Final Stats

Sept. 26, 2014

CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team lost its Big South opener on Friday night, falling in four sets to the Winthrop Eagles at The HTC Center.

The loss drops the Chanticleers to 10-4 overall, 0-1 in the Big South. Winthrop improves to 10-6 (1-0) on the season.

Each team hit .185 for the match, but Winthrop's play at the net proved to be the deciding factor as the Eagles posted 14 blocks to Coastal's four.

The Chants fell behind early, surrendering the first set 25-20. Winthrop maintained a slim lead for the majority of the set, eventually going ahead 21-13. The Chants attempted a comeback as Sam Skryd served Coastal to the next five points, but Winthrop closed out the set on a kill from Keaupono Fey.

Coastal dominated in the second set, outhitting Winthrop .500 to .125. The Chants used a five-point streak on the serve of Jenna Orner early on, and a 10-point streak on the serve of Skryd later in the set to finish off the game 25-13.

The third set saw even play on both sides of the net as the teams traded points for the entirety of the game, resulting in a 24-24 tie. A kill from Rachel Lenz and an attack error from Annayka Legros closed the game in Winthrop's favor, 26-24.

The fourth set was also close, with the teams playing to a 17-17 tie, before Winthrop went on a 5-1 run to gain a favorable lead. The Chants mounted a comeback, bringing the score within a point, but a setting error from Skryd gave the final point to Winthrop.

Coastal's Leah Hardeman led all players with a career-high 22 kills, the second match this season she had topped 20, and was one dig short of a double-double. Hardeman also had a match-high hitting percentage of .400.

Lian Bernett did record a double-double as the junior finished with 10 kills and 10 digs. Skryd finished with 48 assists while Orner tallied 16 digs.

Bernett, Legros and Katie Martin each recorded two blocks for Coastal.

The Chants have a quick turnaround as they host Presbyterian for a 1 pm match on Saturday inside The HTC Center.