CONWAY, S.C. – Agata Lesiak, Jalyn Stout, and Emma Van Elslande led the Coastal Carolina volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 22-25, 15-6) come-from-behind five-set win over the Georgia State Panthers at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C., on Saturday afternoon for the Chanticleers' 21st consecutive win over GSU.
 
Coastal Carolina wore pink and played in the "Volley for the Cure" game to raise awareness of breast cancer.
 
Coastal (8-9, 4-2 SBC) saw Lesiak match her career high with 19 kills, while Stout (13) and Van Elslande (10) added double-digit kills. Dilara Unal had eight kills, while Cagla Bengi had 19 helpers to go with Stout's season and match-high 32 assists.
 
Defensively, CCU totaled 10 blocks as Unal stopped seven kill attempts and Valentina Varani blocked three shots as Lesiak, Stout, and Van Elslande stopped two attempts apiece at the net. Stout tallied 13 digs to record her ninth triple-double with Sydney Lewis (13) and Bailee Earnhardt (11) adding double-digit digs.
 
Georgia State (10-8, 1-5 SBC) was led by Akira Burt, Keionna Mackey, and Alessia Cappai, who had 12, 11, and 10 kills, respectively while Peyton Gash tallied nine spikes. Shanelle Martinez finished with a team-high 26 assists with Patrycja Zielinska adding 17 helpers.
 
The Panthers stopped 14 kill attempts with Kayla Broom making nine stops as Myllena Torquetti and Gash tallied four blocks each, while Kaleigh Fitzgerald (24), Zielinska (13), and Martinez (10) had double-digit digs.
 
In the first set, the two teams traded the first eight rallies with the score remaining deadlocked at 4-4 before CCU opened a 9-5 advantage with a 5-1 spurt, sparked by a Unal kill and capped by a Lauren Malone spike to force GSU to call the early timeout. After the break, the Panthers evened the score at 10-10 with a 5-1 run.
 
A 6-1 burst by the Chanticleers put the Ladies in Pink up 16-11, which included three put-downs by Stout. Georgia State responded with a 3-0 run before Coastal scored six consecutive points to take a 22-14 lead, highlighted by two kills by Lesiak. The final six points were traded between the two squads with the Chants taking a 25-17 first-set win to lead the match 1-0.
 
The Panthers raced to an 11-6 second-set lead before CCU cut the lead to 13-10 with a 4-2 surge that saw Stout put down a pair of kills. After a GSU timeout, Coastal Carolina evened the set at 17-17 with a 7-3 burst, ignited by a Van Elslande kill and capped by an unforced error by the visitors. Georgia State evened the match at 1-1 as the Panthers outscored the Chanticleers 8-3 for the 25-20 set victory.
 
In the third set, Georgia State opened a 9-4 lead, but the Chanticleers outscored the Panthers 7-1 to take an 11-10 advantage behind three kills by Lesiak. The two teams traded the next 18 rallies with Coastal holding a one-point lead at 20-19 before a 3-0 spurt gave GSU a 22-20 lead. The Panthers won three of the final five points to claim a 25-22 win to lead the match 2-1.
 
The two teams traded the first 10 points to remain even at 5-5 before the Chants scored five straight points to lead 10-5, which included Varani and Stout teaming up for a block. Georgia State answered with a 4-0 run to trail 10-9 before CCU increased its lead to 16-13 by outscoring GSU 6-4, sparked by a kill by Stout and topped off by an unforced Panther error.
 
Georgia State cut the Chanticleer lead to 18-17 with a 4-2 run only to see Coastal score three unanswered points for a 21-17 advantage. The Panthers cut the deficit to two-three times at 21-19, 22-20, and 24-22 before the Chants evened the match at 2-2 on a Lesiak kill to win the fourth set 25-22.
 
In the final set, a 9-3 CCU start that included kills by Lesiak and Van Elslande forced Georgia State to call both of its timeouts of the set. The Chants doubled up the Panthers 6-3 over the next nine rallies for a 15-6 fifth-set victory, highlighted by three kills by Stout to finish the comeback 3-2 match win.
 
Coastal Carolina will take to the road as the Chanticleers will travel to Harrisonburg, Va., for a key Sun Belt Conference meeting with James Madison on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 17-18. The opening serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Friday and 1 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
 
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.