NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball played a couple of close sets and took the third set, 27-25, but the Monarchs dropped their Sun Belt series finale to Coastal Carolina, 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
“They’re definitely physical and they move well side to side. When they get us in a situation where we’re predictable, they’ve got a really solid block up there and we just have smaller left sides that need a different window to be effective against them,” ODU head coach Fred Chao said of Coastal Carolina’s defensive effort at the net.
ODU falls to 4-13 overall and 0-6 in the Sun Belt with the loss.
CCU 3, ODU 1
The Monarchs fell behind, 5-1 early in the opening set, but a block by Emma Schelah and Weronika Urbanska along with a kill by Urbanska helped trim the Chanticleers’ (6-9, 1-5) lead to 6-5. The visitors put together a couple of 4-0 runs though as Coastal claimed the first set point, 25-14.
ODU turned up the pressure with strong serving in the second set. Elisa Maggi served back-to-back aces to put the Monarchs in front, 8-3 and force a Coastal timeout. After the break, Leilani Lawrence put away a ball from Wiktoria Zagumny before Erica Duffy followed with another two aces that widened the gap, 11-4. CCU rattled off five unanswered points to trim the ODU lead to 12-10, but a Katie Rakoski kill and another ace from Ashlyn Gent created some separation, 16-11. The Silver and Blue looked to pull even in the match as another kill by Rakoski extended the ODU lead, 24-20, but the Chants countered with a 6-0 run to take another set point.
The Monarchs trailed 10-6 in the third set when Zagumny assisted Maggi on a kill. Schelah then teamed up with Zagumny and Lawrence on consecutive blocks and Maggi followed with an ace to even the score at 10-10. The set remained tight from there with multiple ties down the stretch. Down 20-19, Lawrence put ODU back in front with a pair of kills and Duffy served another ace to send CCU back to its bench. The Chants fought back to even the set at 24-24 and again at 25-25, but a Rakoski kill and an attack error by CCU’s Hatteras Welker kept the match going.
ODU held a narrow 5-4 advantage in the fourth set when Coastal took off with a 7-1 push. Lawrence terminated a ball from Zagumny to end the run at 11-7, but the Chants outscored the Monarchs, 8-1 to go up, 19-8. Old Dominion couldn’t recover, and the guests secured match point at 25-13.
Lawrence and Rakoski paced the Monarchs with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Zagumny tallied 31 assists, and Maggi and Duffy served three aces each. Gent led the back row with 10 digs, Schelah made five blocks, and Zagumny followed with four blocks.
ODU served more aces than CCU, 8-6, but the visitors held the advantage in every other category, including 20 blocks to the Monarchs’ seven. Coastal also hit a combined .255, while ODU swung for a -.025 clip. There were 13 ties, seven of them in the third set, and just five lead changes.
“Serving wise, we definitely stepped up to the bar,” added Chao. “We definitely served tougher tonight than we did yesterday and kept them off balance, but even their out-of-system sets put their pins in a good position. Our block wasn’t up to snuff, which made it harder for us to dig.”
Up Next
The Monarchs will be in Atlanta, Georgia next weekend for a Sun Belt series against divisional foe Georgia State. The first match versus the Panthers is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, and the second match will begin at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 17.
“We’ve got to get angry and make some changes. Until we do that, we’re going to keep beating our heads against the wall. So the message is that if you’re upset or sad, get angry. Usually when you’re angry ,you’re motivated to do something and we need to be motivated to change some of the things we’re doing.”