WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team swept the Davidson Wildcats 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17) in its 2022 season opener at the UNCW Seahawk Volleyball Classic in Wilmington, N.C. Friday afternoon. With the win, the Chanticleers begin the season 1-0, while the Wildcats fall to 0-1 with the loss.
The win marks the sixth time in the 11 years of the
Jozsef Forman era that Coastal has won its opening contest and the first win over Davidson since September of 1992.
The trio of
Agata Lesiak,
Ella Saada, and
Paulina Perez Rosas led the offensive attack for the Chants, as Lesiak finished with a career-high 11 kills, followed by Saada and Perez Rosas with seven kills each. Saada led Coastal with four service aces on the night.
Lesiak posted a .370 hitting percentage with just one error over 27 total attacks, while adding a career-high three blocks and one service ace on the night. CCU finished with 31 assists with senior setter
Brigitta Petrenko finishing with 19 assists and three kills.
Defensively, the Chants'
Nyla Shepherd and
Christina Nance had six and four blocks, respectively, while senior libero
Lina Perugini finished with 10 digs.
Davidson jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the opening set before Coastal fought back to take a 22-13 lead and force the Wildcats to its first timeout of the night. After falling behind, CCU took control at 6-4 with a 5-0 run sparked by a kill from Saada and capped with a Davidson attack error. The two squads played even with the Wildcats pulling to within four at 16-12 before the Chants would go on a 6-1 run to force the timeout. Davidson answered with a pair of points out of the timeout to make it 22-15 before CCU would end the opening set at 25-16 on a Petrenko kill.
In set two, the Wildcats jumped out to a 3-1 advantage before the Chanticleers answered with an 8-1 run to go up 9-4 and forced Davidson to call a timeout. CCU's Saada sparked the run with a kill while Lesiak capped it with her lone service ace for the 11-4 Chanticleer advantage. Both teams traded points to make it 14-7 before Coastal opened a 10-point lead on a Petrenko kill and a pair of kills by Lesiak to force Davidson to call its final timeout of the set at 17-7. The Wildcats could get no closer than eight the rest of the way, as the Chants took the 2-0 match advantage on Perez Rosas's kill.
Like the previous two sets, Davidson took the early lead before Coastal would answer back to take over the set en route to the win. Unlike the previous two sets, the Wildcats evened the set up at 13-13 before the Chanticleers would go on a 12-4 run to end the match. With the score tied at 13-13, CCU opened a 17-13 advantage on kills by Shepherd, Lesiak, and Petrenko. Davidson and Coastal traded points until the Chants closed the match with a pair of blocks by Nance and Lesiak, and Nance and Saada.
Coastal Carolina volleyball will return to action on Saturday, Aug. 27, as the Chants will take on Virginia Tech (NOON ET) and host UNCW (6 p.m. ET) of the Seahawk Volleyball Classic in Wilmington, N.C.
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.
