Coastal Clinches Top Seed in Sun Belt With Victory at Troy
TROY, Ala. - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team clinched the number one overall seed in the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championship Saturday evening with a 3-1 (25-27, 25-12, 25-21, 25-9) victory at Troy. It is the first time as a league member that the Chanticleers will enter the conference tournament as the top overall seed, and second time in as many years that CCU is the Sun Belt East Division champion.
Coastal closes the regular season 18-7 overall, and 15-1 in conference matches. With the top seed, the Chants automatically advance to the tournament semifinals, and will begin their quest to a Sun Belt title defense next Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT). The 2017 Sun Belt Championship will take place in Jonesboro, Ark., with Arkansas State serving as the host institution. All matches will be streamed on ESPN3.
Troy edged Coastal in extra points in the opening set, but the Chants stormed back to win the next three, including the second and fourth sets by double-digit margins.
Coastal hit at an efficient .307 pace for the match while limiting Troy to .051, the second straight match in which CCU has held its opponent under .100.
All 15 active Chanticleers saw action in the match.
Leah Hardeman led all players with 18 kills while hitting .395, and added a trio blocks. Kyla Manning nearly had a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs.
Kaylah House had a career performance with seven blocks to lead the match, and also contributed six kills at a .500 pace. Dora Lulic and Larissa Dos Santos had five blocks each as Coastal finished with 15 as a team.
Sydney Alvis paced the Chants with 17 digs, while Sara Boothe was the team's leader with 25 assists.
After dropping the first set, Coastal responded in a big way by closing the second set on a 12-3 run. The Chants then overcame seven ties and six lead changes in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The final set saw Coastal score 13 unanswered points to take an insurmountable 15-2 lead. Coastal hit at an impressive .391 pace in the final game while holding Troy to -.143.
The Sun Belt conference schedule wraps up on Sunday, and the final seedings and tournament bracket will be released shortly after. Also this week, the Sun Belt will release its all-conference team members and individual award winners. Continue to check back to GoCCUSports.com for Chanticleer volleyball updates leading up to the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championship.
HASH LEADS PANTHERS IN SWEEP OF SOUTHERN
ATLANTA- For the second time in just four days Georgia State volleyball defeated Georgia Southern in five sets (25-23, 25-18, 20-25, 18-25,15-10) ; this time led by sophomore outside hitter Morgan Hash. Hash finished the night with a career high 23 kills while hitting .381, along with two service aces and four digs.
The win gave GSU a clean sweep of Southern on the year and another half point in the Rivalry Series standings. State now leads the series 6.5-0.5.
“This was such an emotional match”, said head coach Sally Polhamus. “Last match of the season, hosting Southern, and our team came out in the first two sets and played high level volleyball.”
Georgia Southern led for the majority of the first set, but with the score 22-20 Eagles a kill by Shae Chapman would shift momentum. The Panthers would win five of the next six points and take a 25-23 first set.
A trio of four-point runs propelled GSU to a 25-18 win in the second stanza. The Panthers hit an impressive .406 in the set, lead by Hash’s seven kills.
Georgia Southern would respond and win a third set that saw eight ties and three lead changes. The Eagles momentum would carry into the fourth set where they would capture a victory hitting .304. GSU took the final frame in wire-to-wire fashion.
“Morgan Hash led the way with her 23 kills. We have been talking about go to players and she really stepped up with Sydney Stroud. Katie Creger was incredible as a stabilizer both Wednesday and today for us.”
Hash was not the only Panther to have a big night. Sydney Stroud posted 11 kills with a .364 hitting percentage. Crystal Lee also had 11 kills and added nine digs. Celeste Friesen tallied 28 digs to go with four assists. For the second straight match Katie Creger played big in the middle putting up seven kills to go with her five blocks.
The Panthers finished the season with a 10-19 record. Their 4-12 Sun Belt record tied them for eighth in the conference.