FOLEY, ALA. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers comeback bid fell short with a 3-2 (25-12, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12) five-set loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves in Foley, Ala., on Friday evening in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship tournament.
Coastal (13-17) saw
Jalyn Stout finish with a team-high 21 kills to lead the Chanticleer offense, while
Agata Lesiak and
Emma Van Elslande finished with 11 and 10 kills and
Emily Fowler added eight.
Ava Wallis tallied a team-high 29 assists, while Stout had 24 helpers. Fowler led the Chants with five service aces, as Wallis (3) and
Emma Van Elslande (2) combined with Fowler for 10 of Coastal's 11 service aces.
Defensively, CCU totaled nine blocks as Fowler matched her career-high with seven blocks, while Stout, Lesiak, and
Dilara Unal finished with three, two, and two blocks, respectively.
Sydney Lewis tallied a team-high 23 digs to help the offense get back on track, while Stout (15) finished with double-digit digs. Stout recorded a NCAA record 20th triple-double of the season and 34th of her career.
Arkansas State (25-4) was led by Kaitlin Whitlock, Devyn Lewis, and Grace Wiley with 25, 18, and 13 kills, respectively, while Daedrianna Cail and Addison Collum tallied five spikes each. Erin Madigan finished with a match-high 34 helpers, while Valeria Ortiz and Sarah Martinez added 24 and 10 assists, respectively.
The Red Wolves stopped six Chanticleer kill attempts with Haley Glunz making four stops, while Cail and Wiley had two blocks. Martinez (26), Whitlock (15), and Madigan (13) combined for 54 of A-State's 83 digs.
In the first set, the two teams traded the first 10 rallies to remain even at 5-5 before the Red Wolves 5-2 spurt to take a 10-7 lead. After a Chanticleer point, Arkansas State increased its lead to 17-9 with a 6-1 surge. A-State outscored the Chants 8-3 to take a 1-0 match lead with the 25-12 first-set win.
After going back and forth for the first 20 points to remain deadlocked at 10-10, the Red Wolves used a 6-1 burst to take a 16-11 advantage. Coastal responded with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to two at 17-15 before the two teams traded the next 11 rallies with the Chants trailing 23-20. Arkansas State scored the two final points for the 25-20 second-set victory.
The Red Wolves raced to an 8-2 lead before Coastal answered with a 3-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 8-5, highlighted by a solo block by Fowler. A-State scored three straight points before a 6-2 Chanticleer spurt cut the lead to 13-11, ignited by Fowler and Lesiak teaming up for the block and capped by a service ace by Lewis.
The next 12 points went back and forth with Coastal outscoring the Red Wolves 7-5 to even the score at 18-18, which included a pair of kills by Stout. After Arkansas State took a 20-18 lead, the Chanticleers used a 3-0 run to take a 21-20 lead, highlighted by two service aces by Fowler. CCU doubled A-State 4-2 to win the third set 25-22.
Despite trailing the match 2-1, Coastal battled from a 5-2 deficit to lead 11-7, sparked by a Van Elslande kill and capped by a kill by Stout. The two teams traded the next six rallies before a 4-0 spurt by the Chanticleers increased the lead to 17-11, which included a pair of Stout kills. The Red Wolves cut the Coastal lead to 20-21 with a 9-4 burst only to see the Chants even the match at 2-2 with the 25-20 fourth-set win with a 4-0 run, which included a pair of kills by Stout.
Arkansas State opened the fifth and deciding set with a 4-1 spurt before Coastal answered with a 4-1 surge to even the match at 5-5, ignited by a Red Wolf miscue and capped with the tandem of Lesiak and Fowler teaming up for a block. A-State scored five consecutive points before the Chanticleers fought back to trail 11-10, which included two kills by Stout. The Red Wolves outscored Coastal Carolina 4-2 to win the fifth set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
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.
