Coastal Faces Creighton in NCAA First Round Friday
12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team will make its second consecutive -- and fifth overall -- NCAA Championship appearance on Friday as the Chanticleers face No. 16 Creighton at 4:30 p.m. in the University of North Carolina's Carmichael Arena.
All relevant links (including streams and live stats) for the subregional's first and second round matches can be found by following the Tournament Central link below. The Tournament Central page also includes ticket information, parking information and directions to UNC's campus.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | INTERACTIVE BRACKET
Coastal Carolina vs. No. 16 Creighton | Friday, Dec. 4 | 4:30 p.m.
Series: First Meeting
Arena: Carmichael Arena (UNC)
Live Stream: GoHeelsTV
Live Stats:
(Note: The free stream via GoHeelsTV WILL NOT PLAY on iOS devices such as iPhones or iPads. The stream can be seen on a computer or android device.)
Coastal Carolina vs. No. 16 Creighton / North Carolina / UNC Wilmington
The winner of Friday's match between Coastal Carolina and Creighton will face of the winner of the 6:30 p.m. match between the host Tar Heels and UNC Wilmington.
Friday's match marks the first ever meeting between the Chanticleers and Bluejays. Creighton is the second seeded opponent Coastal will face in the NCAA tournament. Coastal previously fell to No. 7 Nebraska in 2009.
Coastal Carolina is 0-2 all-time against North Carolina. The teams last met on Sept. 2, 2000, with UNC winning in straight sets.
Coastal Carolina is 22-22 all-time versus UNC Wilmington, including a 3-1 home win over the Seahawks earlier this season on Sept. 15.
Scouting No. 16 Creighton
Creighton, the 2015 BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion, is making its fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance. The Bluejays have been in the NCAA postseason five times total, all in the last six years.
Creighton has won 20 of its last 21 matches and owns a 25-8 overall record, including a 17-1 mark in conference play. Creighton's nonconference schedule featured five top-11 opponents, helping the Bluejuays finish the regular season with an RPI ranking of 15.
Creighton's attack is led by outside hitter Jaali Winters (4.04 kills per set), who was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Also helping on the outside is Jess Bird (2.79 kps) who was tabbed MVP of the conference's championship.
Other All-BIG EAST honorees for Creighton include middle blocker Lauren Smith (2.44 kps, 1.29 bps) and setter Maggie Baumert (10.75 aps).
Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Championship
Coastal is 0-4 all-time in NCAA postseason matches. The Chants' first appearance in the tournament came in 1996 when Coastal won a play-in match in straight sets against UT-Chattanooga to get into the tournament before being bounced in the first round by Georgia Tech. Coastal latest NCAA tournament appearance in 2014 resulted in a 3-0, first round loss to USC.
1996
UT-Chattanooga (Play-in): W, 3-0 (15-11, 15-9, 15-13)
Georgia Tech (First Round): L, 0-3 (13-15, 7-15, 8-15)
1998
Brigham Young (First Round): L, 0-3 (1-15, 7-15, 3-15)
2009
No. 7 Nebraska (First Round): L, 0-3 (13-25, 18-25, 15-25)
2014
USC (First Round): L, 0-3 (20-25, 19-25, 11-25)
Familiar Settings
For the second straight year the Chants will be playing their first round match in Carmichael Arena. In 2014, the Chants fell to USC in three sets in the first round of the Chapel Hill subregion.
The Streak
Coastal enters the NCAA tournament riding a program-best, 18-match winning streak that started Sept. 22 with a 3-1 win at South Carolina. Since then, the Chants have surrendered just five sets. The streak includes a nine-match stretch from Oct. 3 -- Nov. 6 when the Chants did not lose a set.
Dominating the Big South
In addition to defeating all 14 of its Big South regular season opponent and winning three conference tournament matches, Coastal finished at the top of the conference nearly every statistical category.
The Chants' attack led the league in hitting percentage (.289), assists (12.56/set) and kills (13.65/set), while the defense ranked first in opponent hitting percentage, kills, assists, aces, blocks and digs.
Coastal's .289 hitting percentage is eighth in the NCAA, and set a Big South single season record, as did the Chants' 13.65 kills per set.
