HARRISONBURG, VA. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team dropped the opening match 3-2 (18-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12) of the weekend to the James Madison Dukes on Friday evening in Harrisonburg, Va. With the loss, the Chanticleers drop to 8-10 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt, while JMU improves to 9-8 on the season and 4-3 in league play with the win.
Jalyn Stout tallied a team-high 17 kills to go along with 19 assists to pace the Chants' offense, while
Lauren Malone and
Agata Lesiak finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
Cagla Bengi led the team with 27 assists.
Defensively, CCU totaled seven blocks as
Valentina Varani,
Dilara Unal, and
Emma Van Elslande stopped three kill attempts each, while Stout and Lesiak totaled two blocks each at the net.
Bailee Earnhardt (16) and
Sydney Lewis (15) finished with double-digit digs as Stout added 14 digs to record her 10th triple-double.
The Dukes were paced by Bre Reid with a match-high 23 kills with Annie Smith and Sarah Schnell adding 12 and 10 kills. Jordan Smart finished with a match-high 29 assists, while Rebecca Watkins added 16 helpers.
James Madison stopped 10 CCU kill attempts with Ayen Nhial, Reid, Smith, and Schnell stopping five, three, three, and three spikes at the net, respectively. Jaydyn Clemmer finished with 27 digs each, while Reid added 13 digs.
In the opening set, JMU opened the set with a 3-0 burst with the Chanticleers answering with a 4-0 spurt, highlighted by a pair of kills by Lesiak. The two teams traded the next five points to remain even at 6-6 before Coastal Carolina used an 8-2 surge for a 14-8 advantage, which included blocks by Van Elslande and Varani.
The Dukes outscored CCU 10-7 to trail 21-18 over the next 17 rallies before the Chanticleers took a 1-0 match lead with the 25-18 first-set victory with a 4-0 run, ignited by a Stout kill and capped off by the duo of Van Elslande and Unal teaming up for a block.
James Madison doubled up the Chants at 8-4 to lead in set number two. Coastal used a 7-3 surge to even the set at 11-11, highlighted by kills by Malone, Varani, Van Elslande, and Unal. The Dukes responded with a 6-2 run to retake the lead at 17-13. The Dukes outscored the visitors 8-3 for a 25-16 second-set win and evened the match at 1-1.
In the third set, CCU took an 8-3 lead, which included three kills by
Emily Fowler. The Chants used a 10-4 burst to increase the lead to 18-7, sparked by a JMU attack error and capped by an unforced Duke error. An 8-4 spurt by James Madison narrowed the deficit to 22-15 before a service error by the home team sparked a 3-1 run to give Coastal a 2-1 match lead with the third set 25-16 win.
In set number four, the two teams traded the first 19 points with CCU leading 10-9 before the Dukes jumped to the lead with a 3-0 burst. The Chants answered by scoring five straight points to lead 15-12, highlighted by three kills by Stout.
JMU evened the match at 18-18 by outscoring the Chanticleers 6-3. After a kill by Malone, James Madison scored six consecutive points to lead 24-19 before a 3-0 run by Coastal closed Dukes' lead to 24-22, which included kills by Stout and Van Elslande. An unforced CCU error evened the match at 2-2 as the Dukes won 25-22 in the fourth set.
In the final set, the Chanticleers opened a 6-2 lead, sparked by a Duke error and topped off by a Malone kill. James Madison answered with a 6-2 surge to even the match at 8-8 before the two teams traded the next four rallies to remain deadlocked at 10-10. The Dukes outscored Coastal 5-2 to pick up the 3-2 match win with a 15-12 fifth-set victory.
Coastal Carolina will remain in Harrisonburg, Va., as the Chanticleers will meet James Madison on Saturday, Oct. 19. The opening serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. 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.
