CONWAY, S.C. – Leah Hardeman tallied 10 kills and a match-high 17 digs, and Coastal Carolina held Georgia Southern to minus .018 hitting for the match to record a 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-8) Sun Belt volleyball victory over the Eagles Friday night.

Cathrine Murray led Georgia Southern (12-16, 4-8) with six kills and eight digs, and Alex Beecher finished with 14 digs.

Annayka Legros tallied 12 kills and three blocks for Coastal Carolina (21-4, 12-1), while Tahleia Bishop added nine kills and a block. Carla Cahill finished with 15 digs.

The story
The Eagles trailed 8-3 early in the first set but used a 6-1 spurt to tie the score 9-9. Lauren Reichard was in on a pair of blocks during the run, and Katie Bange posted a kill and assisted on a block. The Chanticleers pushed ahead again by scoring five straight points before GS made a late run. A kill by Megan Chevalier trimmed the margin to 23-20, but Hardeman put down a kill and Legros added a block to finish the set.

Coastal Carolina never trailed for the rest of the match, and the Chanticleers held the Eagles to a combined minus .129 hitting percentage in the second and third sets.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We didn't start our road trip as planned, and we did not play very well tonight. We fought back in the first set after some poor play, and our kids did a good job adjusting in the first set."

"We didn't pass well enough for our setters to get in rhythm tonight with our hitters, and it was a struggle in sets two and three. I'm proud of our kids for pushing through the struggles that we had. We didn't give up when things were not going our way. Coastal is a great team. They were just more consistent in everything they did."

"We have big matches tomorrow and Sunday, and we have to play a lot better in the next two matches to put ourselves in a position to win."

Next up
The Eagles continue their stretch of playing four matches in five days in three cities when they travel to Appalachian State for an 8 p.m. contest Saturday.

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