CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team dropped its first Sun Belt Conference match of the season 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-21) to South Alabama on Saturday afternoon in Conway. With the loss, the Chanticleers move to 18-8 overall and 13-1 in league action, while the Jaguars improve to 19-7 on the year and 10-4 in SBC play.
 
Coastal's offense was led by Jalyn Stout with a match-high 14 kills, while Lauren Malone, Jasmine Rivest, and Agata Lesiak finished with seven, six, and six kills, respectively. Cagla Bengi tallied a team-high 17 assists, while Stout totaled 11 assists to spark the offense.
 
Defensively, Stout finished with a match-high 16 digs, for her NCAA-best 10th triple-double, with libero Sydney Lewis tallying 14 digs. The Chanticleers' Valentina Varani and Lesiak totaled one block each.
 
South Alabama was paced by Hannah Maddux with a team-high 13 kills while Abryanna Cannon and Maddie Soboleski tallied 10 kills each. Kailey Keeble got the offense on track with a match-high 39 assists. Maddux led the defense with five blocks while Lillie Simmons totaled three stops in the middle and Paige Lynn finished with 15 digs.
 
The opening set began with the two teams trading the first 20 points to keep the score even at 10-10 before Coastal opened a 13-10 advantage that included a kill by Malone. The Chanticleers increased their lead to 16-12 with a 3-2 spurt highlighted by Stout and Malone spikes.
 
However, the Jaguars evened the set at 17-17 with a 5-1 burst only to see CCU force a pair of South Alabama miscues to lead 19-17. USA used an 8-3 run to claim a 1-0 match lead with the 25-22 first set victory.
 
Trailing the match 1-0, Coastal opened the second set with a 5-0 surge, ignited by a Stout kill and topped off by Lewis' second service ace of the set. The Jaguars cut the deficit in half at 3-6 with a 3-1 spurt. The Chanticleers increased their lead with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a Lesiak kill.
 
Coastal Carolina used a 9-4 burst to take a 15-7 advantage that included five miscues by the South Alabama offense. After the media break, the Jags cut the margin to 18-14 with a 7-3 run. CCU's Alicja Jaryszek gave sparked a two quick points with a kill and service ace to lead 20-14 only to see USA claim a 26-24 second set win with a 12-4 surge.
 
In the third and final set, South Alabama opened a 10-4 lead that forced the Chanticleers to call the early timeout. However, the Jaguars increased their lead to 14-6 with a 4-2 spurt. Coastal responded with a 3-0 run that included a pair of kills by Malone to trail 15-10. The visitors from Mobile, Ala., increased their lead to 20-12 with a 5-2 surge.
 
The two squads traded the next eight rallies with the Jaguars maintaining the lead at 24-16. Coastal answered with a 5-0 burst to cut the deficit to 24-21 that included a service ace by Stout before South Alabama recorded the final point for the 25-21 third set win and 3-0 match win.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to the road to close out the regular season, as the Chanticleers will travel to San Marcos, Texas, for a match up with the Texas State Bobcats on Thursday and Friday, November 9-10. The opening serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on both Thursday and Friday.
 
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.