Eden Ramos broke the school single-season record for assists in Sunday's finale. |
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Charlotte Grabs 20-win Season in Home Finale Sweep of La Salle
Nov. 12, 2006
Charlotte, N.C. - Junior setter Eden Ramos broke the single-season record for assists as the Charlotte 49ers closed out the regular season at home with a 3-0 defeat of the La Salle Explorers (30-23, 30-26, 30-25) at Halton Arena Sunday afternoon. The Niners finish fifth in the Atlantic-10 heading into tournament play this weekend in Dayton, Ohio. Charlotte finished with a 20-11 record in 2006, 7-6 in conference play. La Salle ends the year 9-24, winless in A-10 play in 13 matches.
Temple's road win Saturday puts Charlotte second in the Eastern Division, and the number-five seed in thie weekend's A-10 Tournament.
Charlotte surged out to 5-1 margin in the opening game, thanks to a pair of early kills by junior Alma Arroyo. Arroyo finished with six kills to lead all players. The Explorers closed to gap to as close as four at 11-7, but the Niners kept the game out of reach.
Game two saw La Salle return the favor with a 7-1 lead to open up play. Charlotte responded with a 13-6 run, including four kills by freshman Kaitlin Knight, three Arroyo kills and a pair by senior outside hitter Jessica Oldenburg. Arroyo had eight kills in the second game to again pace all players.
The Explorers fought the entire way in the second game, with middle blocker Brittany Hanley keeping them alive. She and sophomore middle Amy McKeon each had three kills in the second game. The lead bounced back and forth in game two, as the game was tied seven times down the stretch. Charlotte managed two points in a row twice after a 24-all tie to outpace the Explorers going away.
Game three was mostly Niners as Charlotte opened 4-0 and kept mostly a two-point margin the entire way. Junior Cori Dayton pounded nine kills for the Niners in the final frame. Middle Christa Dominick led the way for La Salle, with five kills in game three.
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In game three with the Niners leading 17-16, Ramos fed Dayton on a kill for the school-record 1,544th assist for the season. She finished with 49 assists and a season total of 1,551 helpers with at least one tournament game left to play to extend the record. She bests Sandy Merkel's 1,543 assists from the 1992 season.
Dayton finished with her 20th double-double of the year, adding 11 digs with her 11 kills. Arroyo led the Niners' offensive charge with 17 kills, while senior Lynae Mulder added 13 kills in her final home match. Sophomore libero Carly Romberg had the match-high with 19 digs.
McKeon led the Explorers with eight kills. Senior setter Caitlin Conner managed 32 assists and senior libero Carolyn Judge had 14 digs.
Charlotte will play Friday night at 7:30 against Xavier in the opening round of the A-10 Tournament in Dayton, Ohio.
