CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team improved to 5-5 on the season with a 3-1 home win over regional rival UNCW on Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Seahawks dropped to 3-7 overall.
Coastal's offense was led by the trio of
Jasmine Rivest (17 kills, 13 digs),
Agata Lesiak (11 kills, 7 assists), and
Lauren Malone (10 kills, 4 digs) as all three finished with double digit kills. Rivest totaled four service aces, while
Cagla Bengi finished with a match-high 40 assists.
Defensively, Coastal tallied seven blocks as
Valentina Varani and
DiLara Unal totaled three blocks apiece on the front line. Sophomore libero
Bailee Earnhardt tallied 11 digs to help get the offense on track.
UNCW was led by Katie Lanz with 16 kills and Ciera Hecht with 13 kills while Annabelle Schall and Morgan Galligan tallied 26 and 25 assists, respectively. Jadyn Barry finished with 16 digs for the Seahawks.
The opening set saw both teams remain even in the first 10 points at 5-5 only to see the Chanticleers open a five-point advantage with a 5-0 burst, highlighted by a pair of kills by Rivest. After a quick 3-0 surge by UNCW, Coastal answered with a 6-1 run, including two kills and a service ace by Rivest to take a 16-9 lead.
However, the Seahawks battled back to trail by three at 21-18 aided by a second 3-0 burst. Coastal and UNCW traded the next four points just before the visitors from Wilmington used a third 3-0 run to pull within two at 23-21. The Chanticleers would claim the first set at 25-21 with a miscue by the Seahawks and a block by Lesiak.
In the second set, UNCW raced out to an 11-4 lead forcing the homestanding Chants to call the early timeout. After the break, CCU closed the margin to four at 12-8 with kills by Varani, Malone and blocks by Unal and Bengi. The Seahawks responded with a quick pair of points to push their advantage back to six at 14-8 just to see the Ladies in Teal and Bronze use a 3-0 run to trail 14-11, highlighted by a service ace by Bengi.
The two teams traded the next eight points with the Chants trailing 18-15. After a 5-1 burst by Coastal Carolina to take a 20-19 advantage, ignited by a Seahawk error and capped by a spike by Varani and UNCW was forced to call its second timeout of the set. However, coming out of the break, UNCW doubled the Chanticleers 6-3 for the final margin of 25-23 to even the match at 1-1.
Coastal took a 5-2 lead in the third set that included three UNCW mistakes. The Seahawks pushed in front with a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 advantage only to see CCU respond with two quick points to even the match at 7-7, highlighted by a Varani spike and block. After a 3-1 burst by the Seahawks, the Chanticleers scored seven unanswered to take a 15-10 lead, sparked by a pair of kills by
Jalyn Stout.
After the media break, the two squads traded the next six points with Coastal holding a 18-13 lead. However, UNCW battled back by doubling the Chants for a second 6-3 run to trail 21-19, forcing the Chants to call their first timeout of the set. A quick two-point spurt forced CCU to its final timeout of the set with a 22-21 slim advantage. Coastal earned the third set win with a 25-22 win, highlighted by a pair of kills by Rivest.
In the fourth and final set, UNCW took a 3-1 advantage only to see the Chanticleers respond with a 4-0 run as Stout tallied two kills and Rivest picked up a pair of service aces to lead 5-3. After trading the next 14 points, the two teams were deadlocked at 11-11. Coastal used a 4-1 run to take a 15-12 lead at the break only to see the Seahawks even it up at 15-15 with a 3-0 burst.
The Chants pushed in front 19-16, highlighted by a pair of kills by Malone to force UNCW to call its first timeout. After the break, the Seahawks evened the set at 20-20 with a 4-1 surge and forced Coastal to call its first timeout. The Chanticleers took advantage of the break using a 4-1 burst that included a pair of spikes by Lesiak and forced the Seahawks to call their final timeout. CCU claimed the set and match as Rivest put down a spike for the 25-22 set and 3-1 match win.
Coastal Carolina will travel to Durham, N.C., to battle the Duke Blue Devils on Friday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. ET before heading to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 17, for a matchup with North Carolina at noon ET.
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.
