Coastal Carolina’s women’s volleyball defeated the University of North Carolina Wilmington 3-0 at home Wednesday night.
Throughout the first set, the Chants dominated offensively, but the score stayed relatively close.
Emma Van Elsande highlighted the first set with six kills, improving upon her previous season record of 12. Coastal took the first set 25-19, setting the tone for the match.
CCU setter Jalyn Stout continued to turn heads throughout the match, showing her versatility with 13 kills in 27 attack attempts. Anzley Rinard added six kills to the count while the Seahawk’s defense struggled to stop Coastal’s attack.
Middle Blocker Kayla Channell proved to be a reliable player for the Chants, contributing several powerful blocks and kills as part of the Chant’s defense.
“She hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time so when given the opportunity, she took advantage of it tonight. She had some great swings and some great blocks, so I’m very proud of her,” head coach Steve Loeswick said.
Chanell felt the pressure of the match but pushed through for the Chant’s defense.
“I feel really good,” Channell said. “I was really nervous at first, but I knew I just had to do what I usually do, and it feels really good to have my teammates by my side through the whole game.”
In the second set, the Seahawks pushed back, using timeouts and taunts to throw off the Chants’ game.
Despite using TikTok-inspired taunts to distract, the Seahawks fell short, 25-21.
The Seahawks led early in the third set, but Coastal’s defense tightened, and the offense played aggressively to end the third set in a sweep, 25-22.
The Chants reflected on their aggressive play and aim to continue implementing it in future matches.
“I think it’s going to be a whole team effort, just like leadership wise in general, because everybody needs someone to lean on at some point. And I think that’s going to be super important this weekend ‘cause it’s a really important game for us,” offensive leader Jayln Stout said.
Coastal Carolina looks to keep their momentum against James Madison University on Saturday, at 6 p.m. in the HTC Center.
