NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball overcame a slow start and earned another 3-1 victory over Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the ODU Volleyball Center.
The Monarchs kept their win streak alive, securing their 10th win in a row while improving to 13-2 overall with a 2-0 start in Sun Belt Conference play. The team is now one win away from tying the program’s single season win record of 14, which was set last year.
“Today was tough,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “It was a lot of grit and resilience. Our ability to stay together and work together is paying off in some of these really tight situations. We came out really poorly in that first set, so to be able to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and get after it again was really good.”
ODU also ties the all-time series with CCU at 3-3.
ODU 3, CCU 1
The Monarchs fell short in the first set, 25-12. They fell behind early 8-4 and looked like they were gaining some momentum as a couple LeeAnne Lowery kills helped trim the Chanticleers’ (6-9, 2-2 Sun Belt) lead to 8-7. However, CCU took off again as a couple Jalyn Stout service aces put the visitors up 15-8. ODU couldn’t catch the Chants from there as the guests won nine of the final 10 points to close out the set.
ODU got off to a better start in the second set as Myah Conway scored an attack attempt and Elisa Maggi followed with back-to-back aces for an early 3-0 lead. The set remained close with 10 ties and four lead changes as neither team could pull away. With the set even at 22-22 thanks to an Emma Schelah kill, an attack error by Stout and a Hailee Blankenship kill put ODU in front, 24-22. The Chants responded as Lauren Malone assisted Agata Lesiak, but Conway put away a ball from Ashlynn Belcher to win the set, 25-23.
The Monarchs would take the overall lead with a 25-20 tally in the third set. Alice Munari helped set the tone with three kills as the home team started the set, 5-1. Another intense set with the chants taking the lead at 12-11 with kills and hitting errors by the Monarchs. CCU was able to pull even at 11-11 thanks to a of aces by Stout and later forced an ODU timeout when they went up, 18-15. The Chants couldn’t hold off the Monarchs though as an 8-1 swing allowed ODU to claim another set.
Asked about Munari’s contributions, Chao commented, “She’s an experienced player and she can be explosive when she wants and needs to be. You’ve got to hold her back a little bit and then she becomes this other player. And then when you let her go, she knows what to do. It’s great to have her in the lineup as well.”
The fourth set was tied at 5-5 when CCU’s Lesiak scored an attack and Siri Engstrom recorded a solo block to give the Chants control. However, Bryanna Jones helped ignite a 9-0 run by the Monarchs with four kills. A few rallies later, Jones and Lowery made a block to make it a 15-10 ODU advantage. The Monarchs continued to pull away, going up 23-16 on a kill from Elisa Maggi. Coastal still showed a little fight with a pair of late kills that trimmed the ODU lead to 23-18, but kills by Maggi and Munari helped clinch the victory with a 25-19 final.
Seven different Monarchs recorded a kill, led by Munari with nine while hitting .412 on the day and Maggi finishing with eight kills. Belcher posted a 19-assist performance, Elisabeth Levick also had double-digit assists with 10, and Maggi served three aces. Lowery once once again led ODU at the net with six blocks, while Conway and Schelah made three blocks each. The back line was led by Kate Kilpatrick with 14 digs.
ODU combined to hit .184 in the match, but turned in a .261 clip in the second set and finished strong with a .467 hitting percentage in the fourth set. CCU led in most of the team stats, but ODU edged the visitors in blocks 9-8. Both teams tallied 39 digs in the match.
Up Next
ODU will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12 when the Monarchs host App State. The series will mark the team’s Dig Pink Weekend as Old Dominion partners with the Side-Out Foundation.