Sanford Leads Volleyball to Sweep of Charleston Southern
9/12/2008 4:28:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Freshman Bethany Sanford recorded 16 kills and a .419 hitting percentage to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) volleyball sweep of Charleston Southern Friday night at the Bash in the Boro.
GSU improves to 5-4 on the season and has won both matches thus far in the tournament. CSU drops to 3-6.
Eastern Michigan (4-5) also remained perfect at the Bash in the Boro in match three with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) victory over UNC Wilmington (5-3).
“I thought it was a good effort,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “I thought we came out and established ourselves early and that's what we had been talking about ? trying to make an impact in the first 10 points of the game and set the tone for the match and I thought we did that in both game one and game two. We lost that a little bit in game three but overall I thought it was a good effort.”
The Eagles held their second straight opponent to under a .100 attack percentage and totaled 11 blocks. The Lady Buccaneers committed 22 errors for a .054 percentage.
“We did a good job blocking,” said Callihan. “We did a better job of picking up our hitters early so there wasn't as much guesswork. We had a good feel for what their attackers were going to do before the ball was set. We've been working on trying to shade ahead of hitters and being ready early and it's really starting to pay dividends for us.”
Sophomore Blaire Brueggemeyer (Burleson, Texas) tallied 37 assists and was one of three players with four blocks, joining sophomore Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) and Sanford.
Sanford, a native of Avondale, Ariz., notches her fifth straight double-double with 10 digs. Over her last two matches she is averaging 4.5 kills per set and a .421 hitting percentage.
“Bethany's been great all season for us,” said Callihan. “She's got a great all-around game, she's a high-level attacker but she keeps her errors low which is probably her best attribute right now. You don't see a true freshman come out and take that many swings and only have three errors. I'm very pleased with what she's doing and I just hope the work ethic continues.”
Both teams wrap up play tomorrow. Georgia Southern takes on Eastern Michigan at noon and Charleston Southern faces UNC Wilmington at 10 a.m.
