GWU Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets at Coastal Carolina
October 26, 2013 | Volleyball
Conway, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team saw its three-match winning streak snapped on Friday night, as the Runnin' Bulldogs were unable to slow down the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina who defeated GWU in straight sets, 3-0, in Big South action in Conway, S.C.
Gardner-Webb fell to Coastal Carolina 25-9, 25-8, and 25-15 to fall to 14-12 overall and 5-3 in the Big South. The win pushes the Chanticleers to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the League.
"Tonight we learned the hard way that no team takes us for granted anymore," Coach Leo Sayles stated. "We have to prepare harder, work harder, and focus on the next match, not the standings. We are still in a good position in conference and we have a great opportunity to play in front of our own fans next week. We will be ready for High Point and Campbell."
Seven different Runnin' Bulldogs recorded at least one kill on Friday night, as senior Erin Anderson led the way with five, while freshman Taylor Lillard added four off the bench. Libero Anna Pashkova tallied 12 digs on the night, while setter Heather Feldman dished out 12 assists in the loss.
On the other side of the net, the hot-hitting Coastal Carolina Chanticleers hit .459 overall as a team and were led by Gabriella Horvath's match-high 12 kills and Lian Bernett's nine. Setter Lauren Alejo passed out 35 assists, while libero Lindsay Gill tallied 14 digs in the win.
Coastal Carolina started the match off with an offensive burst, as the home team recorded five kills en route to a 7-0 run to start the first set.
After a Chanticleer service error put the Runnin' Bulldogs on the scoreboard at 7-1, Coastal Carolina's Bernett and Horvath posted back-to-back kills to jump start a 10-4 run and push the home team out in front by 12 at 17-5.
Despite a GWU timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs could not slow down the Chanticleers' attack as Coastal Carolina finished the set out on an 8-4 run, picking up five kills and two service aces over that span to take a 25-9 first set win.
Gardner-Webb score the first point in the second set to take a 1-0 lead, but quickly saw Coastal Carolina score the next eight points and 13 of the next 15 to take a 13-3 lead on back-to-back GWU errors.
The Runnin' Bulldogs continued to struggle over the next several possessions, as a bad set, a reception error and two attack errors aided the Chanticleers momentum and helped push their lead out to 15 at 20-5.
GWU would pick up spikes from Emily Holte and Lillard over the next several rallies, yet still were unable to stop the Chanticleers at the net as the home team took the second set 25-8,
The pride of the Runnin' Bulldogs showed through in the third set, as Gardner-Webb took a 2-0 lead on an ace from Feldman and a kill from Anderson as the visitors refused to go down without a fight.
After Coastal Carolina took the lead at 3-2 on an Eszter Nagy kill, Gardner-Webb battled back to tie the score up at 4-4 on a Lillard kill and then once more at 5-5 on a Holte spike.
Nonetheless, the home team found its offensive rhythm once more, as Coastal Carolina busted out on an 8-1 run, highlighted by three straight kills from Horvath to take the lead at 13-6 and force a Gardner-Webb timeout.
Even with kills from Lillard and Brianna Starr, the Runnin' Bulldogs never got any closer than six for the remainder of the set as the Chanticleers pulled away late for the 25-15 third set win and the 3-0 match victory.
The loss is only the second for the Runnin' Bulldogs over its last 10 matches and only its second defeat in the month of October.
Gardner-Webb (14-12, 5-3 Big South) will return to action next week, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will host both Campbell and High Point in Paul Porter Arena.
###
| Box Score: Coastal Carolina 3, Gardner-Webb 0 |
