GARDEN CITY N.Y. - Charleston hit the road and headed to New York for the Molloy/Adelphi Tournament. For the first time since 2016, the Golden Eagles defeated the Adelphi Panthers in a five-set thriller before beating Post in straight sets. UC's Maria Hernandez tallied 88 total assists for the day.
The Basics (Game One)
Location: Island Garden in West Hempstead, NY
Score: Charleston 3; Adelphi 2
Records: UC 1-0 (0-0 MEC), AU 1-2 (0-0 NE10)
With the first set tied at 4-4, McKenzie Damon and McKenzie Carpenter combined for five kills as Charleston scored seven of the next nine points to take a 10-5 advantage in the opening set. From there, the Golden Eagles would keep the momentum going and finish the set on a 14-9 run. Charleston had an impressive hitting percentage of .353 (highest set total of the match), racking up 15 kills on 34 attempts.
Adelphi's defense played well in the second set which it would eventually take from UC after increasing its hitting percentage from 0.059% to 0.237% in the set with 16 kills. The second set saw the Golden Eagles' lowest hitting percentage of the set, recording just seven kills on 12 attempts while struggling against the block-defense.
UC opened the third set by scoring six of the first eight points. AU, which posted its lowest hitting percentage in the set, would commit eight attacking errors compared to 16 Charleston kills. With the Golden Eagles leading 21-11, the Panthers would make one last effort, scoring three of the last five points before an Adelphi attacking error put Charleston up 2-1 in the match.
In a close fourth set, Charleston was able to collect two more kills than the opposition, but ten Golden Eagle errors allowed Adelphi to take the fourth set and send the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the final frame, Charleston found themselves down quick after Adelphi went on a four-point rally, making the score 5-1 in favor of Adelphi. After two attacking errors from Adelphi and several kills from UC's Sage Bearnson, the final set was deadlocked at 8-8. After AU took the next three points to take an 11-8 lead, it was Charleston who would go on to score six of the next nine points to tie the fifth set at 14-14. From there, an attacking error from Adelphi and a final kill from Carpenter sealed the season-opening victory for the Golden Eagles.
Sage Bearnson led UC with 22 kills, followed by 19 kills from McKenzie Damon, and 11 kills from Pia Selke.
GARDEN CITY, N.Y.
The Basics (Game Two)
Location: Island Garden in West Hempstead, NY
Score: Charleston 3; Post 0
Records: UC 2-0 (0-0 MEC), PU 0-1 (0-0 CACC)
The Golden Eagles' offense dominated the match with numerous kills from the attacking line.
Charleston's straight-set victory was led by 11 kills from Carpenter in the second match of the day. The defense was also strong as Erin Carmody and Hernandez both had 14 digs.
In Charleston's sweep, UC would wrap up the match by cruising to a 25-12 victory in the third set.
On today's victories, Head Coach Tyler Kanelos said,
"We are very excited to start our season out 2-0 against some very solid competition.
The Adelphi match was a tremendous test for our first match of the season, and I'm proud of the way our team stepped up to pull out the victory in the fifth set.
We did a great job of controlling our side of the net in the match against Post. Our middles were extremely effective and that allowed us to come out with the win in straight sets."
Up Next
UC will play two games tomorrow against Molloy College and the University of New Haven beginning at noon.
