Charleston, W.Va. – The Golden Eagles men's volleyball team remains undefeated in sets, starting the season off 13-0. Charleston picked up their first two EIVA victories this weekend with straight set wins over Harvard University.
 
The Basics:
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC  3, Harvard 0
Records: UC 12-0 (1-0 EIVA), Harvard 4-5 (0-1 EIVA)
 
How it Happened:
The Golden Eagles stepped out on the court on Friday night with a packed house ready to witness what the Men's Volleyball program is truly made of this season. The match was the first EIVA game of the season for both squads and with neither team wanting to open conference play with a loss, the crowd knew it was going to be a great fight.
 
In the first set both teams were battling back and forth, trading side outs regularly to open the match. The Crimson of Harvard University went on an early three point run to take the set to 6-3, but the Golden Eagles answered right back after a kill each from Garret Schnitker and Will Kimenhour. The back and forth happened for several more points, Harvard still holding on to a two-point lead, 9-7. The Golden Eagles then went on a four-point run off the served of Garret Schnitker, taking over the lead 11-9. The teams once again traded side outs for the next several points until the match was tied at 15-15. Charleston went on a five-point streak with two Garret Schnitker kills and three Crimson errors. Harvard recovered with a kill to bring it back to 19-16 UC, but Charleston once again went on a five-point run taking the match to 24-16. The Crimson scored off a kill, but after siding out a service error went on to end the set, Charleston taking it 25-17.
 
Harvard opened the second set taking a 3-0 lead, but Charleston got right back in the game with two kills, one each from Kimenhour and Schnitker. The Crimson once again went on a three-point run, taking the set to 6-2. The Golden Eagles fought back a few points but seemed to struggle early in the set, giving Harvard the 11-5 advantage. After taking a timeout, Charleston responded with an 8-3 run, getting the set back within one, trailing 14-13. The two teams traded sideouts for the next several points until the Golden Eagles picked up some momentum with a four-point run. After taking the lead, 23-21, Charleston was in the driver's seat. Harvard took the next point off a Golden Eagle attack error, but the next point went right back to Charleston as Lachlan Bray redeemed himself with a kill. Harvard brought it back to a one-point deficit with a kill of their own, but with Charleston up 24-23 they just needed one point to take the set. It was middle blocker Will Kimenhour who gave Charleston the two-set advantage when he put away a beautiful set from Diego Villafane, giving Charleston the 25^th point they needed.
 
The Crimson now trailing two sets to none needed to put everything they ad into this third set if they had any hope of getting back into the match. The set started out even matched, both teams trading points back and forth. It was when the set was 14-11 UC that the Golden Eagles began to pull away from the Crimson. Charleston went on a 7-3 run taking the 20-14 advantage in the third set. The Crimson fought hard for several points, but their efforts were not enough as they fell in the third set 25-19.
 
Charleston picked up their first EIVA conference win of the season along with their 12^th consecutive sweep. Garret Schnitker led the offense with 18 kills hitting .517%. Diego Villafane collected 28 assists in the three-set victory.
 
The Basics:
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC  3, Harvard 0
Records: UC 13-0 (2-0 EIVA), Harvard 4-6 (0-2 EIVA)
 
How it Happened:
Charleston entered the Saturday afternoon match a perfect 36-0 in sets after picking up their first EIVA conference win of the season. The Golden Eagles wanted to send a message in the Saturday contest and that is exactly what they did. The game was even matched in the first set up until the 18-17 UC. The Crimson committed several errors, allowing Charleston to take the 21-17 lead. The Golden Eagles went on to close out the set 25-19 after three kills from three different Golden Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagles were dominate in the second set hitting .600 without committing an error. Charleston was in command the entire set, only allowing the Crimson to score 11 points, 3 of which were UC service errors, eventually taking the final 25-11.
 
The third set was much of the same with Charleston in control the entire set. The Golden Eagles hit an outstanding .800% going 16-20 without committing an error. Charleston took the third set victory by a score of 25-10, completing the sweep over Harvard.
 
The Golden Eagles put up some incredible numbers in the set including their .545% hitting percentage in their 33-55 attempts. Charleston only committed three errors, all of which came in the first set. Diego Villafane collected 29 assists in the match.
 
Up Next:
Charleston will travel to Fairfax, Virginia to battle it out with the George Mason Patriots this weekend. Game one is set for Friday, February 24^th at 7PM followed by a 5PM Saturday first serve.