Sunday, November 13
Coastal Sweeps South Alabama on Senior Day
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team closed the regular season Sunday afternoon at the HTC Center with a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-18, 25-11) of South Alabama. It was also senior day for the Chanticleers as Natasa Savovic, Tahleia Bishop and Annayka Legros played their final matches at home.
The Chanticleers (24-4, 15-1) begin their first-ever Sun Belt Conference tournament on Nov. 18 in Arlington, Texas, as the No. 2 seed after capturing the conference's East Division title. Arkansas State (23-7, 15-1) earned the tournament's top seed as the West Division champions while holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chants.
Coastal enters the conference tournament riding a 13-match winning streak, including straight-sets victories in each of their last eight matches.
The final tournament seedings will be released by the Sun Belt Conference Sunday evening at the conclusion of the day's matches. Please check SunBeltSports.org to read the full announcement.
Savovic made the most of her final appearance in front of a home crowd, tying for the match lead with 16 kills while hitting .306, and adding 16 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Not to be outdone, Leah Hardeman also put down 16 kills, and added a hitting percentage of .519 with a match-high of 20 digs for her 12th double-double this year.
Kate Federico and Sara Boothe provided 22 and 18 assists, respectively, while defensive specialist Carla Cahill totaled 15 digs.
Coastal recorded six team blocks with middle blocker Dora Lulic leading the way with three.
South Alabama claimed the opening points of the first and second sets, which were the only leads by the Jaguars for the entire match.
The Chants hit .307 as team while holding South Alabama to .096. Coastal's hitting got progressively higher as the match went along, culminating with a third-set hitting percentage of .467.
Savovic put down six shots in both the first and second sets before closing the match with four in the final frame. Hardeman also had six in the opening game, and followed with five apiece in the second and third.
South Alabama opened the match hitting .100 in the first frame, but dropped down .059 in the third as the Chants recorded three blocks and received four digs apiece from Cahill and Federico to close out the match.
Coastal's current 13-match winning streak is the second longest in program history behind the 18-match winning streak the 2015 Chanticleers closed the regular season with.
Seniors Lead Troy Volleyball in Comeback Win
BOONE, N.C. – Troy's three seniors combined for 43 kills in a five set (25-21, 25-27, 26-28, 25-16, 15-11) come-from-behind win against Appalachian State on Sunday afternoon at the Holmes Convocation Center.
Troy (10-23, 4-12 Sun Belt) won the first set with a 25-21 victory. In the set, Troy hit .229 as a team and had 14 kills. Appalachian State (4-25, 2-14 Sun Belt) won the next two sets, 27-25 and 28-26, and took a two set to one lead.
In the fourth set, the Trojans recorded 16 kills and hit .405 as a team with two service aces. That led Troy to a 26-15 fourth set victory. The fifth set saw six ties and two lead changes, but the Trojans used a late run to clinch the match.
QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of our team and so happy to send our seniors out with a win," Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "The three of them came through in a big way today."
TURNING POINT
The Trojans closed off the fourth set on a 12-3 run on the way to a 25-16 win. That run continued in the fifth set, where Troy took a 3-0 lead and ended the match on a 5-1 run with the set tied at 10.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Symone Shaw recorded a season-high 16 kills and had a .353 hitting percentage. Leah Causey chipped in with 15 kills, second on the team, and had a team-high .462 hitting percentage. Sara Landis capped off the match with 12 kills and had a .233 hitting percentage. The seniors also combined for four total blocks.