CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team served the Georgia Southern Eagles its first Sun Belt Conference loss on the season with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 21-25, 25-22) four-set win Friday night in Conway, S.C. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 13-5 on the season and remain unblemished at 5-0 in SBC action, while with the loss, the Eagles fell to 10-5 overall and dropped to 2-1 in the conference.
 
Coastal's super seniors Ella Saada and  Paulina Perez Rosas led the offensive attack with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while the Chants as a team totaled 12 service aces, with senior Lina Perugini leading the way with four aces. The quartet of Saada, Perez Rosas, Agata Lesiak, and Brigitta Petrenko each finished with two service aces apiece, while Petrenko with her second service ace of the match moved into a tie with former Chanticleer Jennifer Hampton for the all-time lead in career service aces with 181.
 
Petrenko finished the night with 30 assists and four kills to go with her pair of service aces, with Lesiak totaling seven spikes on the night.
 
Defensively, CCU as a team finished with 11 blocks, with Christina Nance and Lesiak combining for 10 total blocks. Petrenko and Perugini led the team with 15 and 14 digs, respectively.
 
In the opening set, the visiting Eagles jumped out to the early 3-0 advantage behind the serve of Emily Jarome before Coastal rebounded with a three-point burst to even the set at 3-3 highlighted by the first service ace from Petrenko. The Chants began to take control of the opening set with five unanswered points to go in front at 9-6 on a pair of Perez Rosas spikes and Perugini's first service ace.
 
With both teams trading points, Coastal mimicked each of the Eagles' points with one of its own until the Chanticleers opened a four-point gap at 16-12 with a second Perugini ace. CCU opened a 20-15 lead just before taking its largest lead of the set at 23-17 on spikes by Saada and Perez Rosas. The Chants earned the 25-20 first-set win as Perez Rosas put down her sixth kill of the match.
 
Holding a 1-0 set advantage, Coastal raced out to a 7-3 lead with a pair of 3-0 spurts highlighted by a pair of kills by Saada and the third and fourth service aces by Perugini. With back-to-back kills by Georgia Southern, the Eagles closed to within two at 7-5 but could not get any closer as Coastal opened a six-point advantage sparked by a Saada spike.
 
After a 3-0 burst cut the Chanticleers' lead to 11-8, CCU outscored the visitors 8-3 to open an eight-point lead at 19-11 led by a put down by Nyla Shepherd and capped off by a GS miscue. The Chanticleers claimed a 2-0 match advantage with the 25-14 second-set win by scoring two points for every one that Georgia Southern scored, including a 3-0 surge to end the set.
 
With Coastal looking to close out the match, the Chants and Eagles battled evenly with CCU taking a two-point lead at 11-9 on a Petrenko spike and a GS mistake. Georgia Southern surged to a three-point lead at 14-11 with a 5-0 run, only to see Coastal fight back to even the match at 17-17 with four unanswered points highlighted by a pair of kills by Lesiak.
 
CCU regained the slim lead at 20-19 just before the Eagles outscored the home-standing Chants 6-1 to cut the host team's match lead in half at 2-1 with a 25-21 set-four win.
 
With the 2-1 match lead, Coastal jumped out to a 4-2 lead with an ace by Perez Rosas and a pair of errors by the Eagles. Georgia Southern answered with a 5-1 burst to go up by two at 7-5. The Chanticleers rebounded with a 3-0 surge by way of a trio of mistakes by the visitors for an 8-7 advantage.
 
After trading points, Coastal asserted its strength with four unanswered points to take an 18-13 lead. However, the visitors from Statesboro, Ga., battled back to trail by just one point at 21-20.  After trading a pair of points with the Eagles, the Chants' Saada put down the final kill to give CCU the 25-22 set win and pick up the 3-1 win.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to the court on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m. ET as the Chanticleers will meet Georgia Southern for the second time in as many days in Conway, S.C. CCU's match on Saturday will be the Dig Pink fundraiser in partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS will be on campus collecting donations during the match, with all proceeds benefiting the research and treatment of women's breast cancer.
 
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.