CONWAY, S.C.?UNC Asheville dropped its Big South opener at Coastal Carolina 30-21, 30-25, 30-26 on Friday night in Conway, S.C.
Lauren Ficker led the Bulldogs (6-12, 0-1 Big South) with 12 kills and two blocks while Kelsey Benorden recorded her fourth-straight double-double and ninth of the season with 10 kills and 12 digs. Alysha Greer added eight kills in her first match back from an injury but the Dogs managed to just .179 on the match.
Coastal Carolina (10-7, 2-0 Big South) hit .636 in the opening game and finished the match with a .315 attack percentage. Chelsy Kimes led all hitters with 19 kills and a .385 attack percentage. Nakia Thompson added nine kills for the Chanticleers.
Coastal used an early seven-point run at the beginning of game two to build a five-point lead and never looked back. The closest Asheville could climb was three points midway through the game.
The third game started out as a battle with Asheville eventually leading 10-7. However, Coastal took a 15-10 lead off an eight-point run that included three kills by Kimes, two kills Thompson and two service aces from Kristen Wolf. The Bulldogs pulled to within two off a kill by Bernorden to make it a 19-17 game in favor of Coastal. The Lady Chants responded with a four-point run that featured two service aces from freshman Megan Bickford. Coastal saw UNC Asheville try to come back with the Dogs pulling to within three points on two occasions late in the match Jill Nyhof put the match away with the winning kill.
Coastal out-dug Asheville 53-51 as Brett Starbuck led all diggers with 18 digs and Wolf had 15 digs. Asheville was led by Benorden and Raquel Miotto who each had 12 digs. The Lady Chants had nine aces on the match to just two for the Dogs.
Asheville will attempt to end a four match losing streak when it travels to Charleston Southern for a 4 p.m. match on Saturday. The match can be seen live on the Big South Edge at bigsouthsports.com.
