UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team went 1-1 against Howard and UAlbany on the opening day of the Penn State Classic in University Park, Pa., on Friday. With the split, the Chanticleers moved to 8-4 on the season while the Bison improved to 5-5 and the Great Danes fell to 3-8.
 
Howard swept Coastal Carolina 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) before the Chants rebounded with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 15-13) five-set win over the UAlbany Great Danes in the afternoon matchup.
 
For the day, CCU's Paulina Perez Rosas totaled 27 kills overall, while Alicia Salgado finished with a career-high 12 kills in the opening match against the Bison. Setter Brigitta Petrenko combined for 71 assists, including a season-high 47 helpers against UAlbany.
 
Coastal's defensive specialist Lina Perugini finished with 37 digs, while Petrenko and Perez Rosas added 24 and 21, respectively. Petrenko and middle blocker Nyla Shepherd had 10 blocks apiece over the two matches.
 
HOWARD 3, COASTAL 0 (24-26, 19-25, 22-25)
 
In the opening set, both teams traded points with neither team taking more than a two-point advantage in the early going. With the Chants trailing 8-7, Coastal used a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead sparked by Bison miscues and capped off by a pair of Petrenko service aces.
 
With the Chanticleers leading 19-12, Howard fought its way back with a 9-2 spurt to even the match up at 21-21. The Bison earned the set-one win at 26-24 after scoring the final three points.
 
Riding the momentum from the set-one win, Howard jumped out to the early 5-3 lead early in the second set just before CCU answered with five unanswered points to take an 8-5 advantage. The Bison answered with their own 5-0 run to take a 13-12 lead on a trio of Chanticleer mistakes and a Cimone Woodard service ace. With Coastal Carolina trailing 16-15, Howard used a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 24-18 just before getting the 25-19 win in set two.
 
In the opening match-clinching set, the Chants jumped out to the 4-2 lead as Petrenko began the set with her third service ace of the match, which was followed by kills from Christina Nance and Kendall Harris. The Bison scored four unanswered points to take a 6-4 advantage before a CCU 7-1 spurt, highlighted by a pair of service aces by Jexsamarie Perez, pushed the Chants in front at 11-7.
 
Howard battled back from a 15-13 deficit to take an 18-15 before CCU took a one-point lead at 20-19 with a 5-1 run highlighted by a Perez Rosas kill and capped by another service ace by Perez. However, the Bison earned the 25-22 set-three win and 3-0 sweep with a 6-2 spurt to close out the match.
 
COASTAL 3, UALBANY 2 (22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-23, 15-13)
 
In the Chants' final match of the day, the Great Danes jumped out to a 5-3 advantage before running off four-straight points to take a 9-4 lead early in the set. Coastal answered with a three-point burst to pull within two points at 9-7 on a Perez Rosas service ace and a Shepherd spike.
 
With CCU trailing 15-10, the Chanticleers came from behind to take a 20-18 lead on three kills by Agata Lesiak and a pair of spikes by Perez Rosas. UAlbany used a 6-2 spurt to claim a 25-22 first-set and take a 1-0 match lead.
 
Down 1-0, Coastal opened second set with a 5-4 lead highlighted by three consecutive kills by Lauren Malone. CCU increased its advantage to 12-7 with six unanswered tallies by way of kills from Perez Rosas and Malone before the Bison battled back to within one point at 20-19 with a 4-0 run. Refusing to relinquish the lead, the Chants evened the match at one set apiece by scoring five of the final six points down the stretch for the 25-20 set-two win.
 
In the third set, the Great Danes raced out to a 5-1 lead followed before four unanswered points from the Chanticleers evened the set at 5-5. CCU's Perez Rosas spike sparked the run that was aided by a Shepherd spike and a Perugini service ace. UAlbany took a 14-10 lead before a pair of Perez Rosas kills highlighted a 6-1 spurt to give Coastal its first lead of the set at 17-16. Both squads traded points with neither team holding a lead larger than one point before the Great Danes closed out the set with a 26-24 win for the 2-1 match lead.
 
The fourth set opened even as neither team was able to gain momentum until the Chanticleers used a 3-0 surge for the 10-7 lead on kills by Petrenko and Jasmine Rivest. With Coastal holding a one-point advantage, a pair of UAlbany miscues sandwiched a Rivest spike to give CCU the 18-14 lead. The Chanticleers closed out the fourth set at 25-23 to even the match up at 2-2 as the Great Danes could get no closer than two points.
 
In the fifth and deciding set, UAlbany jumped out to the 2-0 lead before Coastal answered with a spiked by both Rivest and Harris before the Great Danes evened the set at 6-6. Coastal scored three unanswered for the three-point advantage at 9-6 before UAlbany answered with a pair of its own to pull within one at 9-8.
 
The Chanticleers and Great Danes played even for most of the frame, trading points before Perez Rosas' 27th kill of the day followed by a UAlbany miscue ended the set at 15-13 to give Coastal the 3-2 match win.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. ET, as the Chanticleers will take on the No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions in the Penn State Classic finale.
 
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.