BOONE, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team picked up its 10th-consecutive win, 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-17) over Sun Belt Conference rival Appalachian State on Thursday night in Boone, N.C. With the win, CCU improved to 11-5 on the season and remain undefeated in SBC action at 3-0, while the Mountaineers fell to 7-7 overall and are still winless at 0-3 in conference play.
 
CCU's super senior Ella Saada paced the offensive attack with 23 kills, while super senior Paulina Perez Rosas (9), senior Brigitta Petrenko (6), and sophomore Agata Lesiak (6) combined for 21 spikes. Saada becomes the first Chant to record 20 or more kills in a match since Doris Carter's 21 against Arkansas State on Sept. 26, 2021. Setter Petrenko assisted on 42 of the Chanticleers' 55 kills while adding three service aces. The Eger, Hungary, native entered play needing just nine service aces to match former Chant Jennifer Hampton's 181 career service aces.
 
Defensively, Coastal finished with a team total of eight blocks, with middle blocker Nyla Shepherd finishing with six blocks and Petrenko totaling three blocks. Senior defensive specialist Lina Perugini and Petrenko had 22 and 14 digs, respectively.
 
In the opening set, both teams traded points just before the Chanticleers used a four-point burst to take the early three-point lead at 7-4. After the home-standing Mountaineers responded with five unanswered points to take a 9-7 lead. CCU rallied with an 8-0 surge to take a 15-9 advantage, sparked by a Petrenko kill and a pair of spikes by Saada, which forced App State to call its first timeout of the set.
 
After the timeout, the Mountaineers outscored the Chanticleers 13-5 to take a 22-18 set-one lead. Coastal Carolina battled to within two points at 21-23 on kills by Kendall Harris, Perez Rosas, and a miscue by App State to force the Mountaineers to call their final timeout of the set. The Mountaineers closed out the opening set on a pair of put-downs to take the 25-23 set-one win.
 
Despite being down 1-0 in the match, Coastal raced out to a 6-0 advantage in the second set, as Saada rallied her team with three spikes to force Appalachian State into an early timeout. The Mountaineers fought back with a 6-2 run to cut CCU's lead to two points at 8-6. However, the Chanticleers by way of a three-point spurt, took an 11-6 lead as a pair of Saada kills sandwiched Lesiak's second service ace of the match.
 
With App State unable to get any closer than five after trading points, Coastal took control at 21-11 by forcing the Mountaineers into five errors while picking up a kill by Perez Rosas and a Saada service ace. After a pair of App State points, the Chants closed out the second set with a 4-1 surge, highlighted by CCU's fourth service ace of the set and fifth of the match, to even the match up at 1-1 with the 25-14 set-two win.
 
Both teams traded points in the third set, with Coastal taking a 5-3 advantage as Petrenko opened the early scoring with a service ace. With the Chanticleers holding a 7-5 advantage, neither team was able to pull away to take control, as the largest lead either team held was one point until the home-standing Mountaineers took a 15-13 lead on a Kenady Roper service ace.
 
After falling behind three points at 17-14, Coastal Carolina scored nine unanswered to take a 23-17 advantage and force Appalachian State to use both of its timeouts. The 9-0 burst was highlighted by a pair of Petrenko service aces and four spikes by Saada. The Mountaineers attempted to come from behind but were stopped on kills by Saada and Perez Rosas to give the visiting Chants the 25-19 set-three win and 2-1 match lead.
 
In the fourth and final set, both teams traded points as neither team held a lead larger than two. After App State closed to one at 14-13, Coastal laid claim to the set and match with a 7-0 burst, sparked by a Saada kill and capped by three Mountaineer miscues, for the 21-13 advantage. With the match in hand, the Chanticleers traded points as freshman Valentina Varani got the final kill in the 25-17 set-four win to give the Chants a 3-1 four-set match win.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Friday, Sept. 30, as the Chants and App State will meet for the second time in as many days at 6 p.m. ET in Boone, 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.