CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team split a pair of matches with the Elon Phoenix and the Charleston Southern Buccaneers to open the regular-season schedule at the Charlotte Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday. With the split, the Chanticleers moved to 1-1 on the young season, while the Phoenix and the Buccaneers dropped to 0-1 and 1-1, respectively.
 
For the day, Jalyn Stout, Agata Lesiak, and Valentina Varani finished with 30, 17, and 16 kills, respectively, while Cagla Bengi and Stout finished with 44 and 39 assists, respectively.
 
Defensively, Varani and DiLara Unal paced the defense with eight and five blocks, respectively, while Sydney Lewis totaled 39 digs on the day.
 
Coastal 3, Elon 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-16)
 
In the win against the Phoenix, the duo of Stout and Varani led the offensive attack for the Chants, as both finished with a team-high nine kills, followed by Lesiak and Lauren Malone with seven and six kills, respectively. CCU finished with 37 assists, with Stout (16) and Bengi (14) totaling 30 combined.
 
Defensively, the Chants' Varani and Lesiak had eight and five blocks each, while libero Lewis finished with a match-high 13 digs.
 
CCU fell behind early in the opening set as Elon took a 2-1 advantage but was unable to keep the Chanticleers at bay. Coastal used a 3-0 run to double-up the Phoenix at 4-2. The two teams traded points before the Chants fired off six straight points for the 13-5 advantage. After the Phoenix used a 3-0 run to fight back, Coastal used a 5-0 burst to take a 20-10 lead, sparked by a Varani kill and topped off by an Emily Fowler spike. The Chants and Phoenix traded the next 11 points for the final 25-16 set one win.
 
Elon jumped out to the early 3-0 lead in the second set before Coastal Carolina answered with a 5-0 spurt for the two-point lead at 5-3. After the Phoenix answered with a 5-0 run for an 8-5 advantage, Coastal and Elon traded points before a second 5-0 burst by the Phoenix to take a 16-9 advantage. The Chants cut the Elon advantage to 21-15 before using a 7-0 surge to take a 22-21 edge, highlighted by three points by Lesiak. After trading three points, Coastal scored the final two points for the 25-23 win and 2-0 match advantage.
 
In the final set of their first match, the Chanticleers raced to a 7-3 lead, ignited by a put down by Malone and capped by a pair of kills by Lesiak. The Phoenix kept the match close answering each CCU point to trail 15-11, just to see the Chants use a pair of small spurts to take control of the match and claim a second 25-16 win for the opening match sweep.
 
Charleston Southern 3, Coastal 2 (13-25, 27-25, 25-23, 16-25, 15-13)
 
In the loss to Charleston Southern, the Chanticleers and Buccaneers battled with CCU holding a 9-5 advantage, highlighted by two kills each for Fowler and Stout. Coastal and CSU went back-and-forth with the Chants holding a slim 17-11 edge, before CCU used an 8-2 run sparked by a Varani kill and topped off with a Malone spike to pick up the 25-13 set-one win.
 
Coastal opened the second set with a 6-3 surge behind a Unal kill and a Bailee Earnhardt service ace, only to see the Bucs battle back to even the set up at 7-7. The Chants pushed out in front 14-10 on the strength of three kills by Stout. However, Charleston Southern evened it up at 14-14 with a 4-0 burst and continued to trade points with CCU to take a 17-16 advantage. The two teams continued to trade points with Coastal failing to capitalize on two set points and let the Buccaneers bounce back for the 27-25 set-two victory.
 
Charleston Southern began the third set with an 8-3 burst, just to see the Chanticleers fight back to even the match with at 13-13, highlighted by a pair of kills by Malone, Stout, and Lesiak. The two teams traded points until the Bucs took advantage of a Coastal error to push in front 22-20 and continued to trade points for the final margin of 25-23 in the third set.
 
The Chanticleers pushed out to a 10-6 lead to open the fourth set, sparked by a pair of put downs by both Varani and Alicja Jaryszek. Coastal continued to open its advantage using a 5-1 surge, highlighted by three kills by Stout for a 15-7 lead. After trading points with the Chants holding an 20-15 lead, Coastal evened the match at 2-2 with a second 5-1 burst for the 25-16 final margin.
 
In the fifth and final set, the Buccaneers raced out to a 3-0 advantage and increased its lead to 8-3, forcing the Chanticleers to call its first timeout. After regrouping, CCU used a 9-4 run to cut the lead to one at 13-12, ignited by a Malone put down and capped by a Stout kill. The two teams traded the final four points for the final margin of 15-13 for Charleston Southern to pick up the 3-2 match win.
 
Coastal Carolina volleyball will return to action against host Charlotte on Saturday, Aug. 26, as the Chants will remain in Charlotte, N.C. for the final day of the Charlotte Invitational on the campus of UNC Charlotte.
 
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.