CONWAY, S.C. -- Coastal Carolina's volleyball team was swept by Delaware in the final match of The Caravelle Invitational Resort Saturday, Sept. 15 at Kimbel Arena. Game scores were 29-31, 20-30, 26-30.

Late in the first game, Coastal tallied five consecutive points to cut Delaware's 28-22 lead down down to one. The Fightin' Blue Hens gained a two-point lead off an Amanda Russell (Liberty, Ind./Union County) service error, but back-to-back kills by freshmen Chelsy Kimes (Munster, Ind./Munster) and Megan Bickford (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) evened the score at 29.  However, Delaware got the two kills it needed for the win.

While Delaware controlled much of game two, the two teams battled for control of game three with 15 ties, including one at 24-all off a kill by sophomore Jill Nyhof (Alpharetta, Ga./Northview). That would be as close as the Lady Chanticleers could get as Delaware used a pair of two-point runs to put the match away.

Nyhof and Bickford each tallied a team-high 11 kills and hit .417 and .364, respectively. Junior Brett Starbuck (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) had 22 digs.

Bickford and Starbuck were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Bickford hit .532 on the weekend with 38 kills off 62 total attacks. She also led Coastal with seven block assists. Meanwhile, Starbuck totaled 71 digs and had four kills from the back line. Out of Starbuck's kills, three came against Gardner-Webb.

Coastal returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 18 when the Lady Chanticleers host South Carolina State at Kimbel Arena. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Caravelle Resort Invitational All-Tournament Team
Megan Welch, Delaware (MVP)
Stephanie Barry, Delaware
Katie Dennehy, Delaware
Megan Bickford, Coastal Carolina
Brett Starbuck, Coastal Carolina
Katie Matykowski, Gardner-Webb