CONWAY, S.C. – App State volleyball fell 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-19, 25-12) to No. 15 Coastal Carolina in its regular season finale on Friday.
Lexi Kohut led the Mountaineers (1-12, 1-12 SBC) with 10 kills and a pair of blocks.
Grace Morrison added nine kills,
Kara Spicer tallied seven kills and
Victoria Wilform finished with six kills.
Sophie Cain dished out 34 assists to go along with six digs.
Emma Reilly tallied a team-high 13 digs in the contest.
In the opening set, Coastal Carolina (16-0, 16-0 SBC) used a 6-0 run to build a 14-6 edge and pulled away to take the opening set 25-11.
In Set 2, App State scored four straight points to take a 4-1 lead, only to see Coastal Carolina answer with five straight to jump in front 6-4. The Mountaineers used a 3-0 spurt later in the set to take a 10-9 advantage, only to see the Chanticleers answer with three straight to take a 12-10 edge. Coastal Carolina pushed its lead to 17-13 and clung to a 22-20 lead late. But the Mountaineers stormed back, getting three kills from Kohut over a four-point span to take a 24-22 edge. Following a Chanticleer point, the Black and Gold used a Coastal Carolina attack error to clinch the set 25-23 and knot the contest at a set apiece.
The Chanticleers took a 9-7 lead in the third, but App State used kills from
Madison Baldridge and Morrison to tie the score at 9-9. Following two Coastal Carolina points, the Black and Gold scored four of the next five points, capped off by a Spicer kill, to take a 13-12 lead. Coastal Carolina used a 3-0 spurt later in the set to take an 18-15 advantage and closed the set on a 4-1 run to take the frame 25-19 and jump in front 2-1.
Coastal Carolina took control of the fourth set early, scoring six consecutive points to take a 6-1 lead. The Chanticleers pushed their lead to 12-3 thanks to a 4-0 run and opened a 17-6 edge. App State responded with a 4-0 run to pull within 17-10. From there, the Chanticleers won eight of the final 10 points to clinch the set and match.
Anett Nemeth had 20 kills for the Chanticleers and Ani Bozdeva added 13.
The Mountaineers will now shift their focus to the Sun Belt Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Foley, Ala. Opponents and times will be announced by the conference at a later date.
