CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team defeated the College of Charleston 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) Tuesday evening in Conway, S.C. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 7-3 overall, while the Cougars dropped to 3-7 on the season with the loss.
 
Coastal's offensive attack was led by Paulina Perez Rosas (11 kills), Jasmine Rivest (8 kills), and Alicia Salgado (7 kills) as the trio combined for 26 of the Chants' 56 kills on the night, while Brigitta Petrenko tallied 36 of the team's 51 assists. Petrenko and Lina Perugini both finished with a team-high two service aces to aid the offense.
 
Defensively, Rebeka Fucka (5 blocks), Nyla Shepherd (4 blocks), and Perez Rosas (4 blocks) combined to tally the Chants' 13 blocks, while the reigning SBC Defensive Player of the Week Perugini totaled 23 digs.
 
In the opening set, the visitors from Charleston and the home standing Chanticleers played even, trading points with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until late in the set. CCU would post a 6-1 run to take a four-point lead at 23-19 sparked by three consecutive spikes by Kendall Harris.
 
The Cougars outscored the Chants 3-1 to pull within a pair of points before CCU's Fucka claimed set one for the Chants at 25-22 with her set-ending kill.
 
College of Charleston jumped out to a 10-2 lead in set two, with a pair of 5-0 runs as two Cougar mistakes put Coastal on the scoreboard. The two teams traded points before the Chants fought back from a 10-point deficit at 16-6 to pull within four points. Coastal Carolina used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 16-12 as another Harris spike jump-started the run and was highlighted by five-consecutive points coming off Petrenko's serve. CCU's Fucka and Salgado totaled three kills while a Petrenko service ace and a CofC miscue capped the run.
 
The Cougars pushed the lead to seven at 20-13 with a 4-1 spurt, with the lone Chanticleer point coming from a Salgado kill. Refusing to go away, Coastal used a 9-2 advantage to battle back and even the match up 22-22 on a Perez Rosas spike. However, CofC ended the set with a 3-1 edge and calimed the second set at 25-23 to even the match at one set each.
 
The Chants staked claim to the third set with the first two points before the visitors battled back to go up by one at 4-3. Coastal Carolina used a 4-0 run highlighted by a pair of Rivest kills and a Perugini service ace to come from behind for the three-point advantage at 7-4. The Cougars answered with a 3-0 run to even the match at 7-7 before CCU jumped to a six-point lead with a 9-3 run. Rivest sparked the rally with a monster spike followed by a Jexsamarie Perez service ace to sandwich a CofC point. The visiting Cougars then made four-consecutive errors to put the home team up by five at 13-8.
 
Coastal's Lauren Malone put down one of her six kills followed by Malone teaming up with Fucka for the block assist to give the Chants a 15-9 lead. College of Charleston fought back to trail by two at 17-15 with a 5-1 run with three kills and a Cougar service ace, only to see the Chanticleers score eight of the next nine points to come away with the 25-16 set win.
 
In the fourth and final set, both teams played even, just like in set one, with neither team going up by more than a pair of points before Coastal pushed out to a three-point advantage on a spike and service ace by Perez Rosas for the 15-12 lead. The Chanticleers took a 17-13 advantage on back-to-back kills by Malone and Petrenko before the Cougars answered with a pair of points to cut the Coastal lead to 17-15.
 
CCU's Malone started a 5-0 run with a pair of spikes, while Petrenko got her 17th service ace of the season, before Fucka capped it with her fourth kill of the night for the 22-15 lead. College of Charleston answered with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the advantage to two at 22-20. The Chants claimed the 3-1 match win as the two teams traded points, while Perez Rosas closed out the scoring with her final kill of the night for the 25-22 set win.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Sept. 16 as the Chanticleers will compete in the Penn State Classic in University Park, Pa. The opening day Coastal will battle Howard (11 a.m. ET) and UAlbany (3 p.m. ET) before closing out the weekend on Sept. 17 against the host Penn State at 7 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.