After a five day break from action, the Elon women’s volleyball team was ready for a tough game against College of Charleston on Friday night.
The first set proved just that as Elon had to battle against the Cougars in the first set, taking it 25-22.
The Phoenix continued to battle against a tough College of Charleston offense. The Cougars took both the second and third sets 25-14 and 25-19, respectively.
“College of Charleston has a really good block," said head coach Mary Tendler. "Trying to get the ball to hit through their block was difficult. Then we tried doing shots that they’re not used to, and made a lot of errors. We didn’t make those errors in the first set."
College of Charleston went on to win the match in the fourth set, 25-14. Although the Phoenix didn’t come out on top, Tendler praised her team on their grit.
“I like the fight in our team tonight," she said. "Liz had probably her best match of her career here, which I was really excited about. We knew she had that in her, and we were able to utilize that.”
Given College of Charleston’s strong defense, sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Coil proved that she has some heat. She finished the match with eleven kills, a new season high for her.
“We have really great defenders on our team, so we were able to set up our block and our defenders were able to get digs,” Coil said. “Kodi [Garcia] is a great setter and she was just able to distribute the ball really well so we were able to get kills.”
The next match Elon will play is against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Head coach Tendler is going into the game with a clear goal.
“To win. We are going to fight hard,” Tendler said. Elon has not beaten UNCW yet, and will look to break that streak when the Phoenix welcomes the Seahawks to Alumni Gym.