ATLANTA, Ga. – Coastal Carolina volleyball capped off its first day of play in the 2020 season with a 3-1 win (25-12, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21) in the second match of the day versus the Georgia State Panthers in Atlanta, Ga. The Chanticleers won the first match of the day 3-0.

Upperclassmen Ani Bozdeva and Anett Nemeth led the way for the Chants offensively with a team-high 13 kills and two aces apiece, while sophomore setter Brigitta Petrenko passed out 40 set assists. Jelena Prolic added nine kills, while Lina Perugini tallied a team-high 17 digs in the win.

Georgia State also had two players with double-digit kills with Clara Bednarek and Meisheia Griffin finishing with 15 and 10 kills apiece, respectively. Setter Jordan Shoemaker tallied 34 set assists while defensive specialist Ava Vlkovic recorded a team-high 15 digs in the loss.

The difference was at the service line, as the Chants totaled 10 service aces compared to just three by the Panthers.

In the first set of the second match of the day, the Chants ran out to a 3-0 lead on a Petrenko service ace only to see Georgia State run off three-straight points of its own to tie the opening frame up at 3-3 early.

The home-standing Panthers would cut the Coastal lead to one at 7-6 on a CCU attack error before the Chanticleers ran off seven-straight points and did not look back pushing their lead out to as much as 13 points in the 25-12 opening set win which was capped off by a Nemeth ace.

Coastal hit .455 with 12 kills and just two attack errors and also served up four service aces in the first set win.

However, the second set saw the Panthers take the early lead and momentum, as Georgia State took a 4-1 lead with the help of a CCU attack error and refused to relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set.

A kill by Prolic put the Chants within one at 4-3 only to see the Panthers score nine of the next 11 points to pounce out to a 13-5 lead on a solo block by Griffin.

The Chants stormed back to close the gap to one at 21-20 on a 15-8 run, capped off by a kill from Bozdeva, a GSU error, and another kill by Prolic, only to see Georgia State score four of the next six points to hold on for the 25-22 second set win to tie the match up at 1-1.

CCU hit just .129 in the second set, totaling just 11 kills compared to seven attack errors and one ball-handling error while Georgia State bounced back from hitting .125 in the first set to posting a .231 attack percentage in the second set win.

After suffering their first set loss of 2020, the Chanticleers stormed out to a 5-0 run in the third set by way of a Bozdeva block and kill, back-to-back kills from Christina Nance, and a GSU attack error.

Coastal took its largest lead of the set at 12-5 on an Ilse Sinnige service ace, however, Georgia State refused to go away and clawed its way back to within three at 13-10 on a 5-1 spurt.

Back-to-back points by the visiting Chants, including a service ace by Bozdeva, put Coastal in front by five at 15-10 and forced a GSU timeout.

The two teams would trade runs and points over the next several rallies, but the Chants refused to give way to the Panthers and closed the set out with five-straight points in the 25-17 win.

The Chants returned to form with 10 kills and a .280 hitting percentage, as well as four more service aces in the third frame while holding the Panthers to a .143 attack percentage and forced six attack errors on their 28 attempts.

The fourth set was tight from the start, as there were seven ties and two lead changes over the first 20 rallies which saw the two teams knotted up at 10-10 on a Panthers' block.

The two teams would then trade the next 10 points before a kill by Nemeth gave the Chants their first lead since 10-9 at 16-15. However, Georgia State answered back to tie the match back up at 16-16 on a kill by Bednarek.

Coastal answered with three-straight points on back-to-back kills by Madison Lowery and Blaire Fleming followed by another ace from Bozdeva to pull out in front by three at 19-16 and force a GSU timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Chants ran off three more points to take its largest lead of the set at 22-16 and forced another GSU timeout. The Panthers responded with back-to-back points and scored five of the next seven points to cut the CCU lead to three at 24-21.

However, Coastal's Fleming ended the set and match with a kill to give the visitors the 25-21 set win and the 3-1 match victory.

The Chants outhit the Panthers .233 to .167 and totaled 17 kills to the Panthers' 11 in the fourth set to pull away late for the win.

The Chanticleers (2-0, 2-0 Sun Belt) and Georgia State (2-7, 1-6 Sun Belt) will wrap up the three-match conference series with the third and final match between the two teams tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.

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.