NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball handed Coastal Carolina its first Sun Belt loss of the season as the Monarchs earned a four-set victory on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
The match was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
"It was great, it was a bit of a release of pent-up energy since we got back from James Madison," said head coach Fred Chao. "We learned our lessons and we really tried to focus on developing our game a little bit more clean."
ODU 3, CCU 1
Teresa Atilano reached a career milestone on the night as the San Diego, California native eclipsed 2,000 career assists. Needing 23 assists coming into the match, she nearly doubled that amount with 43 assists. Atilano's other match totals included two kills, three aces, five blocks and six digs.
On Atilano's milestone and effort in the match, Chao added,"Teresa did a fantastic job of running the offense and locating the ball. We're really proud of her for that. Two thousand career assists is a lot, but she's earned every single one of them. It's not easy to be out there. At times our passing struggled and she had to make some hittable balls there. She did a much better job of that tonight."
Myah Conway paced the attack as she scored 17 kills while swinging for a .483 clip. Ashley Peroe converted eight of her attacks while Hailey Duncan and Bailey Burgess tallied seven kills each. Burgess was the top blocker for ODU with seven, Duncan recorded five blocks and Conway made four. Anna Burkhardt also had a career night with 20 digs.
The Monarchs (8-10, 3-2 Sun Belt) dominated their opponent at the net with 14 total blocks to Coastal's two. ODU also earned more points (69.0-62.0) and posted more digs (42-35).
It was clear from the start of the match that ODU was locked in. With nine straight points to begin the opening set, it marked the best start to a match in ODU program history. The team's previous best start was an 8-0 run in its first-ever match against George Mason on Jan. 22, 2021. Two Atilano service aces and three kills by Mati highlighted the offensive spurt and the Monarchs cruised to a 25-12 decision.
A Burgess ace put ODU in front 5-4 in the second set, but then earned six straight points and never looked back. A 25-15 tally allowed the Chanticleers (14-6, 6-1 Sun Belt) to knot the match at a set apiece. The third set remained tight for most of the way, but ODU used a late 3-0 run to grab another set at 25-19.
Set Four was a battle that featured 13 ties and three lead changes. Atilano and Duncan denied a CCU attack to give the Monarchs a 16-12 advantage, but the visitors wrestled away the lead with a 5-0 run. With the score even at 22-22, Atilano assisted Peroe on a kill before Mati dropped in a cross-court shot that made it 24-22. Atilano and Duncan then combined on another block attempt to secure the match point.
Up Next
ODU and Coastal Carolina are back at the ODU Volleyball Center tomorrow for the second match of their conference series. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Monarchs Best Chanticleers in Four Sets on Friday
