CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its 13th consecutive match over Sun Belt Conference rival Appalachian State by a score of 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 9-7 overall and 4-0 in SBC play while the Mountaineers dropped to 9-6 on the year and 0-4 in league action.
 
For the day, Jasmine Rivest and Jalyn Stout finished with 18 and nine kills, respectively, while Cagla Bengi and Stout finished with 21 and 17 assists, respectively. It was the fourth double-double for Rivest and Stout with Stout adding 13 digs.
 
Defensively, Valentina Varani paced the defense with six blocks, while Dilara Unal and Rivest finished with three blocks each. Libero Sydney Lewis tallied a match-high 25 digs.
 
App State was led by McCall Denny and Lulu Ambrose with 14 and nine kills, respectively, while Sophie Cain and Katie Cruise had a team-high 19 assists apiece. Ava Leahy and Maya Winterhoff led the defense with four blocks each while Kenady Roper tallied 21 digs.
 
In the opening set, the teams traded the first five points with Coastal taking a 3-2 advantage only to see the Mountaineers double-up the Chants at 8-4 with a 6-1 run. Coastal answered with two quick spikes by Stout and Lauren Malone to cut the deficit to two points at 8-6. App State pushed its lead to 10-6, highlighted by a service ace only to see CCU use a 5-0 burst sparked by three miscues by the visitors from Boone, N.C., to lead 11-10.
 
However, the Mountaineers used a 5-1 spurt to take a 15-12 lead at the media break in action. After the break, App State increased its lead to 22-17 to force the Chants to call their first timeout of the set. Coastal pulled within 22-19 and forced App to call its first timeout after causing two unforced errors by the ASU offense. App State outscored the Chants 3-2 for the final 25-21 margin in the opening set.
 
In the second set, Coastal took a 4-0 lead highlighted by three straight kills by Varani. The Mountaineers evened the set at 5-5 with a 5-1 burst. The two teams traded the next seven rallies with CCU taking a 9-8 advantage. The Chanticleers increased their lead to 13-8 with a second 4-0 surge that included App State taking its first timeout of the set.
 
The Chants held a four-point advantage at 16-12 over the next seven rallies and muscled its lead to 21-13 with a 5-1 burst, highlighted by a pair of service aces by Rivest. App State cut the deficit to 23-17 with a 4-2 run only to see the Chanticleers even the match at 1-1 with the 25-17 second-set win.
 
The third set saw Coastal jump to a 6-3 lead before the Mountaineers answered with an 8-1 run to go in front 11-7 that included CCU calling its first timeout of the set. Coastal came out of the break to trail 13-12 using a 5-2 spurt, sparked by an ASU miscue and capped by a Lewis service ace that forced the Mountaineers to call their first timeout.
 
After trading the next five rallies, Coastal trailed 16-14 and battled back into the lead at 21-17 with a 7-1 burst ignited by a spike by Stout and topped off by a Stout service. The Mountaineers used a 3-0 surge to narrow the deficit to 21-20 before a pair of blocks by Varani and Alicja Jaryszek put CCU in front 23-20. App State evened the set at 23-23 with a second 3-0 run that forced the Chants to call their second timeout of the set. Coastal claimed a 2-1 match lead with back-to-back kills by Rivest and Lesiak for the 25-23 third-set win.
 
In the fourth and final set, the Mountaineers raced out to a 7-3 advantage only to see Coastal respond with a 5-1 burst to even the set at 8-8, highlighted by the tandem of Varani and Jaryszek teaming up for a block. The Chanticleers used a 7-3 run to take a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout, ignited by an ASU service error and capped by a pair of kills by Rivest.
 
The Chanticleers increased their lead to 20-15 with a 5-4 run that included App State calling both of its timeouts. Coastal outscored the Mountaineers 5-2 over the next seven rallies for the 25-17 fourth-set and 3-1 match win, highlighted by a pair of service aces by the Chants.
 
Coastal Carolina will travel to Statesboro, Ga., as the Chants will battle Georgia Southern with the opening serve set for 6 p.m. ET on Oct. 6 and 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.