Weekly Recap - November 2 - 9

With big victories in and out of Big South play, a number of athletes earned Big South honors, including women’s soccer Player of the Year Marky Boyce, Amanda Hill and Cori Holeman from the volleyball team, Olivia Jordan-Higgins for Women’s Golf, and A.J. Toscano from football.

Boyce is no doubt the CSU Athlete of the Week after earning Big South Player of the Year honors. She was also named first team All-Big South and was the CSU representative on the Big South’s All-Tournament team after scoring a goal for the Lady Buccaneers in the first round.

Boyce led the League with 14 goals and seven assists. She is third on the CSU single-season list in goals and points (35). She had a school-record seven game-winning goals throughout the season.

In addition to Boyce, Caitlin Wesnesky earned first team all-conference honors, while Jen Vroman and Sarah Catenacci earned second team honors. Morgann Wood and Rebecca Hollstegge were named to the all-freshman team and Lindsey Trexler earned a spot on the all-academic team.

November 2-3 – W. Golf @ Pinehurst Challenge – 11th
Olivia Jordan-Higgins earned Big South Golfer of the Week honors after finishing third in the tournament. She finished the tournament two over par en route to carding her second third-place finish in a row. The team improved 17 shots in round two and finished just five shots behind Appalachian State. Freshman Amanda D’Ostroph carded a top-30 finish with a two-round 155, tied for 28th overall.

Game Story
Results

November 5 – W. Soccer vs. Radford (Big South Tourn.) – L, 2-1 (OT)
For the second time this year, the Lady Buccaneers, who at one time stood atop the league standings, fell in overtime to Radford. This time, it ended the Lady Buccaneers’ season. CSU still finished the year with a 12-6-2 overall record and a 5-2-2 mark in the Big South, tying the school record for wins in a season. Marky Boyce had a header to give CSU the lead in the 10th minute, but a foul in the 20th minute gave Radford a chance to tie, and they took advantage. It wasn’t until eight minutes into the first overtime that a ball found the back of the net as Caitlyn Roan corralled a rebound and tucked it home for the game-winner for the Highlanders.

Game Story
Box Score

November 7 – Football @ Presbyterian College – W, 46-32
Four early interceptions led to a 46-32 victory over Presbyterian College. The interceptions were the first of the year for Jacques Bazile, Charles James, Antwain Harvey and Fred Godfrey. It also more than doubled the number of picks this year for CSU. Harvey tallied the longest return in CSU history with a 100-yard return early in the game. QB A.J. Toscano had a career-high 290 yards passing and accounted for a school-record tying five touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing).

Game Story
Box Score
Postgame Quotes
Photo Gallery

November 7 – VB @ Radford – W, 3-0
Finally a road win for the volleyball team and it couldn’t come at a better time as they reach the final stretch of the season. It also comes as the team (hopefully) finishes recovering from the flu that got passed around over the past few weeks. They have no won five games in a row and hit .340 as a team and recorded 12 blocks in the three sets.

Game Story
Box Score

What’s coming up?

November 13 – VB vs. High Point – 5:30 p.m. (live stats, live video)
November 13 – WBB vs. Limestone – 8 p.m. (live stats, live video)
November 13 – MBB @ Maryland – 8 p.m. (live stats)
November 14 – XC @ NCAA East Regional (Lousiville, Ky.)
November 14 – FB vs. Stony Brook – 1:30 p.m. (live stats, live stats, live video)
November 14 – VB vs. Liberty – 6 p.m. (live stats)

Weekly Recap - Oct. 26 - Nov. 1

Three great wins for VB, a road win for FB and the Big South Championship in cross country highlight a great week in Buccaneer athletics. CSU also had three athletes (Amanda Hill, Cori Holeman and Antwan Ivey) honored by the Big South for their accomplishments this week.

Amanda Hill earns CSU Athlete of the Week honors after posting three-straight double-doubles in a 3-0 week for the volleyball team.

Hill had a total of 67 kills and 54 digs in three games, including wins over Coastal Carolina and UNC Asheville. She got her week started with 23 kills, a .339 attack percentage, 18 digs and three blocks as the Lady Bucs downed Coastal Carolina 3-1 on Oct. 27. On Oct. 30 against Gardner-Webb, she found the floor for 21 kills to go along with a .400 percentage at the net. Defensively, Hill came up with 18 digs and one block in the 3-1 win over Gardner-Webb. Hill closed the week out with 23 kills, a .432 hitting percentage, 18 digs and two blocks to push Charleston Southern to the 3-2 win over UNC Asheville on Oct. 31. In the three-match span, Hill averaged 5.15 kills per set, 4.15 digs per set and a .386 average at the net.

Oct. 27 – VB vs. Coastal Carolina – W, 3-1
The “Dig Pink” game was a success in a number of ways; First and foremost, the team was able to raise more than $1,000 for breast cancer research, which was the goal of the campaign. Secondly, the team did something they hadn’t been able to do since 2001, they BEAT COASTAL! There was a great crowd on hand. Ask anyone involved with the team and they will tell you that was a huge part in the 3-1 victory. Amanda Hill’s 23 kills and 18 digs did not hurt anything else, nor did Nichole Diller’s 16 digs and .394 hitting percentage.

Game Story
Box Score


Oct. 29 – W. Soccer vs. Winthrop – T, 1-1
After surrendering an early goal for the 10th time this year, CSU battled back to earn a 1-1 tie with Winthrop. Marky Boyce got her Big South leading 13th goal of the season, moving CSU to a 12-4-2 overall record for 2009, still one win shy of the school record for wins in a season.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 30 – VB vs. Gardner-Webb – W, 3-1
The Lady Buccaneers had revenge on their mind this weekend as they faced two teams that handed them tough losses on the road. Back in the Buc Dome, things went quite a bit differently for CSU. The CSU offense was clicking as the Lady Bucs hit .216 or better in all four sets of the victory, getting better each set (.289 in set four). Amanda Hill had 21 kills and 18 digs, while Nichole Diller added 13 kills. Sam Sasan had 42 assists and 15 digs, and Tricia Rodle led everyone with 21 digs.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 31 – VB vs. UNC Asheville – W, 3-2
The revenge factor played a part in Saturday’s game as well. After dropping a heartbreaking five-set match in Asheville, the Lady Bucs wanted nothing more than to knock off the top-ranked team in the Big South. It took five sets again, but this time CSU held the Bulldogs to a -0.36 hitting percentage in set five to earn a dominant 15-8 victory. The win evened their record at 14-14 on the year, and was the third-straight victory since returning from a five-game road trip.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 31 – Cross Country @ Big South Championship – M-7th, W-9th
Although neither team finished as high as they would have liked, both cross country teams showed vast improvement this season, and even more since last year. The men’s team, which finished ninth a year ago, finished seventh overall, and shaved :24 off their average time from the same course earlier this year in the Big South Preview meet, despite wet conditions for the championship. The women’s team finished an average of 30 seconds faster than they did at the preview meet, and the good news for the women is that everyone can come back next year and continue the improvement.

Men’s Story
Men’s Results

Women’s Story
Women’s Results

Oct. 31 – W. Soccer vs. Gardner-Webb – L, 1-0
Despite holding an incredible 25-5 advantage in shots, Gardner-Webb was able to slip one past the keeper to take a 1-0 victory at Blackbaud Stadium. It wasn’t the ending to a great regular season that CSU was hoping for, but as the #3 seed in the upcoming tournament, they will get another crack at Gardner-Webb in the second round, should both teams win their first-round games.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 31 – Football vs. VMI – W, 31-21
Special teams were truly special as CSU earned their first Big South and first road game of the season, Saturday against VMI. Antwan Ivey earned Big South Special Teams Player of the Week honors after returning a punt 50 yards for a touchdown. Antwain Harvey had a 50-yard kickoff return, and Kenny Johnson blocked a punt early in the game to shift the momentum for CSU. A.J. Toscano completed 79 percent of his passes, the second-best performance of his career, while Andrew McKain intercepted his first pass of the season and the second of his career.

Game Story
Postgame Quotes
Photo Gallery
Box Score

What’s Coming Up?
Nov. 2-3 – W. Golf @ Pinehurst Challenge

Nov. 3 – VB @ Savannah State – 6 p.m. (Game Notes)

Nov. 5, 6 – 8 – W. Soccer vs. Big South Championships @ Blackbaud Stadium
vs. Radford – 7 p.m. (Live Stats, Live Video, Tournament Central)

Nov. 7 – Football @ Presbyterian – 1:30 p.m. (Game Notes, Live Audio, Live Video)

Nov. 7 – VB @ Radford – 2 p.m.

Don't forget the following links:
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Video Streaming
Live Stats
Purchase pictures of your favorite Bucs
And CSUsports.com for all the latest CSU news and information

Notes From Nichole - 10-30-09

Friday - October 30th, 2009
Since October 2001, Charleston Southern volleyball has not beat Coastal Carolina. An obnoxious curse seemed to linger over CSU while playing our conference rival. Sam and I personally have lost to Coastal eight times in our careers here at CSU. That’s eight times hearing your conference rival cheering after the game in the adjacent locker room, eight games ending in complete frustration, and eight games that built up more animosity and vengeance towards Coastal. There are several aspirations graduating seniors desire, and beating Coastal at home your senior year definitely ranks high on the list.

Tuesday night the curse was broken and for the first time in years we beat Coastal. With the support of a hundreds of fans we not only ended our five game losing streak, but also ended the eight year long curse. The game brought new hope for the Charleston Southern Volleyball program and the rest of our conference play. The game was successful on and off the court as well. The event raised $1000 for the Dig for the Cure campaign which benefits breast cancer research. So thank you to all the facility, staff, and students who supported and donated money for this great cause.

We continue our promising conference play tonight at 7 against Gardner-Webb and then tomorrow against UNCA at 2. See you there! GO BUCS!

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” -2 Corinthians 5:17

Weekly Recap - October 19 - 25

An overtime victory, tournament championship and outstanding defensive showing highlight our action from this week in CSU athletics.

After her runner-up finish in the Wendy’s Invitational, Olivia Jordan-Higgins has been named the CSU Athlete of the Week. Higgins shot a first round 70 to take and early lead on the field of more than 80 golfers.

The finish was her first top-10 finish of the fall season, but her second time to break the top-20. The first two-round tournament of the season, her 145 was the best two rounds of the season.

We also considered; Kelvin Day (Men’s Golf), Amanda Hill (Volleyball) and Jena Lalich (Soccer) for the honor.

Oct. 19 – 20 - CSU Fall Invitational – Team Champions
The men’s golf team hosted a tournament at Crowfield Golf and Country Club, and while Kelvin Day ended as the tournament’s runner-up, the team took home the trophy with an 11-stroke victory over Gardner-Webb. Day earned Big South Golfer of the Week honors for his performance, but Day, David Denlinger, Ross Thomson and Jonathan Rustin all finished in the top-10 for the Bucs.

Game Story
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
COMBO SCORES
ROUND THREE STATISTICS
ROUND THREE COURSE STATISTICS

Oct. 19 – 20 - Wendy’s Invitational – 7th Place
The women’s golf team also hosted a tournament this week, doing so at Coosaw Creek Country Club. Although Olivia Jordan-Higgins couldn’t hold on for the individual title, she claimed her first runner-up finish of the year. The team finished seventh overall out of 15 teams, including Memphis, College of Charleston, The Citadel and UAB.

Game Story
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
COMBO SCORES
ROUND TWO STATISTICS
ROUND TWO COURSE STATISTICS

VB @ Winthrop – L, 3-1
The road has not been kind to CSU, and it continued to get the best of the Lady Bucs this week. Nichole Diller had 10 kills and 10 digs and the defense, led by Cori Holeman had 10 team blocks, but couldn’t overcome a balance attack from Winthrop, who had four different players with at least 13 kills. Trailing two sets to none and 7-2 in the third set, CSU came back and used eight consecutive points to take an 18-13 lead, eventually winning the set 25-22.

Game Story
Box Score

W Soccer @ Coastal Carolina – W, 1-0 (OT)
Anja Djumisic’s first career goal couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as she gave CSU a 1-0 victory with just over :30 left in the first overtime period. The victory ties the school record for wins in a season (12) and puts the Lady Bucs in first place in the Big South. Jena Lalich had five saves and recorded her third shut out in four games.

Game Story
Box Score

Football vs. Liberty – L, 20-13
The defense did its job as they held Big South favorite Liberty to 165 yards of total offense. It was the second only to the 90 posted by North Greenville for the lowest offensive total of the season. A pair of field goals in the middle of the game, as well as an 11-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Toscano to Kwame Krakue tied the game 13-13 in the fourth quarter. For the second-straight week, though, the Bucs surrendered a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. This time, CSU had a chance and got inside the red zone as time began to wind down. Unfortunately for the homecoming crowd on hand, the drive ran out of time on the 18 yardline.

Game Story
Postgame quotes from CSU vs. Liberty
Photo Gallery
Box Score

VB @ Presbyterian – L, 3-0
There is little doubt that the volleyball team would be perfectly content if they never hit the road again. Their fifth-straight road game, CSU started slowly, and just never could recover against the home-standing Blue Hose. The third and final set had eight ties and three lead changes, but PC prevailed in extra points. Amanda Hill had 10 kills to lead CSU, while Tricia Rodl had a team-best 14 digs.

Game Story
Box Score

What’s coming up?

Oct. 27 – Volleyball vs. Coastal Carolina – 6 p.m. (Game Notes, Live Stats,
Live Video)

Oct. 29 – W Soccer vs. Winthrop – 3 p.m. (Live Stats, Live Video)

Oct. 30 – Volleyball vs. Gardner-Webb – 7 p.m. (Live Stats, Live Video)

Oct. 31 – Cross Country @ Big South Championships

Oct. 31 – Football @ VMI – 1:30 p.m. (Game Notes, Gameday Central, Live Stats, Live Video)

Oct. 31 – Volleyball vs. UNC Asheville – 2 p.m. (Live Stats,)

Oct. 31 – W. Soccer vs. Gardner-Webb – 7 p.m. (Live Stats,)

Don't forget the following links:
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Video Streaming
Live Stats
Purchase pictures of your favorite Bucs
And CSUsports.com for all the latest CSU news and information

Life is Goodenough - Oct. 22, 2009

Inspirational Athletes

Being a college coach and an avid sports fan, I love reading stories about athletes who are breaking records, winning games as the underdog, or overcoming obstacles just to play their sport. I am so inspired by the great players who are not just excelling at their sport but who are also exceptional people and role models. Great examples are Florida’s Tim Tebow, arguably the best college football player, who is back from his concussion leading his team better than ever. Indiana Fever’s Tamika Catchings, who is a phenomenal offensive player, was recently named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. In Conference USA, the University of Houston’s Case Keenum, has thrown for over 2500 yards this season and is included in Heisman Trophy discussions. As a coach, you encourage character development through commitment and hard work. You also encourage your players to have high expectations for themselves and to follow the examples of other successful athletes and teams.

Here is a story about a successful team who has absolutely exceeded expectations that anyone had for them. You will not read anywhere else about this team or any of their team members but they have been very inspirational this year for me and many others.

Last season the Dubose Middle School Wildcat Volleyball team struggled to claim a 1-9 regular season record. Their one victory was heavily celebrated because it was one more than the 2007 season. Watching the team was difficult because not many games or even possessions went very well for this young 7th and 8th grade team.

With a good number of returners from the 2008 season returning this fall, expectations were not high for the 2009 campaign. After winning the first 2 matches on the opening night, however, parents and fans alike began to sit a little taller in the stands and cheer with a little more optimism than in the past. To much surprise, the Wildcat team continued improvements on serving and passing and even grew more confident about spiking as the season passed. The number of fans and their enthusiasm grew as the Wildcats rolled over opponents in district play. They fell to a very worthy opponent, River Oaks, in the middle of the season. The concern was how they would bounce back from that loss. They responded by winning the remainder of their matches!

The middle school team, who rarely got a serve over the net one season and finished last, came back with determination and teamwork to finish first this season! At the end of the season, Captain Gabby Grossi, received the Coaches Award. Newcomer, Hallie Colegrove, received the Most Improved Award. Lastly, Captain Bailey Goodenough, was named the Most Valuable Player.

From 1-9 to 9-1. From Last to First. As far as being inspirational-that is hard to beat!

Col 3:17

Weekly Recap - Oct. 13 - 18

Back on track this weekend as the Lady Buccaneer soccer team finished out the week on Sunday with an exciting 3-2 victory over Presbyterian College. Fall sports are in the middle of Big South play, and the men’s and women’s basketball teams are starting to gear it up as they started practice this past weekend. We also had our Big South basketball media day to release the men’s and women’s preseason polls.

After she willed the soccer team to victory on Sunday, there is little doubt that Marky Boyce is this week’s CSU Athlete of the Week. Boyce scored all four goals in CSU’s 2-0 Big South week.

Things started on Friday as the Lady Bucs traveled up to Asheville. With CSU going into the wind in the first half, Boyce took a ball from Jen Vroman and put it in the top corner late in the half to give CSU a 1-0 lead. With the wind at their backs, the Lady Bucs held on for the 1-0 victory.

Sunday, the team found themselves trailing 2-0 within the first 10 minutes of the game against Presbyterian college. Boyce took over, scoring three goals in an 11 minute span to give CSU the lead. The first two goals came in the final 10 minutes of the first half as she tied the game 2-2 with under a minute to play. The final goal of the game, and her seventh game-winner of the season, came two minutes into the second half as she got loose in the box and blasted a shot into the back of the net.

As for the results.

Oct. 12 – 13 – M Golf @ Davidson Invitational – 11th
The team struggled in the first two rounds, but shot a final-round 302 to finish 11th overall at the Davidson Invitational. The 302 in the final round was tied for the fourth-lowest score of the day. Kelvin Day finished in the top-25 with a 228, two shots ahead of Jason Clatworthy.

Game Story
Results

Oct. 13 – VB @ Coastal Carolina - L, 3-1
The Lady Bucs started their five-game road swing up in Conway, but it did not start like they wanted. After a tough 25-23 loss in set one, the Lady Bucs bounced back to win set two 25-20. The brief intermission stole the momentum away, and CSU could not get anything going offensively in the final two sets.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 16 – W Soccer @ UNC Asheville – W, 1-0
A first-half goal against a strong wind proved the difference as CSU won their second Big South road game of the year, 1-0 over UNCA. Marky Boyce had the game-winner, her sixth of the year as she took the pass from Jen Vroman, who notched her sixth assist of the year, putting it in the top corner from 15 yards out. Jena Lalich played the entire game in goal, earning the win and the shut out after supplying seven saves.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 16 – VB @ Liberty – L, 3-1
They won the first set, but couldn’t continue the momentum as they fell on the road to a very good Liberty team. Amanda Hill and Nichole Diller each had a double-double for CSU. The loss evened the CSU record at 11-11 overall. The Lady Bucs had eight team blocks and had everyone with a positive attack percentage, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced Flame attack that had four hitters with double-figure kills.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 17- XC @ USC Upstate Invitational – M – 4th, W-10th
The women’s times continued to drop, despite cold and wet conditions at Milliken Research Park. Adrienne Cuff, Tracey Epley and Susanna McKee all ran season-bests for CSU. The men’s team also showed improvement, and although they didn’t run season bests, Shaun Bisson, Chris Seigler and Brandon Harris all improved on their time from the first meet of the season that was on the same course.

Women's Story
Box Score

Men's Story
Box Score

Oct. 17- FB @ Gardner-Webb – L, 27-20
After tying the game with under 2:00 to go in the game, the Bucs felt like they were in good shape and the offense started thinking about overtime strategy. GWU had other plans, and a great execution of their two-minute drill proved deadly as the scored with :22 left in the game. The Bucs fell behind 10-0 before scoring 13 unanswered to take a 13-10 lead. It was tied again at 20-20 in the final moments after a diving touchdown catch by Josh Atkinson.

Game Story
Postgame Quotes
Box Score
Photo Gallery

Oct. 17 – VB @ High Point – L, 3-0
The Lady Bucs fell to 0-3 on the road during this road swing as nothing seemed to go right against High Point. CSU recorded just two blocks, and had 25 attacking errors to 24 kills on the day. Thankfully, CSU only has two more road games, and no back-to-back games for a while.

Game Story
Box Score

Oct. 18 – W Soccer @ Presbyterian – W, 3-2
After falling in a 2-0 hole, Marky Boyce lifted CSU out with three unanswered goals to put CSU up 3-2 early in the second half. It was her second hat trick of the season, and helped boost CSU to a 9-2 advantage in shots in the second half. Jena Lalich had four saves in goal to get the win.

Game Story
Box Score

What’s coming up?

Oct. 19 – 20 - M Golf – CSU Fall Invitational (Crowfield CC)
Oct. 19 – 20 – W Golf – Wendy’s Invitational (Coosaw CC)
Oct. 20 – Volleyball @ Winthrop – 6 p.m. (live stats)
Oct. 23 – W Soccer @ Coastal Carolina – 6 p.m. (live stats)
Oct. 24 – Football vs. Liberty – 1:30 p.m. (Live Stats, Game Notes, Live Audio/Video)
Homecoming Weekend
Oct. 24 – Volleyball @ Presbyterian – 6 p.m.

Don't forget the following links:
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Video Streaming
Live Stats
Purchase pictures of your favorite Bucs
And CSUsports.com for all the latest CSU news and information

Cori Holeman - CSU Athlete of the Week

Cori Holeman has been selected as this week's CSU Athlete of the Week. Holeman was key offensively and defensively for the Lady Bucs in their sweep of Radford, last Saturday.

Holeman accounted for a team-high 17 points in the lone match of the week for CSU. She finished the 3-0 sweep with 11 kills, one short of her season-high. She also tied her season high with a hand in eight blocks, including two solo rejections, and added an ace.

Also nominated: Sarah Catenacci (Soccer)