ATLANTA, GA. – Jasmine Rivest and Jalyn Stout led the Coastal Carolina volleyball team to a 3-1 four-set win over the Georgia State Panthers on Friday evening in Atlanta, Ga., to open Sun Belt Conference play. The Chanticleers improved to 6-7 on the year and 1-0 in SBC action and GSU dropped to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
 
Coastal's offense was led by Rivest with 19 kills and Stout with 16 put downs. Cagla Bengi finished with a match-high 45 assists.
 
Defensively, Coastal tallied six blocks as Dilara Unal totaled four blocks on the front line with Rivest adding three stops at the net. Freshman libero Sydney Lewis tallied a team-high 14 digs while Rivest joined her with 14 digs and Stout added 13. With the double digit digs by both Rivest (fourth) and Stout (sixth), the duo has a combined 10 double-doubles on the season.
 
The Panthers were led by Akira Burt with 12 kills while Erin Wyatt and Izzy Durnell had eight and six kills, respectively. Laughlin Murray tallied 17 assists. Livy Kowalkowski finished with a match-high 17 digs for GSU.
 
The opening set saw the Chants race to a 4-1 advantage, highlighted by a pair of kills by Rivest. Georgia State battled back to within one point at 7-6 just to see CCU use a 6-3 spurt to take a 13-9 lead. The next six rallies were scored by miscues by both teams with the Chants holding on to a 15-13 advantage.
 
Coastal opened a 20-15 lead that included a pair of kills by Rivest to force the Panthers to call their first timeout of the set. After the break, GSU used a 7-2 surge to even the set at 22-22, including the Chants calling both of their timeouts in the set. With set point at 25-24 for CCU, the Panthers used a 3-0 burst to take a 1-0 match lead with the 27-25 set-one win.
 
In the second set, the Panthers jumped to a 9-3 lead that forced the Chants to call their first timeout of the set. Coming out of the break, CCU used an 11-2 run to take a 14-11 lead, ignited by a spike by Stout and capped off by a Panther miscue. Both teams traded 3-0 bursts to allow the Chants to keep a three-point lead at 17-14.
 
However, the Panthers answered with a 4-0 spurt to take an 18-17 lead only to see Coastal respond with two quick points on kills by Stout and Valentina Varani for a 19-18 advantage. Georgia State evened the set twice before the Chants used a 3-0 surge to take 24-21 lead that included the Panthers calling their final timeout of the set. The duo of Unal and Rivest claimed the final point for the Chanticleers at the net as they stopped a GSU kill attempt for the 25-22 win and even the match at 1-1.
 
Georgia State opened a 6-4 lead in the third set just to see the Ladies in Teal take an 11-7 advantage with a 7-1 run, sparked by a Varani spike in the middle and topped off by a Rivest kill. The Panthers answered with a 3-0 spurt to trail 11-10 only to see the Chants keep their three-point lead at 15-12 with a 4-2 burst before the media break.
 
After the break, GSU would close the gap to 16-14 before the Chants used a 5-2 run to lead 21-16 that included a service ace by Bengi that forced the homestanding Panthers to call the timeout. The next six points went back-and-forth with the Chanticleers taking a 25-19 third-set win to lead the match 2-1.
 
In the fourth and final set, Coastal raced out to an 8-3 advantage, highlighted by a service ace and kill by Rivest. Georgia State responded with a 4-0 burst to trail 8-7 only to see CCU push its lead back to 12-9 highlighted by kills by Unal and Rivest. The two teams traded the next six points with Coastal holding a 15-12 advantage at the media break.
 
The Panthers narrowed the margin to 16-14 only to see the Chanticleers muscle their way in front at 21-14 highlighted by two kills by Rivest. After a GSU timeout, CCU outscored Georgia State 4-1 for the 25-15 fourth-set and match-clinching win.
 
Coastal Carolina will remain on the road with a matchup versus Georgia State on Saturday, Sept. 23.
 
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.