High Point, N.C. – Top-seeded Campbell earned a spot in the Big South championship match for the second straight year with a three-set win over fourth-seeded Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon at the Millis Center. This marks the first time in program history that Campbell has played for league titles in back-to-back seasons.
The win was Campbell's third of the year over CSU as the squad improved to 19-10 on the season. The Camels hit .321 for the match and held the Bucs to .083, their third lowest mark of the year.
Campbell served the ball well, tallying more aces (9) than errors (7) for the second time this season, the other having also come against CSU on Oct. 20.
Chloe Cook's seven kills in the opening frame helped lead the Camels to an early 1-0 lead. Things were tied at 8-8 before a key 5-0 run put Campbell ahead for good. CSU drew to within three at 22-19 but Cook halted the run with a pair of kills to get Campbell to the finish line at 25-21.
It was all Camels in a 25-12 second set and led by as many as 14. Campbell hit a blistering .429 while holding CSU below zero at -.033. Everything was going right for the Camels in the frame, including five aces with three coming from Gwen Wolkow.
Campbell's only real deficit of the match came early in the third, trailing 7-3. That lead was quickly erased with Campbell taking a lead at 10-9 and never trialing again. The Camels pushed that lead to as many as eight on the way to a 25-19 finial set win.
Cook led all players with 11 kills, while Paige and Green added nine and seven, respectively. Paige also added a match-high six blocks on the afternoon. Fechter showed why she was the league DPOY with 19 kills in just three sets.
The Camels now await the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 HPU and No. 3 Winthrop. The championship match is set for Sunday at 4 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.