CCU

Volleyball Ends Season with 3-0 Loss to Liberty in Big South Semifinals

           

Volleyball Ends Season with 3-0 Loss to Liberty in Big South Semifinals

More Information:    

LYNCHBURG, VA -- Fourth-seeded Coastal Carolina volleyball (15-17) saw its season come to an end on Friday night (Nov. 16) as the Lady Chanticleers fell to top-seeded Liberty (25-7) 3-0 in the Big South Conference Tournament semifinals at Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va. Game scores were 16-30, 28-30, 26-30.

Coastal got off to a sluggish start and struggled throughout game one. The Lady Chants totaled nine kills, but were forced into 14 errors as the Lady Flames connected on 11 kills with only five errors.

After leading by as many as five during game two, Coastal was unable to contain two timely Lady Flame runs. A four-point run allowed Liberty to even the game at 20-20. Coastal tried to rebuild its cushion an eventually held a pair of three-point leads. However, Liberty used another four-point run to take a 28-27 lead. Coastal and Liberty traded points until the Lady Flames got the final two points they needed to win the game and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The Lady Chants rallied from a six-point deficit midway through game three in order to pull within two points. A kill from freshman Megan Bickford (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) allowed Coastal to come to within one and make it a 21-20 game. Coastal and Liberty traded points once again until a late three-point run by the Lady Flames gave them a large enough cushion en route to winning the match and advancing to Saturday's championship match.

Freshman Chelsy Kimes (Munster, Ind./Munster) and Bickford led Coastal with 11 kills each. Junior Brett Starbuck (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) and sophomore Meagan Tracey (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) each had a team-best eight digs. Meanwhile, Tracey totaled 31 assists and brought her single-season assist total to 1,320, which ranks fifth all-time among Coastal's single-season assists leaders. Tracey also had a team-best six blocks (one solo, five assist).

As a team, Coastal had 37 kills, 34 assists, 49 digs and 10.5 total blocks.

Nicki Scripko had a match-best 15 kills, while Jessica Nelson added 19 digs. Kallie Corbin tallied 38 assists. Liberty hit .208 and totaled 47 kills, 42 assists, 59 digs and 6.5 total blocks.