HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker College women's volleyball team improved to 3-1 on the season after splitting a pair of matches on Saturday (Aug. 25) in the Coker/FMU Fall Invitational.
The Cobras dropped their first match of the day to Indianapolis 3-0 before a thrilling 3-1 victory over UNC Pembroke.
Preseason All-SAC selection Taylor du Bray had a spectacular night against the Braves as she shattered her career-high with 28 kills while adding 15 digs. Cayley Gunter and Lana Strejcek also added 12 kills apiece.
While du Bray dominated with her sheer power, freshman Rami Mullen served as the glue to the Cobras offense as she dished out 46 assists and collected 27 digs on the night. Mullen is averaging 8.85 assists per set and 3.77 digs per set on the young season.
The Cobras dropped the first set to UNC Pembroke, but then stormed back in an exciting second set to pull even. Tied 23-23, Arianne Jewell and Emily Everton came up with a clutch block to give the Cobras a 24-23 lead. Olivia Veith and Gunter then followed that up with a block of their own to take the set.
Coker led by as much as 17-5 in the third set before the Braves stormed back to cut the lead to just four at 20-16. Kills from Mullen, Gunter, and du Bray down the stretch secured the set win and pushed the Coker advantage to 2-1.
The fourth set was all Taylor du Bray. Du Bray dominated down the stretch, racking up 12 kills in the fourth set alone, including five kills in the Cobras last six points. UNC Pembroke and Coker were tied 13-13 in the set before du Bray took over. The Cobras would go on to outscore the Braves 12-2 the rest of the way.
Coker will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Pembroke for the UNC-Pembroke tournament. The Cobras will play double headers on both Friday (Aug. 31) and Saturday (Sept. 1). They'll face Fayetteville State at 11 am, and then Shaw at 3 pm on Friday. On Saturday, they'll face off against Lees-McRae at 3 pm and then have a rematch with UNC Pembroke at 7 pm.
McDonald's Player of the Game: Taylor du Bray