UNC Asheville Falls to Charleston Southern in Five-Set Battle on Senior Day

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Charleston So.	25	30	12	25	15	3
UNC Asheville	22	28	25	27	9	2

Charleston So.

UNC Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville volleyball team battled through five competitive sets Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell to Charleston Southern, 3-2 (22-25, 28-30, 25-12, 27-25, 9-15), inside the Justice Center.

Prior to the game, the Bulldogs honored their four seniors: Lydia Pate, Megan Oppegard, Riley Barr and Albertine van der Goot.

Albertine van der Goot led Asheville's offensive attack with a career and match-high 18 kills, hitting .351 while adding six block assists. Sarah Wadsworth followed with 15 kills, eight digs and two service aces.

Cadence Nichols delivered an outstanding performance at the net, recording 10 kills on 14 attempts without an attack error for a remarkable .714 hitting percentage. Nichols also contributed a career and team-high seven block assists.

Izzy Perkins led Asheville defensively with 12 digs, while Olivia Callipo and Elise Jensen distributed 25 and 24 assists, respectively.

As a team, Asheville finished with 62 kills, nine service aces and 11 total blocks while hitting .226 for the match. Despite leading Charleston Southern in kills, assists, service aces and total points, the Bulldogs were unable to overcome costly errors as the Buccaneers capitalized on Asheville's mistakes to secure the victory.

How It Happened

Set One (22-25): Charleston Southern jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage before Asheville began to find its rhythm offensively. The Bulldogs battled back to even the score at 7-7 and remained within striking distance throughout the frame. Trailing 19-16, Asheville used back-to-back service aces from Wadsworth to tie the set at 19-19. The teams continued trading points until the Buccaneers closed the opening frame with three of the final four points to secure the 25-22 victory.

Set Two (28-30): The Buccaneers carried their momentum into the second set, building an 18-12 advantage. Asheville refused to go away, gradually chipping away at the deficit. Trailing by three late in the frame, the Bulldogs rallied to even the score at 24-24 following a block from Lydia Pate and Albertine van der Goot. Asheville went on to take its first lead at 27-26 behind a kill from van der Goot. The Bulldogs regained the advantage at 28-27, but back-to-back Asheville errors, followed by a Charleston Southern kill, allowed the Buccaneers to escape with a 30-28 victory and take a 2-0 match lead.

Set Three (25-12): Facing a two-set deficit, Asheville responded with its most dominant performance of the afternoon. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-2 advantage behind a strong presence at the net and continued building their lead throughout the frame. Asheville stretched its advantage to 15-6 before a late run pushed the score to 22-10. The Bulldogs held Charleston Southern to just three kills, no service aces and a -.158 hitting percentage while recording 11 kills, four service aces and four total blocks of their own. Van der Goot led the offensive charge with six kills in the frame, while Cadence Nichols delivered the set-winning kill to secure the convincing 25-12 victory and force a fourth set.

Set Four (27-25): Asheville carried its momentum into the fourth set, using an early 5-0 run fueled by four kills from Wadsworth to take an 8-5 advantage. The Bulldogs maintained a narrow lead through much of the frame, but Charleston Southern battled back to tie the score at 15. The teams traded points down the stretch before the Buccaneers took a 23-21 lead. Asheville responded with three consecutive points, including back-to-back kills from Wadsworth, to move ahead 24-23. After Charleston Southern tied the score twice more, Wadsworth delivered another kill to give the Bulldogs a 26-25 advantage. A block from Pate and van der Goot sealed the 27-25 victory and forced a decisive fifth set.

Set Five (9-15): Charleston Southern opened the final frame with an early advantage, building a 7-5 lead before Asheville cut the deficit to one on a kill from Nichols. The Buccaneers responded with consecutive points to extend their lead to 9-6. Asheville continued to battle, with kills from Nichols, Wadsworth and Perkins keeping the Bulldogs within striking distance. However, Charleston Southern closed the match with three consecutive points to secure the 15-9 victory.

Up Next

The Bulldogs hit the road next weekend to face Winthrop on Friday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. before traveling to Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m.