9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team begins Big South Conference play this weekend with a pair of matches at The HTC Center, hosting Winthrop for a 7 pm match on Friday and Presbyterian for a 1 pm contest on Saturday.
Coastal Carolina vs. Winthrop | Sept. 26, 7pm | HTC Center
Coastal Carolina vs. Presbyterian | Sept. 27, 1pm | HTC Center
Coastal Carolina: 10-3 (0-0 Big South)
Fast Start
-The Chanticleers enter this weekend's matches at the top of the Big South standings with a league-best .769 winning percentage.
-After losing two of their first three matches of the season, the Chants won their next seven matches to record the fifth-longest winning streak in program history. Two of those wins came against SEC member Tennessee and defending CAA champions College of Charleston.
-The Chants are 9-1 in their past 10 matches, the only loss coming at the hands of 11-1 North Carolina State.
Home Court Advantage
-The Chants own the longest, active home win streak in the Big South, having won their last 10 matches in The HTC Center.
Coastal's last loss at home came on Oct. 4, 2013 in five sets to High Point.
-The Chants have won 33 of the 44 sets played during this win streak, including three shutouts.
-This season, Coastal has surrendered just three sets in four matches at home.
Top Performers
-Freshman Leah Hardeman leads the Big South in points per set (4.38), is third in kills per set (3.76) and sits at fourth in aces per set (0.36).
-Junior Eszter Nagy ranks eighth nationally and leads the Big South in hitting percentage at .471. She also averages .94 blocks per set, eighth best in the Big South.
-The Chants are the best blocking team in the league, averaging 2.42 per game, thanks to the play of middle blockers Nagy, Katie Martin and Annayka Legros. Each is averaging over .90 blocks per set, with Legros leading the way at 1.08.
-Sam Skryd's 9.64 assists per set is third-best in the conference. Jenna Orner ranks fifth in the Big South in digs per set.
All-Time Series
-Coastal is 28-23 all-time versus Winthrop, 15-11 all-time in Big South openers and 2-2 versus Winthrop in Big South openers.
-The Chants beat Winthrop in last season's conference opener 3-1. Winthrop won the 2012 conference opener 3-2.
-Coastal leads the all-time series versus Presbyterian 9-6.
Scouting the Opposition
-Winthrop (9-6) has won its past five matches, and is 6-4 in its past 10. The Eagles defeated Wake Forest, Elon and Western Carolina last weekend to win the Deacon Classic. Senior Jessie Vicic was named the tournament's MVP, while Alina Sopizhuk and Keaupono Fey were tabbed All-Tournament.
-Presbyterian (5-7) lost its first three matches of the season, but has since gone 5-4. The Blue Hose swept USC Upstate their last time out, and will play Charleston Southern (6-9) on Friday night. Presbyterian has won back-to-back matches just once this season, blanking NC Central before winning in four sets against Wofford at the Deacon Invitational.
