Oct. 1, 2011

Final Stats

CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team attained their first Big South Conference win on Saturday at home beating High Point University by a score of 3-0. The Chanticleers improved to 7-12 overall and to 1-3 in conference action with the victory.

Coastal jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set with three of those points coming on errors by the Panthers. High Point was able to recover and pull within two points of the Chanticleers following an attack error by Coastal Carolina, which put the score at 8-6. Coastal Carolina scored the next three points to extend their lead back to five points. The Panthers were able to come within two points of the Chanticleers one additional time, but High Point was unable to get any closer as Coastal Carolina took the first set 25-22 on a kill by freshman Lian Bernett.

High Point carried the momentum during the first part of the second set, as they were able to build up a 14-9 lead. The Chanticleers fought their way back into the set by making small runs and tying the match following a 5-1 run to put the score at 19-19. Coastal Carolina committed an error on the ensuing point to put High Point back in the lead, but the Chanticleers were able to tie the set again at 21-21 following a kill by Bernett. The match would see three more ties before the Chanticleers took the set 26-24 on kills by sophomore Sam Skryd and senior Erika Lightsey.

The third set remained close until Coastal Carolina went on a 9-1 run to put the score at 19-11. Coastal Carolina held off the Panthers, not letting them make a run as they went on to take the set 25-14.

"We are exhilarated to have earned this win. We just haven't been playing to our potential. We see things in practice and then we step on the game court and we aren't performing. This afternoon we finally had a good showing. We had a lot of people contribute in different ways. Even though our block category doesn't show it we had a lot of good touches off of our blocks, which allowed our defense to set up our offense," said head coach Kristen Bauer.

"I thought Lian Bernett played outstanding and I thought Erika Lightseywas on fire. When you have a combination of defense and offense like we did tonight then things just fall into place," Bauer said.

Bernett finished the match with 13 kills and 10 digs to lead the Chanticleers. Sophomore Kindra Bailey and Skryd each had a block for Coastal Carolina, while Skryd also tallied 28 assists in the match. Freshman Katie Martinposted two service aces on the afternoon.

Courtney Johnk led the Panthers with 10 digs, while also recording two blocks and two service aces. Michelle Chakirelis also posted two blocks and Chelsea Davis had two service aces. Molly Barlow grabbed 10 digs, as Lauren Bell finished with 25 assists.

Coastal Carolina will return to action on Friday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m. when they play host to Charleston Southern in their fourth straight home match.