Box Score
    
CONWAY, S.C. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell in four sets (19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 19-25) at Coastal Carolina Sunday in a Sun Belt Conference East Division match at The HTC Center.

South Alabama (20-10, 11-5 Sun Belt) finished the regular season in second place in the Sun Belt East Division, while Coastal Carolina (23-5, 13-3 Sun Belt) clinched the East Division with the win. USA will return to action next week at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas.

 GAME FACTS
- A kill by Kelley Hartman early in set one tied the score at 4-4, but CCU went on a 4-0 scoring run to double its lead at 8-4. The Chanticleers later used a 5-1 run, aided by a pair of Jaguar bad sets and one attack error, to build a 15-9 advantage. CCU went on a 4-0 run late in set one for a 19-10 lead. The Jags then went on a 5-0 scoring run, which was aided by a trio of Chanticleer errors, to cut the Coastal Carolina lead to 20-16. CCU earned set point at 24-19 on a kill by Kayla Manning, and clinched the set 25-19 on a service ace by Brigitta Petrenko.
- USA tied the score 4-4 early in set two after a kill by Hannah Johnson, but CCU went on a 3-0 scoring run to take a 7-4 lead. A kill by Manning pushed the CCU lead to 10-6, but USA answered with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill and service ace by Iva Durdanovic and kill by Kelley Hartman, to cut the Chanticleer lead to 10-9. The Jaguars tied the score at 12-12 after a 4-0 scoring run that featured a kill and solo block by Hartman, and a service ace by Hannah Harris. The Chanticleers responded with a 3-0 run for a 15-13 advantage. CCU took a 19-18 lead on a kill by Mariia Levanova, but USA used kills by Johnson and Hartman to take a 20-19 lead. A kill by Hartman gave the Jags a 21-20 lead, but CCU took a 23-21 lead after a 3-0 run that was aided by a Jaguar service error and bad set. CCU earned set point at 24-22 on a solo block by Anett Nemeth, and clinched the set 25-22 on a kill by Levanova for a 2-0 lead in the match. 
- Coastal Carolina held a 2-1 lead early in set three before the Jaguars went on a 6-0 scoring run, highlighted by a pair of kills by Meaghan Jones and a service ace from Harris, for a 7-2 advantage. A 4-0 Jaguar run that featured a kill by Jones and service ace from Hartman pushed the USA advantage to 11-3. A kill by Nemeth midway through the set cut the Jaguar lead to 15-11, but USA answered with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill by Jones and block-assist from Rachael DeMarcus and Johnson, for an 18-11 advantage. South Alabama later earned set point at 24-17 on a solo block by Harris, and clinched the set 25-17 on a Chanticleer attack error to cut the CCU lead to 2-1 in the match.
- USA took a 9-8 lead in set four after a service ace by Meaghan Jones, but CCU answered with consecutive points for a 10-9 advantage. A kill by Kelley Hartman cut the CCU lead to 14-13, but the Chanticleers responded with a 4-0 scoring run to take an 18-13 lead. CCU held a 21-14 lead before a 3-0 Jaguar run, aided by a pair of Chanticleer attack errors, cut the USA deficit to four points at 21-17. Coastal Carolina earned match point at 24-18 on a service ace by Petrenko, and clinched the match 25-19 on a kill by Manning.

NOTES
- Jones recorded her second straight double-double, and third of the season, finishing with a team-high 13 kills and 10 digs, and also added one service ace.
- Durdanovic finished with 10 kills, one assist, one service ace, six digs and two total blocks.
- DeMarcus led the team with 43 assists, while Paige Lynn led the Jaguars with 15 digs.
- CCU recorded 12 total team blocks in the match, while USA finished with six total blocks.
- The Chanticleers posted a .377 team hitting percentage, while the Jags recorded a .258 team hitting percentage.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On the loss:
"I just want to first say how proud I am of our team. No, the outcome of the weekend wasn't' what we wanted, but the way we responded today after Friday is what I am proud of. Coastal is a phenomenal team, and at times we hesitated and made some mental errors in situations that broke our momentum. It's all a learning experience though. I am the type of coach who believes there is a such thing as an OK loss, and today was an OK loss. Coastal was just a little better than us today, but this weekend doesn't define where this program has come and we have great momentum and motivation going into the conference tournament weekend. We will fix our mistakes this week at practice, and we will be ready for whoever we face on Friday night."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action next week at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in San Marcos, Texas. 

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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