CONWAY, S.C. – Chanticleer head coach Jozsef Forman earned his 250th career win on Friday night as the Coastal Carolina volleyball team improved to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play with a straight-sets victory over the Little Rock Trojans (9-4, 0-1 SBC) at 25-23, 31-29, 25-17.
Friday's Sun Belt opener between the Chants and Trojans featured 30 ties and 14 lead changes.
Super senior Ani Bozdeva and graduate transfer Doris Carter led Coastal past LR with 14 kills apiece in the straight-sets win.
At the media timeout in the first set, CCU trailed the Trojans by the score of 15-13. However, the teal and bronze won 10-of-17 points after the timeout, forcing five errors on the opposition and tying the score at 23-23. A turning point occurred late in the first set when a Carter error gave LR the 24-23 lead and momentarily set point. Coastal Carolina challenged the call, and subsequently, the point was overturned in favor of CCU. Carter left no doubt on set point when she collected her fourth kill to propel the Chants to the 25-23 opening-set victory.
In set two, the Chanticleers took a 14-7 lead on Little Rock, but the Trojans were able to battle back to tie the match and then take a 21-20 lead. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the late stages of the set, with each team having multiple chances to earn the win. Both teams hit below .200 in the set, but CCU held the advantage at .196 to .061. Carter and Bozdeva totaled 28 attempts for 10 kills, helping CCU pull out at the 31-29 set win. Nejra Hanic and Laure Jansen combined for 11 kills on 27 attempts for the Trojans. LR had two chances to escape with the victory in set two while the Chanticleers took advantage of their third and final.
CCU won the attrition battle as five players registered at least two kills apiece in the third set 25-17 win. As a team, the Chants hit a match-best .389, as Carter led CCU in the final set with five kills and no errors on 10 attempts.
The setter combination of Brigitta Petrenko and Marija Borcic navigated the Chanticleer offense in the win with 19 and 16 assists, respectively.
Carter earned her first double-double of the season with 11 digs to go along with her 14 kills. Borcic also tallied her first double-double of the season with 10 digs to go along with her 16 assists.
The Chanticleers recorded eight total blocks in the win while holding LR to a hitting percentage of .058.
CCU libero Lina Perugini added her ninth double-digit dig match of the season, matching the team-high on the night with 11.
Laura Jannsen paced Little Rock with 11 kills and 10 digs, while Laure Jannsen had a match-high of 22 digs.
The Chants will continue Sun Belt play on Sunday afternoon when they take on Arkansas State at noon ET at the HTC Center.
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.
