NORFOLK, Va. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team rebounded from its first Sun Belt Conference match of the year on Friday night, to defeat the ODU Monarchs 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21) on Saturday afternoon in Norfolk, Va. The Chanticleers improved to 15-6 on the year and 7-1 in conference play with the road win, while Old Dominion fell to 8-11 overall and 3-3 in the Sun Belt with the loss.
 
Coastal Carolina was led by Ella Saada with 23 spikes, while Jasmine Rivest, Christina Nance, and Kendall Harris added 12, eight, and eight put downs, respectively. Setter Brigitta Petrenko finished with 40 assists and five service aces.
 
Defensively, Saada finished with eight digs and five blocks, while Nance and Nyla Shepherd finished with four blocks each. Defensive specialist Lina Perugini (14 digs) and outside hitter Paulina Perez Rosas (five digs) combined for 19 of the Chants' 38 digs.
 
In the opening set, the visitors from Conway found themselves in an early hole at 9-7 as both teams traded points to open the first set before the Chanticleers took control of the set at 12-9 with a 5-0 surge sparked by a kill by Saada and capped by Petrenko's second service ace.
 
The two teams traded the next eight points before a pair of kills highlighted a 4-0 burst that helped Coastal open a seven-point lead at 20-13. CCU outscored the home-standing Monarchs 5-3 down the stretch to earn the 25-16 opening set win on kills by Nance and Saada.
 
After taking a 1-0 match advantage, Coastal jumped out to an 11-8 lead on a pair of 3-0 runs, with both Saada and Petrenko recording two kills apiece. After a Chanticleer miscue gave ODU the serve, the Chants opened a seven-point advantage at 16-9, by way of a 5-0 burst sparked by a Nance spike and capped by another Petrenko service ace.
 
Both squads traded the next six points, before the Monarchs attempted to come from behind with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the CCU lead to two at 19-17. Despite ODU battling back into the set, Saada recorded four of the Chants' final six points to give CCU the 25-20 set-two victory.
 
With Coastal holding a 2-0 match advantage, the Monarchs doubled up the Chanticleers 10-5 early in the third set, before the home team increased its lead to 10 at 22-12 by outscoring CCU 12-7. Despite trailing by 10 points, Coastal Carolina attempted to come from behind with a 4-0 run, highlighted by Petrenko's fourth service ace. However, ODU claimed its lone set win at 25-16 with the final three points of the set.
 
In the fourth and final set, the Chanticleers raced out to the early 10-6 lead sparked by a Harris spike and capped by the final service ace for Petrenko. ODU fought back to trail by one at 11-10 with a 4-1 surge. With the home-standing Monarchs close, Coastal Carolina pushed its lead to 15-12, highlighted by put downs by Saada, Shepherd, and Rivest.
 
However, ODU pulled to within one at 16-15 before Coastal opened its lead back to four at 19-15 on a Saada spike and capped by a Nance kill. The Chants increased their lead to 21-16 as Agata Lesiak and Nance put down kills en route to the 25-21 fourth-set victory to claim the 3-1 match win.
 
Coastal Carolina will remain on the road and in the state of Virginia as the Chants will travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to take on newcomer James Madison on Oct. 20 and 21 with both matches to start at 6 p.m. ET.
 
For complete coverage of CCU women's 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.