FOLEY, Ala. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team hit .382 overall as a team and posted a 63.1 side-out percentage to earn a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-20, 25-20) over No. 3 (West) Louisiana in the quarterfinals round of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament on Friday night in Foley, Ala.
 
The win sends the Chants to the semifinals of the postseason conference tournament for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in six years.
 
With the win, the Chants improved to 19-8 overall, while the Ragin' Cajuns season comes to an end at 15-11.
 
With the sweep, the Chants improved to 10-4 on the season in three-set matches.
 
Leading the way for the Chants on the offensive attack was the All-Sun Belt trio of Cheyenne Jones with 11 kills, no errors, and a .611 attack percentage, Doris Carter with 10 kills and a .318 attack percentage, and Ani Bozdeva with nine kills and a service ace.
 
Jones, the 2021 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year, recorded her 1,000th-collegiate career, joining both Carter and Bozdeva in reaching the career milestone this year.
 
The 6-2 offense was once again set up by the setters Brigitta Petrenko and Marija Borcic, who combined for 36 set assists on the night, 24 from Petrenko, and 12 by Borcic.
 
Petrenko also led the Chants with eight digs, one ahead of libero Lina Perugini with seven digs as the Ragin' Cajuns hit away from the third-year defensive specialist for most of the match.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns were led by Coco Gillett and her match-high 14 kills and 15.0 points, while Kelsey Bennett just missed a double-double with eight kills and nine digs.
 
The LA setter combo of Siena DeCambra and Reka Kotorman tallied 16 and 15 assists apiece, respectively, while both Kara Barnes and Chinelo Ogogor each had three block assists.
 
Both teams came out of the opening serve on fire, as Coastal hit .368 over the first set with 17 kills and just three attack errors, besting Louisiana's .324 attack percentage and 14 kills to just three errors.
 
The start of the first set saw the Ragin' Cajuns take a 2-1 lead while the Chanticleers stayed in the set, tying the game up three times at 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6, before a 3-0 spurt by the women in red pushed Louisiana in front by three at 9-6 on a Cami Hicks' spike.
 
However, back-to-back kills from Jasmine Rivest jump-started a 5-0 run by the Chants, who battled back to take the lead at 11-9 on a Madison Lowery service ace and a Louisiana attack error.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns answered with another 3-0 run to pull back out in front by one at 12-11, yet saw the Chants post two straight kills from Rivest and Bozdeva to retake the lead at 13-12.
 
For every Louisiana point, Coastal had an answer over the next six rallies to stay on top of the Ragin' Cajuns until a third 3-0 run by the team from the West Division put them back on top by one at 18-17.
 
After CCU tied the set up at 18-18 and again at 19-19, Louisiana was the first team to reach 20, taking a 21-19 lead to force a Coastal timeout.
 
The Chants responded out of the break with another Rivest spike and a Petrenko service ace to again tie the match up, this time at 21-21.
 
Following a Louisiana kill, CCU went to the experienced duo of Bozdeva and Jones, picking up a kill from Bozdeva, then a service ace from the super senior, and a spike from Jones to give the Chants their largest lead of the set at 24-22.
 
Louisiana fought off two-straight match points to tie the score up at 24-24 before kills from Carter and Jones gave the Chants the 26-24 first-set win.
 
Coastal carried over the momentum from the opening-set victory by hitting a stellar .455 with 17 kills and just two mishaps.
 
The Chants opened the second set by running out to a 7-2 lead on an Ilse Sinnige service ace to force an early Louisiana timeout.
 
The Chants added three more points to make it an 8-0 run before a kill by Louisiana's Emery Judkins ended the run, as the Ragin' Cajuns scored 10 of the next 14 points to trim the CCU lead to two at 14-12.
 
Despite two kills and a solo block from Jones, the Cajuns were able to chip away at the Chants' lead, coming back to tie the set up at 17-17, 18-18, 19-19, and again at 20-20.
 
The Chants refused to roll over and play dead, as the women in Teal and Bronze closed out the set with five-straight points, highlighted by three kills from Sinnige and one spike from Jones to pull away for the 25-20 second-set win.
 
Up 2-0 in the match, the Chants again hit over .300 as a team and used a hot start, taking a 7-2 lead to start the third set on kills from Bozdeva, Carter, and Sinnige.
 
CCU never looked back, as Coastal was able to extend its lead to 15-8 with a 4-2 run to force a second Louisiana timeout.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns strung together five-straight points and used a 9-3 advantage to cut the Coastal lead to one at 18-17 before a called timeout by the Chants and three-straight Louisiana miscues pushed the No. 2 seeded Chanticleers back in front by four at 21-17.
 
In a last-chance effort, Louisiana posted back-to-back points to close the gap to two at 21-19, only to see the Chanticleers score four of the final five points of the set to post a 25-20 third-set win and secure the 3-0 match sweep.
 
Coastal Carolina will take on the winner of No. 1 (West) Texas State and No. 4 (East) Troy tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET in Foley, Ala. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+, while live stats will be available on the Sun Belt Volleyball Championship Tournament Central page.

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.