FORT WORTH, Texas – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team battled the TCU Horned Frogs in the Fight in the Fort tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday night but was unable to maintain the momentum of its first set win and fell 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 17-25, 23-25). With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 3-2 on the year, while the Horned Frogs improved to 1-2 with the win.
 
Coastal's offense was led by Ella Saada with 18 kills, while Nyla Shepherd and Kendall Harris chipped in with five and four spikes, respectively. Senior setter Brigitta Petrenko tallied 25 assists throughout the match.
 
Defensively, Christina Nance held the line with seven blocks, as Lina Perugini finished with 13 digs.
 
In the opening set, TCU jumped out to the early 2-0 advantage before the Chants bounced back to knot it up at 2-2 on CCU's first points by an Agata Lesiak spike and a Horned Frog miscue. TCU took control with a 9-4 spurt for the 11-6 Horned Frog lead but would be unable to hold on to the lead as the two teams played even to 17-13 for TCU. Refusing to go away, the Chanticleers used a 12-4 run to close out the opening set at 25-21. Coastal scored eight of the next nine points, sparked by a Shepherd kill and followed by a service ace by Saada. CCU's Harris put down a kill to give the Chants set point just before a TCU miscue ended the set.
 
Coastal jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, as Shepherd highlighted the early run with three kills. After both teams traded points, the Horned Frogs evened the set up at 8-8 with a 4-0 run to begin taking control of the set. For every point the Chants scored, TCU would answer with two of its own to push on top at 14-11. The Horned Frogs used a pair of runs, 4-0 and 3-0, to help finish the set with an 11-5 run for the 25-16 set-two victory and even the match up at one set apiece.
 
The third set saw TCU take the 1-0 lead before Saada answered with a kill and service ace to put Coastal on top at 2-1. Both teams would score a pair of points, keeping the set close at 6-6 before the Horned Frogs exerted their strength and slowly pulled out to a four-point advantage at 12-8. CCU closed to 15-13 on a pair of TCU mistakes before the Horned Frogs got a 7-1 run to open the lead back up to eight at 22-14 behind a pair of kills by Cecily Bramschreiber. Coastal and TCU played the set even with each team getting three points, with Audrey Nalls putting the Horned Frogs up 2-1 in the match with the third-set win at 25-17.
 
TCU began the fourth set inspired by jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the Chanticleers battled back on back-to-back kills by Saada to even the set up at 3-3. After a short trading of points, TCU pushed to a two-point advantage before CCU answered with a pair of points to even the game back up at 8-8.
 
The Chanticleers pulled out to a 13-9 lead as Jasmine Rivest jump-started a 5-0 run, which included a pair of kills by Saada and a service ace by Lauren Malone. However, the Horned Frogs answered with a 3-0 run to pull within one at 13-12 after a pair of CCU attack errors. Both squads exchanged points with Coastal holding a one-point lead at 19-18 after a Rivest spike, only to see  TCU's Nalls kick-start a 3-0 run with a spike before a Bramschreiber kill capped the spurt to give the home team a 21-19 lead. The Chanticleers answered with two quick scores, a Saada kill and an error by TCU, to even it up at 21-21 before three Julia Adams spikes and a Nalls' kill ended the set at 25-23 to give the Horned Frogs their first win of the season.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Saturday, as the Chants will take on the Memphis Tigers at 2:30 p.m. ET in the final match of the weekend tournament.  
 
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.