Duke Defeats Coastal Carolina, Kim Earns First Win

Friday, August 28

Conway, SC

6 p.m.

Duke University

1-0,0-0ACC

Coastal Carolina

0-1,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Duke	17	25	25	25	3
Coastal Carolina	25	20	19	23	1

Duke volleyball huddles after a point in its season opening win over Coastal Carolina on August 28

Duke Defeats Coastal Carolina, Kim Earns First Win

8/28/2026 9:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CONWAY, S.C. – Duke opened its 2026 campaign with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23) victory over Coastal Carolina on Friday night at the HTC Center. The win marked the first of Ahen Kim's tenure as head coach.

Duke (1-0) had big games from Ashby Zubchevich (13) and Taylor Williams (10), as the duo combined for 23 kills. Breonna Goss scored in efficient fashion, recording six kills on a .545 hitting clip while also recording six blocks.

On defense, the Blue Devils got double digit digs from Williams (12), Mailinh Godschall (11), Nikki Quinn (10) and Zubchevich (10). In addition to Goss, Avery Hamlin (3), Zoë Gillen-Malveaux (2), Quinn (2) and Williams (2) recorded multiple blocks.

Kim, the sixth head coach in program history, is now the fifth to win his debut on the Duke sidelines.

How it Happened

Set 1 – Duke 17, Coastal Carolina 25

Coastal Carolina got off to a strong start in the opening set, jumping ahead 6-2, forcing Duke to use a timeout. The Blue Devils were able to grab some momentum, winning six of the next nine points to make it a 9-8 deficit.
The Chanticleers went on a 7-0 run, extending their lead to 16-8 and putting the Blue Devils in a hole they couldn't dig out of.

Duke hit .000 in the opening set, recording eight kills and eight errors. Gillen-Malveaux had three kills on five attempts for the Blue Devils.

Set 2 – Duke 25, Coastal Carolina 20

Duke found itself in a much better rhythm in the second set, as it jumped ahead 4-1. After scoring the opening point of the frame, Duke did not relinquish the lead.
Leading 22-20, Duke won the next three points on a ball handling error, kill and Coastal Carolina attacking error to close out the set to record the first set win of the season.

Duke was much cleaner offensively, hitting .276. Williams led the Blue Devils attack with six kills on a .417 clip. Coastal Carolina hit .125 in the frame.

Set 3 – Duke 25, Coastal Carolina 19

Duke's momentum from the second set carried into the third, as the Blue Devils took seven of the first 10 points. Duke built its lead to 17-8 after a Chanticleer service error.
Coastal Carolina tried to claw its way back into it, but the Blue Devil advantage was never smaller than five.
The third set was by far the best for Duke, as it recorded 15 kills on 25 attempts with no errors for a .600 hitting percentage. Zubchevich had four kills in the frame, while Goss and Williams each added three.

Set 4 – Duke 25, Coastal Carolina 23

The fourth set came down to the wire, but Duke was able to grind it out and clinch the match victory with a perfect serve from Godschall.
The Blue Devils opened the set strong and seemed to be on a good path to victory, leading 16-10. Coastal Carolina wasn't going down without a fight, as it won seven of the next eight points to tie things up at 17. From that point on, the two teams went back and forth, and the Chanticleers took a 23-22 lead. However, Duke won the next three points to take the set and the match.

Each team hit .000 in the set, with Duke recording 10 kills, while Coastal Carolina had nine.

By the Numbers

A key to Duke's win was at the service line, as the Blue Devils had 10 aces compared to the Chanticleers five. Williams matched her career-high with four aces.
With 10 kills, Williams has now recorded double-digit kills in four consecutive games dating back to last season.
Quinn led Duke with 34 assists, with the team recording 45 total. The Blue Devils did not record a setting error. Coastal Carolina had 43 assists and five errors.
Both teams had 53 digs, while Coastal won the kill battle 46-45.
Coastal Carolina had 13.0 total blocks to Duke's 9.0.

Career Highs

Breonna Goss
- Set career high with seven total blocks.
Avery Hamlin
- Tied career high with two service aces and three total blocks.
Nikki Quinn
- Set a career high with 10 digs and tied career high with two total blocks.
Taylor Williams
- Set a career high with five service aces.

Up Next
Duke returns to the court on Saturday, as it takes on Queens (N.C.) at 3 p.m., in the HTC Center. Live stats will be available at GoDuke.com but the game will not be streamed.

#GoDuke