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FOLEY, Ala. – The Louisiana Volleyball team’s progress in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament was halted by Coastal Carolina which got the critical scoring spurts and the critical moments in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) win for the Chants on Friday, November 17 at the Foley Events Center.

Coastal (20-9), the SBC East No. 1 seed and overall champion, flipped the script on Louisiana (19-13) in the opening set by erasing a 16-13 deficit with a 6-1 run to claim the lead for good on the way to getting on the board first.

In Set 2, the Chants found a momentum shift in the latter stages once again. After the Cajuns closed within 17-15, it was a 4-1 mini-run that included a pair of aces that gave Coastal breathing room to claim the 2-0 match lead.

Louisiana had a fourth set in its grasp in Set 3, rolling out to an 8-5 start and recovering to even the frame at 15-all out of the media timeout. However, the Chants found the late-set surge once again with a 5-1 run that opened a 20-16 edge and had the Cajuns chasing to stay alive.

Ultimately it was Coastal’s offense, which produced 49 kills on .324 hitting, and a defense that out-dug UL 57-44 that was able to fend off a Ragin’ Cajuns battle that caused the Chanticleers to scratch for every point. CCU fired off match-bests of 19 kills and a .447 percentage to close out the straight sets sweep.

The Cajuns offense wasn’t able to get comfortable after the opening set slipped away, hitting sub-.100 the final two sets. The defense though kept pushing, collecting 18 digs per set down the stretch in an attempt to extend the match.

Louisiana was bested on a neutral court for only second time in eight outings the 2023 season and rounded out Sun Belt Tournament play at 1-1 for the third straight season with head coach Kristi Gray.