STATESBORO, GA. – Coastal Carolina's
Jasmine Rivest and
Jalyn Stout led the volleyball team to a 3-1 win (22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-20) over Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia Southern on Friday evening at the Hanner Fieldhouse to remain unbeaten in league play. With the win, the Chanticleers improve to 10-7 overall and 5-0 in SBC play while the Eagles drop to 13-3 on the year and 2-3 in conference action.
For the evening, Rivest (24) and Stout (18) combined for 42 of the Chants' 58 kills, while Stout and
Cagla Bengi finished with 21 and 18 assists, respectively. It was the fifth double-double for Rivest (16 digs) and fourth triple-double for Stout as the freshman setter added 13 digs.
Defensively,
Dilara Unal and
Valentina Varani paced the defense with four and three blocks, respectively. Libero
Sydney Lewis tallied a match-high 23 digs and added 13 assists for her first-career double-double.
Georgia Southern was led by Reagan Barth and Jillian Gray with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Kirsten Barrett had a team-high 21 assists. Ailie Hair led the defense with seven blocks while Ashlyn Lovett tallied 18 digs.
In the opening set, the teams traded the first five points with Coastal taking a 3-2 advantage only to see the Eagles jump to the lead at 7-4 with a 5-1 run. Coastal answered with two quick points to cut the deficit to one point at 7-6 on a Rivest spike. The Eagles increased their lead to 16-10 with an 9-4 surge, that included CCU taking a timeout immediately after the media timeout.
After the break in action, the Chanticleers pushed in front at 20-18 with a 10-2 run, highlighted by four kills by Stout and included the Eagles calling their two timeouts of the set. However, Georgia Southern used a 4-2 spurt to even the set at 22-22 just before closing the opening set with a 3-0 run for the 25-22 first-set win.
In the second set, the two teams traded the first 10 points for a 5-5 score. The Eagles pushed in front 7-5 with two quick points only to see the Ladies in Teal open an 18-7 advantage with a 13-0 burst, ignited by an
Agata Lesiak kill and capped off by a block by Unal.
After trading the next three points, Coastal increased its lead to 22-9 with a 3-0 spurt, that included kills by Bengi and Stout. Georgia Southern cut the deficit to 23-14 with a 5-1 run only to see Coastal even the match at 1-1 with the 25-14 second-set win.
The third set saw Coastal jump to a 5-2, highlighted by blocks by Unal and Varani before the Eagles cut the lead to 5-4 on two quick points. The Chanticleers opened an 11-4 lead with a 6-0 burst sparked by a Stout kill and topped off by back-to-back kills by Rivest and included the Eagles calling their first timeout of the set.
After trading the next three points, Coastal forced Georgia Southern to call its final timeout of the set with a 5-1 spurt for a 17-7 lead, that included kills by Lesiak, Stout, and Unal. The Eagles pulled to within 18-13 with 6-1 surge only to see CCU increase its advantage to 21-13 with a 3-0 run. However, GS closed the game with a 7-3 burst to trail 24-20 only to see Coastal take a 2-1 match lead with the 25-20 third-set win.
In the fourth and final set, the Chants raced out to a 7-2 advantage, highlighted by a pair of service aces by
Bailee Earnhardt that forced the host Eagles to call their first timeout out. After the break, Georgia Southern cut the lead to 7-5 with a 3-0 run just to see the Chanticleers take an 14-8 lead, ignited by a Rivest spike and capped by a service ace by Rivest to force GS to call its final timeout.
After trading the next seven rallies, CCU maintained its five-point advantage at 17-12, highlighted by a pair of kills by Stout. The Chanticleers increased their lead to 21-12 with a 4-0 run that included kills by Varani and Rivest. However, the Eagles cut the lead to 22-19 with a 6-1 spurt. Coastal scored three of the final four points on a block by Lesiak and kill by Rivest for the 25-20 fourth-set win and 3-1 match win.
Coastal Carolina will remain Statesboro, Ga., on Saturday, as the Chants will wrap-up the weekend series with Georgia Southern with the opening serve set for 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 7.
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.
