RALEIGH, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 13-25, 14-25) to the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (VCU) at the James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 3-7 on the season, while the VCU Rams improved to 2-6 overall with the win.
Coastal was led by
Emily Fowler, as the sophomore finished with nine kills, while
Jalyn Stout tallied seven put-downs. Stout finished with a team-high 18 combined assists with
Cagla Bengi adding eight helpers.
Defensively, CCU totaled 11 blocks as
Dilara Unal totaled six stops with
Valentina Varani,
Agata Lesiak, and
Lauren Malone stopping three kill attempts each at the net. Fowler (11) and
Sydney Lewis (10) combined for 21 of the team's- 43 digs.
The Rams were led by Jasmine Knight and Julia Rienks, who each had 16 kills, while Kalina Pylinska and
Alicja Jaryszek tallied seven kills apiece. Cansic Sendir finished with a match-high 41 assists.
Virginia Commonwealth stopped 12 kill attempts with Knight making eight stops and Jaryszek tallied four blocks, while Canja Kujundzic (17), Jaryszek (13), and Rienks (11) had double-digit digs.
In the opening set, the Chanticleers jumped out to a 5-2 lead on kills by Malone, Lesiak, and Fowler before doubling the Rams at 12-6 with a 7-4 spurt, highlighted by a pair of kills by Stout. Coastal increased its lead to 17-7 with a 5-1 run, ignited by a service ace by Stout and capped by a spike by Fowler.
After a 3-1 spurt by VCU, CCU scored three straight points that included two service aces by Bengi to lead 21-10. Coastal Carolina outscored the Rams 5-3 to claim a 1-0 match lead with the 25-13 set-one victory.
In the second set, the two teams traded the first 28 rallies to remain deadlocked at 14-14 before the Chants pushed in front 16-14 on a Unal service ace and a kill by Fowler. The Rams scored seven unanswered to lead 21-16 which forced CCU to call both of its timeouts of the set. VCU evened the match at 1-1 by outscoring the Chanticleers 4-2 over the final six rallies of the set to win 25-18.
Virginia Commonwealth raced to a 13-3 lead before a kill by
Siri Engstrom and a block by Engstrom and
Leah Olsen cut the deficit to 13-5. After trading the next 14 points, the Rams maintained their eight-point advantage at 20-12 before scoring five of the next six points to take a 2-1 match lead with the 25-13 victory.
In the final set, VCU raced to a 6-2 advantage before Coastal battled back to trail 7-5, sparked by a Malone kill and an unforced Ram miscue. The Chanticleers evened the score at 9-9 with a 4-2 surge, as Varani and Lesiak teamed up for a block. The Rams used a 9-1 burst to take an 18-10 lead before winning the match 3-1 with a 7-3 run for the 25-14 fourth-set win.
Coastal Carolina will remain in Raleigh, N.C., for a meeting with the host NC State on Sunday, Sept. 22 for the contest of the final match of the Summit Hospitality Group Open. 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.
