University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Coastal Carolina
Volleyball Falls in Big South Semifinals to Coastal Carolina
11.20.2009 | Women's Volleyball
RADFORD, VA. - UNC Asheville's dreams of a Big South Conference title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament ended on Friday night as fourth-seeded Coastal Carolina downed the top-seeded Bulldogs, 3-0 Friday night. The Chanticleers won the match 25-18, 25-18, 25-23.
Chelsy Kimes led CCU with 19 kills as the Chanticleers will meet second-seeded Liberty for the Big South Conference championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. It will be the second straight year the teams have met for the league title.
Asheville was led by Lauren Ficker and Kelsey Benorden with seven kills each. Raquel Miotto finished with 13 digs.
"This is a disappointing way to end a great season," commented Bulldog coach Julie Torbett. "We just could never get untracked tonight. We played better in the third set and was able to build a lead but then made some errors that allowed them to come back."
The Bulldogs simply couldn't get their offense going in the first two games. In the first set, the Chanticleers jumped out to a 5-1 lead and built the lead to 20-10 before a mild rally by Asheville allowed the to creep to 23-18. CCU got two kills from Kimes to end the set with a 25-18 win. The Chanticleers hit .500 in the first game with 19 kills in 34 attempts.
The second set was a little closer but the Bulldogs simply could never get a lead. The Chanticleers led throughout and made a 5-0 run to end the set and win 25-18. Asheville had a tough set with its hitting as it made nine errors in the set.
In the third set, the Bulldogs played much better and got kills from Ficker and Benorden and blocks from freshman Holly Shelton to build a 14-7 lead. However, the Chanticleers took advanatage of Bulldog errors plus two kills from Kimes to go on an 8-0 run to lead 15-14. The set went back-and-forth before another 3-0 run by CCU had them at match point at 24-21.
The Bulldogs staved off two points to close to 24-23 but a kill from Kimes ended the set and the match.
Asheville hit .167 in the third set and made Coastal hit just .093.
"Every time Coastal needed to get a point they got it, and we simply just couldn't get going," added Torbett. "After this loss wears off, we will realize what a great year we had but right now it's tough."
Asheville's 25-10 season is the fourth best record in school history. The Bulldogs also set a school record for league wins with 13.
