CHARLESTON, S.C.-- A gallant effort was not quite enough as the Charleston Southern University volleyball team failed in their bid to upset the top team in the Big South Conference, Coastal Carolina. Coastal escaped with close wins in the first two games, 30-27 and 31-29, before taking care of business with a 30-22 win in game three to improve to 16-6 overall and 7-1 in the Big South Conference.

CSU fell to 1-7 in the conference, 4-19 overall but not without a fight. After falling behind early in game one, the Lady Bucs rallied to tie the game at 15. CSU actually took a 22-19 lead before Coastal Carolina put together a 5-0 run to grab control.

Game two was equally as tight with CSU holding several two and three point leads. Coastal moved ahead at 28-25 and led 29-26 before CSU held off three game points to tie the match at 29. Coastal won the next two points for the victory.

In game three, Coastal opened up a quick 6-1 lead and led 10-4 before CSU rallied to close the gap to within two and 12-10. Coastal, however, put the game and match away by scoring eight of the next 12 points and coasting to victory.

Leading Coastal Carolina's effort were Kelly Knutson and Jeanne Lambert. Knutson led the charge with 21 kills in only 36 attempts, while Lambert added 18 kills in 38 attempts. Jennifer Hampton had 49 assists and Rebekah Shipman added 15 digs.

CSU was led by a pair of freshmen hitters, Victoria Owens (13 kills) and Allyn Beam (12 kills). Freshman Katie O'Riordan had 29 assists for the Lady Buccaneers. Rachel DeAngelo had a solid defensive game with 20 digs.

CCU returns to action on Saturday at Birmingham Southern at 2 p.m.