DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Volleyball Drops Charlotte 3-1
10/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
CHICAGO -- The DePaul volleyball team defeated Charlotte 29-31, 30-24, 30-18, 30-19. DePaul now sits at 12-1 on the season and a perfect 4-0 in Conference USA while Charlotte drops to 7-7 and 1-4 in the conference.
Charotte downed the Blue Demons in game on 31-29, but couldn't overcome DePaul the rest of the way. The Blue Demons took the second game 30-24. Junior Katie Engel led DePaul pounding six of her game-high 18 kills in the game.
In the third game, the Blue Demons blew Charlotte away from the start. Senior Melissa Murphy came up huge with three consecutive service aces helping the Blue Demons capture an early 8-3 lead. Charlotte never recovered and DePaul won the game 30-18 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Game four was back-and-forth early, but too much DePaul at the end. With the score tied at 17, the Blue Demons scored the next five points to finish off the match. Senior Stephanie Bishop recorded seven kills in eight attempts to lead the team.
In addition to her game-high 18 kills, Engel added nine digs and recorded a .444 hitting percentage. Senior Christa Dirr ended with 12 kills and a .367 hitting percentage while sophomore Lara Marks pounded 10 kills and a .348 hitting percetage.
"I'm happy with how the team played in the final two games," said Engel. "We have to keep our intensity up for tomorrow night and come out and play strong from the start."
Coach Dawn Dockstader added, "We had a talk in the locker room after our poor performance in games one and two and really picked it up in games three and four. Katie Engel played outstanding tonight."
The Blue Demons return to the home floor tomorrow night taking on East Carolina at 7:00 p.m.
