MURFREESBORO – First-year Chowan University volleyball coach Peter Green says it feels pretty good to be undefeated, even though there are more than 25 games remaining in the season.

The Lady Hawks opened defense of their own Janet Collins Invitational with a pair of wins, both sweeps: 25-9, 25-13, 25-17 over CIAA member St. Paul’s College, and 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 over Peace College in a pair of matches Friday evening at the Jesse Helms Center on campus.

It was also the first win for Chowan athletics in any sport for the 2008-09 season.

&uot;It feels great,&uot; said a smiling Green at the end of the night’s activities, &uot;but I tell the girls I just prepare you, but it’s you guys who do the dirty work.&uot;

It was down and dirty for the Lady Hawks in the first match against the Tigers as Chowan spread the scoring around.

San Antonio, Texas sophomore middleback Antoinette McCollough tallied a team high 10 kills while senior outside hitter Adrian Cook had eight kills to go with two aces.

Highly-touted freshman setter-hitter Desaray Turner was solid in her first collegiate match with seven kills, eight service aces and two solo blocks. Fellow freshman Melissa Hallam collected 14 assists while Turner turned in 12 assists on the night.

&uot;It was exciting and I was a little nervous at first,&uot; said Turner, a native of El Paso, Texas, &uot;but it (the first match) was a good thing to go through.

It’s a lot faster than high school.&uot;

The second match featured Peace College of Raleigh, considered the co-favorite along with the host team to take the title.

But it was another &uot;Texas Two-Step&uot; as McCollough tallied nine kills while Turner had nine kills and 12 assists with Melissa Hallum again doing a superb job as setter with 17 assists to lead the team in the match win.

In all Chowan tallied 39 kills as a team while holding Peace to a .214 hitting percentage and just 29 kills for the Pacers.

&uot;When we do it right,&uot; said a smiling McCollough afterward, &uot;we get up and over the net, we get blocks, and that really helps because the ball goes straight down with no return — and it looks good too.&uot;

The tournament concludes today with Chowan facing Roanoke (Va.) Bible College at 11 AM, followed by their final match of the day against Allen University of Columbia, SC at 2 PM.

&uot;We’re here to win it,&uot; said a confident Green nodding his head up and down. &uot;We’re here to win it.&uot;