CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team will return to action at the College of Charleston in the CofC Invitational against Wofford, Incarnate Word (UIW), and the host College of Charleston on Friday, Sept. 9-10.
In the opening match against Wofford, the Chants and Terriers will meet for the sixth time with Coastal holding a 5-0 all-time series advantage including a 3-2 five-set win in August of 2013.
CCU's second matchup will pit the Chanticleers against the Cardinals for the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
Coastal will close out the tournament against host College of Charleston. The Cougars hold a 30-13 overall series lead over CCU with the Chants earning a 3-1 home win in September of 2014.
COASTAL'S WEEKEND SCHEDULE
- Coastal vs. Wofford 4:30 PM ET
- Coastal at Incarnate Word 10 AM ET
- Coastal at College of Charleston 7 PM ET (FloSports)
ABOUT COASTAL
The Chanticleers are 4-2 on the season, having won three-straight matches to open the season before going 1-2 in the Fight in the Fort tournament hosted by TCU last weekend. In the opening matchup last weekend, Coastal fell in straight sets 3-0 to the Texas A&M Aggies before dropping its second match of the year 3-1 against host TCU in the nightcap. The Chanticleers closed out the Fight in the Fort with a 3-0 sweep of Memphis.
Super senior
Ella Saada and senior
Brigitta Petrenko were named to the Fight in the Fort All-Tournament team for their performances. Saada finished with 40 kills, one assist, and two service aces over the weekend, while Petrenko tallied six kills, 81 assists, and five service aces. Petrenko's five service aces gave the Eger, Hungary native 158 career service aces and put her just three behind Alicia Pulchinski (1996-99) for fourth all-time in CCU history and 24 away from claiming the top spot currently held by Jennifer Hampton (181).
Defensively, Coastal Carolina totaled 18 blocks as a team, highlighted by
Christina Nance with a total of 11 blocks,
Nyla Shepherd with five blocks, and
Paulina Perez Rosas and Saada with six blocks apiece. Defensive specialist
Lina Perugini totaled 34 digs in the three matches giving the Bethlehem, Pa., native 1,281 career digs. Perugini surpassed Chelsy Kimes (2007-10) for 10th on the all-time list and is nine shy of Kristin Rinne (2003-06) for ninth all-time.
ABOUT WOFFORD
Wofford will enter play with a 2-4 record by picking up one win in the Charlotte Invitational (3-0 vs. Morgan State) and the Wofford Invitational (3-0 vs. USC Upstate), while dropping matches against host Charlotte (3-1) versus Syracuse (3-2), versus Eastern Kentucky (3-1), and versus App State (3-2).
The Terriers are led by Sarah Barham and Bella Zeman with 74 and 73 kills, respectively, while Emily Hodsdon has tallied 193 assists, followed by Victoria Hensley with 72 assists.
Defensively, Wofford has made 52 blocks as a team with Barham totaling 31 blocks, while Sarah MacLean and Millie Loehr have added 13 and 10, respectively. Defensive specialist Kaitlyn Brown and outside hitter Mary Emily Morgan have 81 and 60 digs, respectively.
ABOUT INCARNATE WORD
UIW will enter the CofC Invitational with a 1-3 overall record having dropped three-straight matches, two to Sun Belt Conference members Texas State, and one to Tarleton State. Their lone win came in the season-opener against Texas Southern.
The Cardinals' offense is led by Allison Palmi (37), Finley Evans (29), Annamarie Alvarez (21), and Jacqueline Arrington (20), as the quartet are the only players with 20-plus kills. Setter Taylor Stoops has 69 assists with fellow setter Natalie Kimmel adding 24 assists. Stoops and Palmi have combined for 14 service aces overall to lead the team.
Defensively, Palmi (30) and Audrey Patton (25) lead the team in digs, while Arrington (14) and Kade Thomas (9) have 23 of the team's 26 blocks.
ABOUT COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
The College of Charleston Cougars enter play at 2-4 on the year with victories coming against Fresno State and The Citadel, while the losses have come by Rutgers, Texas Tech, Georgia, and Charlotte.
Gabi Bailey (76), Anna Smith (49), Claire Campbell (49), and Lexi Wierzbicki (40) lead the Cougars' offensive attack with 40 or more kills each. Bailey and Smith have eight service aces apiece, while Emma Appleman and Jasmin Goei have aided on 127 and 102 points, respectively.
On the defensive side, Emma Falk and Campbell each have 17 and 16 blocks, respectively, as Tynley Smeltzer (70), Bailey (64), Smith (44), and Appleman (40) have more than 40 digs apiece.
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.
