NORFOLK, Va. – After a near two-week hiatus, Old Dominion volleyball returned to the court as the Monarchs started off Sun Belt play with a 3-1 win over Coastal Carolina on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
ODU has now won nine in a row and improves to 12-2 overall with a 1-0 mark in conference. The Monarchs were scheduled to begin league play at Georgia Southern last weekend, but the team’s matches versus the Eagles were canceled due to the impact of Hurricane Helene on Statesboro.
“I thought we came in with an edge and really prepped well to compete today,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao. “Those first two sets really showed that. I think in the third set we definitely dropped off, especially in our serving and passing game, and we paid the price for that. We were able to regroup for the fourth set and put the pressure back on with our serving game.”
ODU 3, CCU 1
The Monarchs trailed 3-1 early in the first set, but a Hailee Blankenship kill and three straight service aces by Emma Schelah helped ODU take over at 6-3. Ashlynn Belcher scored a ball from Blankenship to open up a 5-1 run that pushed the lead to 15-9. The Chanticleers (6-8, 2-1) couldn’t come up with a response and another ace by Schelah clinched the set point at 25-16.
Block assists by Schelah, Myah Conway, LeeAnne Lowery and Belcher helped the home team establish an 11-3 lead to start the second set. CCU’s Emma Van Elslande served an ace to get the guests to within 14-9, but ODU remained out front and took a two-set lead with another 25-16 decision.
Old Dominion owned a 5-3 advantage in the third set, but a Van Elslande kill and service ace opened up a 5-0 run that allowed the Chants to jump ahead. Belcher then assisted Lowery, but a service error by Blankenship allowed Coastal to put together a 6-0 stretch as ODU fell behind, 14-6. The visitors capped off the set with four-straight points and a 25-12 total.
A solo block by CCU’s Jaylyn Stout knotted the fourth set at 3-3 early. Bryanna Jones responded with a kill as ODU retook the lead, and a pair of Elisa Maggi kills, another kill from Jones and a Belcher service ace gave the Monarchs some separation at 10-5. Following a couple of Chanticleer timeouts, three-straight aces by Elisabeth Levick highlighted a 6-0 stretch as Old Dominion went up 20-6. Conway and Schelah then brought the match to a close with a block that sealed the win with another 25-16 tally.
Conway tallied 16 kills while hitting for .414 on the night, and Maggi also reached double figures with 10 kills on a .240 clip. Belcher posted a 26-assist outing and six different Monarchs served an ace, led by Schelah with four and Levick with three. At the net, Lowery and Conway made four blocks each while Schelah was right behind them with three. The back row was led by Blankenship and Maggi at 11 digs each. Belcher added 10 digs to her totals for her sixth double-double of the season and Kate Kilpatrick contributed nine digs.
“We made some substitutions and were able to get our passing back in,” continued Chao. “I thought the people off the bench, Bryanna and Elisabeth and Alice [Munari], they did a great job. And we told them that at the beginning. It’s going to take more than just our first group to win this.”
The Monarchs continued their strong serving as they collected 12 aces compared to just two by the Chants. ODU also edged the visitors in points (61-56) and digs (57-54). Both teams recorded eight blocks and CCU gathered more kills (46-41) and more assists (44-38).
“I think that’s one of our identities as a team, that we can serve really tough. We can move the ball around and wherever we serve is going to be a tough serve, whether we’re driving serves or dropping serves. So we kind of hang our hat on that as a program.”
The match featured just six ties and only two lead changes. Coastal still leads the all-time series, but Old Dominion could pull even at 3-3 with another victory tomorrow.
Up Next
ODU and CCU are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they return the second match of their Sun Belt series. First serve from the ODU Volleyball Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.