ATLANTA, Ga. – Coastal Carolina completed a season-opening three-match sweep of Georgia State with a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-19) victory on Saturday.
In the opening set, Coastal (3-0, 3-0 SBC) won a battle of runs by both squads. Trailing 5-2 to open the match, the Chanticleers took their first lead of the first set with four unanswered points capped by a kill by
Ilse Sinnige. After Erin Wyatt tied the match at 6-6 with a kill for Georgia State (2-7, 1-6 SBC),
Jelena Prolic posted three kills during a 5-0 run by the Chants to open an 11-6 advantage. Coastal led 22-14 before a 4-0 Georgia State run closed the gap once again but the Chants responded with the final run of three points to close out the opener 25-18.
In the second set, Georgia State came out swinging to take a 13-6 lead before
Anett Nemeth led a 4-0 run with a pair of kills for the Chants to close the gap to 13-10. The Panthers' Leah Wilcox posted a kill to stop the run but Coastal used another run of four unanswered points to tie the set at 14-14 on a service ace by
Ani Bozdeva. With Georgia State holding a 20-19 lead, the Chants opened their largest advantage of the set at 22-20 on a Bozdeva kill. The Chants built a 24-22 lead but the Panthers fought off a pair of set points to tie the game at 24-24 on a service ace by Ryan Spicer-Gordon. Freshman
Madison Lowery blasted a kill to give the Chants another set point opportunity and Bozdeva finished off the Panthers with a service ace for the 26-24 win.
The Chanticleers came out on fire in the third set, building a 5-1 lead with a pair of kills by Bozdeva leading the way in the opening stretch. Coastal led the entire set as Georgia State pulled to within one point at 8-7 but could not overtake the Chants. Freshman
Blaire Fleming ended the match with a kill to win the final set 25-23.
Nemeth, the defending Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, led Coastal Carolina with 17 kills and four assisted blocks. Bozdeva had nine kills and two service aces while newcomer
Marija Borcic recorded 41 set assists.
Wyatt led Georgia State with eight kills while Wilcox and Clara Bednarek added six kills each.
The Chanticleers will travel to South Alabama for another Sun Belt three-match series beginning with a pair of games on Thursday, October 15, with matches set for noon ET and 7 p.m. ET. The final match of the series will be played at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, October 16.
For complete coverage of CCU volleyball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalVball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
