CONWAY – Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State alternated the first four sets of Sunday's volleyball match at the HTC Center, but it was ultimately the Mountaineers that came out on top after rallying from a deficit late in the fifth and deciding set.
The loss was Coastal's second of the weekend to App State, and leaves the Chanticleers in second place in the Sun Belt East Division with a 6-11, 5-4 record. The Mountaineers improved to 15-7, 7-3 to remain in first place in the division.
Coastal out-performed App in nearly every statistical category, holding advantages in kills (64-59), hitting percentage (.236 - .165), assists (62-56), digs (94-83) and blocks (9-6). The Mountaineers still came away with the victory, however, relying on the same duo of Emma Longley and Kara Spicer that helped carry App past Coastal in Friday's match.
Longley had 18 kills while Spicer landed 12. Victoria Wilform added 13 kills while hitting .250. Becky Porter had a match-high of 49 assists.
Coastal was led by the triple-double of
Anett Nemeth, her second of the season. The freshman had 19 kills, 11 assists and 14 digs, and added four blocks and an ace to total 23 points.
Kyla Manning recorded 20 of Coastal's 64 kills while hitting .255, and
Ani Bozdeva put down 13 shots.
Sydney Alvis led all players in digs with 28.
The match included 27 ties and 13 lead changes, and only the second set was decided by more than five points.
Coastal led 20-15 in the opening set before App went on a tear, using a 10-1 run to overtake the Chants and take the first lead of the match.
The Chants responded in a big way in the second set, hitting .257 and receiving six kills from Manning as Coastal won the game by the day's largest margin.
App and Coastal alternated 25-20 wins in the third and fourth sets, respectively. App used a 6-2 run midway through the third frame to pull ahead for a lead that would not be overcome. A Nemeth kill in the fourth set broke a 14-14 tie and the Chants remained ahead for the rest of the game.
Coastal led in the early portion of the deciding set, and held an 8-5 advantage when the teams traded benches midway through. App rallied to tie the set on three occasions, the final coming at a 14-14 deadlock. Longley and Melissa McMatch provided consecutive kills for the Mountaineers to finish the set give the visitors the win.
Coastal takes a quick trip to Georgia Southern on Tuesday to play its final match that was postponed during Hurricane Florence. Following the 5:00 p.m. midweek match, the Chants return to the HTC Center to host Troy (Oct. 26) and South Alabama (Oct. 28).
