STATESBORO, Ga. - The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers came from a set down on Friday night against the Georgia Southern Eagles (9-4, 0-1 SBC) to earn a 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18) victory to remain in a tie of first-place of the Sun Belt East Division.
Graduate transfer Doris Carter's second double-double of the season improved the Chanticleers to 5-0 in four-set matches on the season. The Lexington, Ky. native tallied 16 kills and 10 digs in the win.
Junior setter Brigitta Petrenko posted her second consecutive match of 30 plus assists as she notched 37, putting her mark at 2,062, five shy of Sam Skyrd's 2,067 for eighth all-time in school history. Petrenko continued to show why she's one of the conference's best servers as she had a match-high five aces.
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, forcing the Chanticleers to call a timeout. During the run, GS hit .714 compared to Coastal's .117. The Chanticleers came out of the timeout on a run that saw them take the lead at 19-18. Cheyenne Jones sparked the run with six kills, but the Eagles regained control to earn the set one win, 26-24, behind Hannah McClockton's set-high seven kills
The two teams traded points throughout much of the second set, with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two points. With the score in favor of GS, 20-18, the Chanticleers soared from behind, but this time they never relinquished the lead, winning seven of the last eight points with the aid of back-to-back kills from Ani Bozdeva and a service ace from Petrenko to win 25-21. Carter caught fire in the second set with six of her team-high 16 kills. Though the Chants hit just .194 in the set, they held the Eagles to a .400 hitting percentage with four team blocks. No Georgia Southern hitter could muster more than two kills in the second set.
The Chanticleers rolled in the final two sets, allowing the Eagles to take the lead just two times. In set three, the Hungary native Petrenko got offensive with a team-high four kills en route to the 25-15 victory. Carter led the teal and bronze to the fourth-set 25-18 win with her final five kills in the Chants' victory.
Bozdeva picked up her ninth double-digit kills match of the season, racking up a 12. Graduate transfer Jones added 10 kills in the victory, the fourth time she has accomplished at least 10 putaways this season.
Sophomore Madison Lowery led the Chanticleer core of blockers with a career-high five roofs in the four-set win. Along with the Paradise, Texas native, the Chanticleers held the Eagles to a .206 hitting percentage.
Chants' libero Lina Perugini produced a 20-dig performance in the four-set win, the sixth time she has accomplished that feat this season.
Chamblee Russell led the Eagles with a match-high 17 kills, while teammate Grace Slader had 37 kills in the loss.
Coastal Carolina will look to remain perfect in Sun Belt play on Saturday night as they travel to Georgia State. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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