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Erel Bardah made sure the debut match with a new program would be memorable.
The middle attacker transfer from Lees-McRae had a match-high six blocks as Charleston swept first-year program Catawba 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 on Tuesday in Charleston, West Virginia.
Bardah in the opening game delivered the game-winning block. The middle attacker also had back-to-back blocks during a 5-1 run early in the third game to help complete the sweep.
Along with the defensive performance, Bardah had five kills and zero errors on a match-best .833 attack percentage.
Setter Paul Stommel in the season-opening victory guided the Charleston offense to out-hit Catawba .352 to .050.
Freshman opposite Xander Bomert led all players with 11 kills. Outside attacker Felipe Mendes added seven kills on a .364 attack percentage, while outside attacker Joonatan Salpakari had eight kills and hit .333 against Catawba.
Catawba in its program’s inaugural match was limited to a negative-.042 attack percentage in the opening game and did not hit more than .125 in any game.
Outside attacker Eli Zdonek in the loss had a team-high six kills.
This sweep also was the first career win for coach Robert Poole. Poole was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in the offseason after former head coach Luke Reynolds departed the school.