CONWAY, S.C. --- Senior Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) posted a double-double and three Gardner-Webb hitters tallied double-digit kills as a late Runnin' Bulldog rally fell just short against host Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinal round of the Big South Conference Tournament on Thursday evening.
Coastal Carolina (23-6) won the match by scores of 25-15, 25-20, 22-25 and 25-20, attacking at a .262 clip while holding Gardner-Webb (12-21) to a hitting percentage of .158 on the night. The Chanticleers tallied eight blocks in the contest as the teams combined for 155 digs, 106 kills and more than 320 attack attempts.
"I am so, so proud of our team tonight," praised head coach Leo Sayles. "They played with heart and passion, and found a way to play with great poise after a rough start. We knew we could give them a good run, but it is hard to battle back from down 2-0. Coastal is a great team and their talent runs deep. I am still proud of the great team effort we put forth against a formidable opponent."
Tyra Montour (Kennesaw, Ga.) led the way for Gardner-Webb with 13 kills and a .270 hitting percentage, while Tyler Cockrell (Tulsa, Okla.) and Brianna Starr (Blue Springs, Mo.) added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Feldman tallied a double-double with 38 assists and 18 digs, as Anna Pashkova (Iowa City, Iowa) posted a match-high 22 digs. Kacy O'Connor (Southport, N.C.) chipped in 14 digs on the night.
"Seniors Tyler Cockrell and Heather Feldman both played tremendous tonight," continued Sayles. "Brianna Starr kept us in the match early when we struggled. Devin Judge stepped up at a critical point and helped settle the team down in set one. Tyra Montour finished with one of her best matches of the season, and Anna Pashkova was outstanding defensively."
Cockrell ends her storied Gardner-Webb career with 1,080 kills and 477 blocks, finishing tied for seventh on the Big South's all-time blocks list. The 5-9 middle finishes the season with career-highs in kills (343) and kills per set (2.79) while tallying 132 blocks.
Feldman caps her career at Gardner-Webb with 4,545 assists and 1,112 digs, ending her tenure as only the second player in program history to record 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs. The 5-10 setter finishes ranked second all-time in assists and sixth in digs, averaging 9.3 assists and 2.28 digs per set this season.
Leah Hardeman paced Coastal Carolina with a match-high 17 kills, while Katie Martin added 15 smashes and a .351 hitting percentage. Annayka Legros chipped in 13 kills and a .345 clip, as Jenna Orner posted 21 digs. Sam Skryd tallied a match-high 43 assists while Hardeman and Alexis Flynn recorded 18 and 13 digs, respectively.
The Chanticleers started off strong, opening the first set with a 6-2 run before pushing the advantage to 15-7 on a kill by Hardeman. Coastal Carolina would close out the set from there, capping the frame with a 5-2 spurt to take a 1-0 lead in the match following a Hardeman smash.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fought back in the second, closing the early gap to 8-5 with a Starr smash before Coastal answered with a 5-0 spurt to push the margin to 13-5. Gardner-Webb would respond with a 13-6 run, cutting the lead to one at 19-18 following a Montour kill. Coastal quickly countered with six of the next eight points, holding on to win the set by a score of 25-20 after Legros tallied back-to-back kills.
Gardner-Webb kept fighting in the third, taking an early 10-9 lead on a smash from Cockrell. After Coastal countered with back-to-back points, the Runnin' Bulldogs answered with six straight tallies to stretch the margin to 16-11 following three consecutive smashes from Montour and Cockrell.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would continue to dictate play over the next several minutes, pushing the margin to 20-13 before Coastal clawed back with a 4-1 spurt to close the gap to 21-17. Coastal kept chipping away, trimming the lead to one at 23-22 before Gardner-Webb tallied back-to-back kills by Starr and Montour to cap the set and cut the Chants' lead to 2-1 in the match.
Coastal rebounded early in the fourth, jumping out to a 15-10 lead on the heels of an 8-4 run. Gardner-Webb would battle back with a 7-5 spurt, closing the gap to 20-17 before trimming the margin further to 21-19 on an ace from O'Connor that forced a Coastal timeout. The Chants came out of the break with a purpose, winning four of the next five points to squeak out the four-set victory following a smash by Martin.
Gardner-Webb is expected to return 12 letter-winners from this year's squad, including rising seniors Katie Loftin (Ooltewah, Tenn.), Devin Judge (Marietta, Ga.), Pashkova and Montour.
