CCU

Volleyball Earns a Share of Big South Regular Season Title With 3-2 Win Over Presbyterian

       

Volleyball Earns a Share of Big South Regular Season Title With 3-2 Win Over Presbyterian

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CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University volleyball team (25-8, 13-3 Big South) celebrated Senior Day by picking up its 25th victory of the season and earned a share of the Big South regular-season title with a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-10) victory over Presbyterian (10-20, 6-10 Big South) at Kimbel Arena.

Coastal Carolina, High Point and Liberty shared first place in the league entering today's matches. The Chanticleers and High Point picked up wins and await the result of Liberty's match tonight.  

The two squads were tied at 18-18 in the first set, before the Chants pulled ahead as sophomore Chelsy Kimes (Munster, Ind./Munster) knocked down a kill starting a four-point run, giving Coastal Carolina a 22-18 lead. Presbyterian recorded a kill to break the run, but the Chanticleers tallied three kills and took the set 25-19.

Presbyterian raced out to an 11-5 lead in the second frame, but the Chanticleers trimmed the lead to one point at 24-23. An error by Coastal Carolina handed the Blue Hose 25-24 victory in the second set.

Coastal Carolina built a 24-16 advantage in the third frame with a balanced attack. Presbyterian attempted a comeback tallying the next three points, but fell short as sophomore Megan Bickford (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) hammered home a kill to earn a 25-19 victory.

With the score tied at 10-10 in the fourth set, Coastal Carolina earned eight of the next nine points, going ahead 18-11. With the Chants leading 21-17, the Blue Hose used a six-point rally to take the lead 23-21. Fighting to push the match to a fifth set, PC's Lisa Shelley knocked down a kill for a 25-23 win, forcing a fifth set. 

The Chanticleers recorded the first four points in the fifth frame, but the Blue Hose cut the deficit to 7-6, pushing the Chanticleers to call a timeout. The set was tied at 8-8, but Coastal Carolina claimed seven of the next nine points to win the deciding set 15-10.

Kimes led the Chanticleers with 16 kills, while Presbyterian's Lisa Shelley tallied a match-high 19 kills. Junior Jill Nyhof (Alpharetta, Ga./Northview) had nine block assists and two solo blocks in the match.  

Coastal Carolina honored its two seniors, Brett Starbuck (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) and Kristin Wolf (Andover, Kan./Andover Central) after the match.

The Chanticleers will now head to the Big South Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Charleston Southern Friday, Nov. 21, in Asheville, N.C. The match is set for 2:30 p.m.