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky. With both teams going into the match with a 1-4 record, it was Upstate who prevailed, 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-21) on the campus of Appalachian State.

USC Upstate was paced by Mindy Quimby, Cori Harris and Kelsie Queen who put away 17, 15 and 13 kills, respectively.  Emily Sanders earned her sixth double-double in as many contests with 47 helpers and 11 digs, Megan Healey added another 22 digs and Morgan Page supplied nine more.

Coming off two tough losses during their time at the Appalachian Invitational - Valparaiso on Friday and host Appalachian State earlier on Saturday - the Spartans looked to close out the Colonels and leave the tournament on a .500 note. USC Upstate opened up the fourth set on a Quimby kill from Sanders. Following the Spartan point, a back-and-forth affair between both squads ensued with the lead changing five times over 37 points. Upstate was the one to take the final lead and ride it through to the finish. Following a 19-18 lead, kills from Harris and Downey paired with errors by EKU would eventually tip the set in favor of the Spartans, 25-21.

For more information on Bulldog Volleyball, go to the official website of The Citadel Athletics, www.CitadelSports.com.