Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Coastal Carolina
XU Grinds Out Five-Set Win Against Coastal Carolina
08.25.12 | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2012
CLEMSON, S.C. - After winning the first two sets of the match, Xavier had to come back from an early deficit in the decisive fifth set to defeat Coastal Carolina (25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25, 15-9). With the victory, Xavier improves to 2-0 on the year and Coastal Carolina drops to 0-2.
Four Musketeers posted double-digit kills in the match, led by Sarah Brown's 13. Amé White added 12 kills, Alex Smith chipped in 11 and Kelsey Dunaway provided 10. Aubree Smith notched her second-straight double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs. A 19-dig, 10-assist performance by Stephanie Vorherr provided Xavier with its second double-double of the match.
Xavier staked claim to the first set, 25-19, on the strength of four kills by Brown and three by Dunaway. Alex Smith chipped in a pair of blocks and two kills. The Musketeers hitting percentage for the set was .423, compared to .08 for the Chanticleers.
Coastal Carolina used a 7-2 run to put Xavier down 17-12 in the second stanza, but the Musketeers countered with a 13-4 run to win the set, 25-21. XU finished the set hitting .444 and limited Coastal Carolina to .103.
The Chanticleers jumped out quickly in the third set, building a 17-11 lead and forcing the Musketeers to take a timeout. A pair of errors out of the timeout pushed Xavier to an eight-point deficit. XU regrouped to pull with three at 22-19, but were unable to complete the comeback and dropped the set, 25-21. After posting a combined five attacking errors in the first two sets, Xavier had eight miscues in the third set alone.
The fourth set opened up similarly to the third, with Coastal Carolina jumping out to a quick four-point lead, 7-3. Xavier called a timeout with Coastal Carolina still holding the four-point advantage at 18-14. However, the Chanticleers closed out the set, 25-22, to push the match to a fifth set.
Xavier began the final frame, 2-1, but four-straight points by the Chanticleers caused a Musketeers' timeout. XU responded with a 9-3run to grab control of the set and forced Coastal Carolina to call a timeout. The timeout wasn't enough to stop Xavier's momentum and the Musketeers finished the match with a 15-9 win in the final set.
Xavier will play host-school Clemson in the final match of the Big Orange Bash tonight at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast in HD by TigerCast on ClemsonTigers.com. A link to the stream can also be found on the volleyball schedule on GoXavier.com. This will be the first meeting between the two universities.
