IOWA CITY, Iowa - Indiana State volleyball dropped its opening match of the Hawkeye Classic to Coastal Carolina, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 26-24) Friday morning in Iowa City.
 
Potomac, Illinois native Laura Gross finished with a team-high 12 kills but those kills did not come easy. Gross, the team leader in kills for the Sycamores, was held without a point in the first set for the first time this season.
 
The Sycamores (1-3) struggled early, hitting just .111 in the opening frame while Coastal Carolina could not miss offensively, hitting an astounding .467. The Sycamores battled to a 7-7 tie before the Chants went on a 14-2 run to take a commanding lead and cruise to the opening set victory, 25-16. Senior Sarah Peterson led the way for the Trees in the first set with five kills.
 
The second set was much of the same for Indiana State as the Coastal Carolina (2-1) offense continued to pave the way to a 25-16 win.
 
It wasn't until the third set that ISU was able to really get things going offensively. The Sycamores finished the set with a .244 attacking percentage but came up just short, falling 26-24. ISU did rally to make it interesting as they trailed 21-15 before Peterson, Rachel Griffin, Damadj Johnson and Laura Gross all recorded kills to close it to 23-21.
 
Freshman Lindsey Wilkins tied the set at 24 with one of her three kills in the match to force the Chants into a timeout. Coastal would come out of the timeout and score two of the next three points to secure the victory.
 
In total, Indiana State finished with just 35 kills on the match while Coastal went for 53 kills and a .358 hitting percentage. Gross recorded her second double-double of the season with a 12 kill and 16 dig performance. Griffin assisted on 29 of the team's 35 kills while Stephanie Bindernagel tallied 13 digs.
 
The Sycamores will look to bounce back in the nightcap (Sep. 1) at 6 p.m. against Omaha.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.