SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the first time this season, and the first time since 2019, the Coastal Carolina volleyball team (14-5, 8-1 SBC) suffered a regular-season Sun Belt Conference loss, falling at the Sun Belt West Division-leading Texas State (11-11, 7-2 SBC) in straight-sets at 3-0 (22-25, 12-25, 19-25) on Friday night in San Marcos, Texas.
 
The loss snaps CCU's winning streak at eight straight wins and their regular-season conference match winning streak at 28-straight matches. Prior to Friday night, the Chanticleers' last loss in a regular-season conference match was versus Troy on Nov. 2, 2019.
 
Outside hitter Cheyenne Jones led the Chanticleers' offensive attack again on Friday night, as the graduate transfer had a team-high eight kills on a .211 hitting percentage. Fellow upperclassmen Ani Bozdeva and Jelena Prolic finished with six kills each, as Bozdeva hit a .333 over two sets and Prolic added a block in the loss.
 
Playing a 5-1 system due to the absence of setter Marija Borcic due to an illness, junior setter Brigitta Petrenko tallied 25 set assists to go along with her five kills, six digs, and two service aces, while defensively libero Lina Perugini registered a match-high 14 digs and middle blocker Madison Lowery led the way for CCU with two total blocks.
 
The Bobcats had two players with double-digit kills on the night in Tessa Marshall and Jada Gardner with 11 and 10 spikes, respectively, as the home team hit .295 as a team for the three-set match.
 
Setter Emily DeWalt set the offense with 31 assists, while both Kayla Granado and Janell Gardner finished with double-digit digs with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
The first set proved to be the tightest of the three, as it saw six ties and three lead changes to start the night.
 
Coastal scored first on a kill by Petrenko and then took a 5-4 lead on a 3-0 run, which included a Jones' kill, a Lowery service ace, and a spike by Ilse Sinnige. However, back-to-back points by the Bobcats forced another lead change as neither team could separate itself from the other, putting the score at 12-11 in favor of the home team.
 
The next eight rallies would see Texas State score two points to every one of the Chants, as back-to-back kills from the Bobcats' Tyeranne Scott and Gardner forced a CCU timeout with the score at 18-13.
 
A 4-0 spurt by the Chants out of the timeout, which consisted of two kills from Petrenko, a spike by Sinnige, and a Texas State attack error, cut the Bobcats' lead to one at 18-17.
 
Coastal would get as close as one at 20-19 on a Bobcats' service error and 21-20 on a Lowery kill, yet couldn't manage to retake the lead as Texas State held on down the stretch to take the first set 25-22.
 
The second set started out much like the first, as the game saw two lead changes and four ties until a 6-1 run by the home team pushed the Bobcats out in front at 10-5 on a service ace from Ryann Torres.
 
Following a service error to put the Chants within four at 10-6, the Bobcats took advantage of back-to-back attack errors by CCU and then strung together five straight points on four consecutive kills and a Marshall block to run out to an 18-6 lead.
 
Refusing to quit, CCU picked up a kill from Lowery to end the Bobcats' run but was able to pick up just five more points for the remainder of the set as Texas State ran away with the 25-12 second-set win.
 
Coastal hit .351 in the first set as a team but struggled on the attack in the second set hitting -.067 and couldn't find its offensive rhythm in the frame.
 
Looking to bounce back and force a fourth set, the Chanticleers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set on a Texas State service error, a kill from Jones, and two consecutive service aces from Petrenko.
 
A kill from Bozdeva and a Texas State attack error kept the Chants in front by two at 6-4 before two straight putaways by Buettner and Gardner tied the third frame up at 6-6.
 
A block by Nyla Shepherd and Petrenko, a kill by Bozdeva, a spike from Lowery, and a Bobcat attack error answered every Texas State point to put the visitors in front by two at 12-10 midway through the third set.
 
Texas State tied the set up at 12-12 and again at 13-13, only to see the Chants have an answer each time with a kill from Jasmine Rivest and back-to-back spikes from Jones and Bozdeva to push the CCU lead to two at 15-13.
 
However, a 7-0 run by the Bobcats highlighted by three kills from Gardner and aided by two attack errors from the Chants allowed the home team to take its first lead of the set and pull out in front by five at 20-15.
 
Coastal would earn three of the next four points to get to within three at 21-18, yet it was too little too late as the Bobcats closed the set out on a 4-1 run to pick up the 25-19 set win and finish the 3-0 match victory.
 
For the match, the Chanticleers hit .113 as a team but was undone by a total of 22 attack errors, while the Bobcats hit. 295 overall and had just 12 attack errors overall.
 
Texas State also held the advantage at 5-3 in service aces, as CCU had six service errors, and 5.0 to 3.0 in total team blocks at the net.
 
The Chanticleers will continue their four-match Sun Belt Conference road trip tomorrow, as CCU will turn around to face off with UT Arlington on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. ET. The match will be video streamed live on ESPN+.

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