Sunday, Oct. 23
Antoine's Career Day Leads Cajuns to Win in Boone
BOONE, N.C. – Led by a career-high 18 kills from Nia Antoine, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team captured a 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 15-25, 25-16) win over Appalachian State at the Holmes Center on Sunday.
The win was the first for the Ragin’ Cajuns (8-16, 4-5 Sun Belt) in Boone. It also gave the squad a 1-1 mark on the current four-match road trip that wraps up next weekend at Texas State (Oct. 28) and UT Arlington (Oct. 29).
Antoine, who had at least four kills in each set, generated nine on 12 attempts through the first two frames as Louisiana marched out to a 2-0 match lead.
App State (3-19, 1-8 Sun Belt) benefitted from nine Ragin’ Cajuns attack errors in the third set to avoid the sweep.
Louisiana stormed back with 15 kills on a .379 hitting percentage in the fourth set to assure that the task wouldn’t be left unfinished. It was Antoine who broke the final tie of the match with a kill that provided the Ragin’ Cajuns a 5-4 lead.
Antoine came through again when the Ragin’ Cajuns needed the final push to put the Mountaineers away. Leading 17-14, Antoine threw down her final kill of the afternoon for the first of three straight points that opened a 20-14 advantage.
Louisiana finished with a 52-45 edge in kills and saw five starters post at least five. Stacey Reilly joined Antoine in double figures with 11 kills, Chanelle Gardner had eight, Chloe Cordell contributed seven and Katherine Young landed five.
Antoine reached double digits in kills for the third straight match and fifth time in Sun Belt play. The Acadiana High product closed out the weekend on the East Coast with 30 kills over seven sets (4.29 kills/set) while hitting .414 over 58 attack attempts.
Reilly collected her 18th outing of the season with double digit kills. Gardner increased her career kills total to 948, leaving her six shy of surpassing Lesley Mirarchi as the program’s rally scoring era leader.
Hannah Henry matched her season-high digs total with a team-high 15. Reilly scooped 14 digs to collect her team-leading 14th double-double of the season.
The Mountaineers were led offensively by outside hitter Melissa McMath who tallied a team-high 14 kills while Kennedy Wilson led all players with 17 digs.
Coastal Extends Win Streak With Sweep of ULM
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its seventh straight match Sunday afternoon as the Chanticleers swept visiting ULM in three sets (25-8, 25-18, 25-16) at the HTC Center.
Coastal (17-4, 8-1) posted impressive numbers across the board, nearly doubling ULM (8-19, 2-7) in every category including hitting percentage (.432 - .070), kills (43-22), assists (40-21), digs (44-26) and blocks (7-3).
Tahleia Bishop paced the Coastal attack with a .500 hitting percentage and match-leading 10 kills. Natasa Savovic followed with nine kills at a .389 pace, while Leah Hardeman and Dora Lulic both put down seven shots.
Sara Boothe provided 21 assists and finished second on the team with eight digs, behind only the 10 of Carla Cahill. Four Chants supplied blocks in the match, including two solos and an assist from both Hardeman and Annayka Legros.
Coastal started the match hitting .778 in a dominating first set, and followed with percentages of .282 and .417 in the second and third frames, respectively.
The Chants claimed the first six points of the match on the serve of Boothe before extending their lead to a commanding 15-3 margin.
The second set was tied at eight points apiece before Coastal went on a 9-3 run to pull away from the Warhawks. Savovic and Lulic each put down four kills in the frame, and four Chants total registered multiple kills.
The third set was likewise tied at 8-8, and once again the Chants strung together a dominating run to pull in front 19-12 and force ULM into a timeout. Savovic and Lulic led the Chants the rest of the way as each registered a pair of kills, and Savovic added a service ace.
Sunday's win gives Coastal a commanding lead in the Sun Belt East Division, as the next closest team entering the day's action was Georgia Southern at 11-12, 4-4. In the West Division, Arkansas State (17-7, 9-1) remains in front with Texas State (15-9, 8-1) close behind.
Coastal is on the road for its next pair of matches before returning to the HTC Center to close out the regular season with four straight home contests. The Chants' two-match road stretch begins Friday, Oct. 28 at South Alabama (6:30 pm CT), and concludes Oct. 29 at Troy (6 pm CT).