BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Three players finished with double-figure kills as Campbell earned a 3-1 win over The Citadel in the Camels' 2017 season opener during the Hampton Inn Holly Springs Invitational inside Gore Arena Friday night.
Allena Heath led CU (1-0) with 13 kills and nearly missed a double-double with nine digs. Jessica Stocking and Madison Linxwiler each put down 10 kills apiece while Kayla Schanback led the Camels with 16 digs. Summer Schuitema tallied a double-double with a match-high 39 assists and 12 digs.
The Citadel (1-1) cut Campbell's match lead to 2-1 with a 25-22 victory in the third set. The Camels used a 9-2 run to turn a narrow 9-8 lead into an 18-10 advantage in the crucial fourth set. A kill from Stocking gave the Camels a 22-15 lead late in the set.
A Bulldog attacking error earned CU its first match point at 24-17. The Citadel was able to tally four-straight points and cut the lead to 24-21. However, Heath finished the match with a massive kill to give the Camels the victory.
Freshman Hannah Schneggenburger put down nine kills in her collegiate debut for Campbell and hit a match-high .533. Linxwiler also nearly had a double-double with a match-high nine blocks.
The Bulldogs' Sharlissa De Jesus finished with a match-high 21 kills and added 11 digs for a double-double. Moriah Smith had a match-high 19 digs while Caicia Rodriguez finished with 16. Megan Fuhr assisted on 20 kills.
The Camels raced out to a 4-1 advantage to start the first set and led 11-6 midway through the frame to force a Bulldog timeout. It was a narrow 18-15 advantage late before Campbell reeled off seven-straight points to finish off the set 25-15.
Four-straight Camel points broke a 4-4 tie, and it was a 15-8 lead for Campbell midway through the second set after a kill from Heath. CU's lead was as large as 11 (21-10) before Heath ended the frame with a kill and gave the Camels a 25-15 set win.
Campbell will continue play in the Hampton Inn Holly Springs Invitational Saturday against N.C. Central at 11 a.m. and will wrap-up the event versus Tennessee Tech at 5:30 p.m. The Citadel defeated N.C. Central 3-1 and Tennessee Tech blanked the Eagles 3-0 in earlier action of tournament play on Friday.
