CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team will return to the road for the final portion of the Chants' regular-season road schedule to face the South Alabama Jaguars for a pair of Sun Belt Conference contests in Mobile, Ala. Both teams will meet on Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET, and again on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m. ET.
KEY WEEKEND FOR BOTH TEAMS IN REGARDS TO SBC STANDINGS
The Chanticleers and Jaguars are both sitting right outside the top of their respective divisions in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Coastal is second in the East Division at 9-3, two games behind leader James Madison at 11-1, while USA is also two games out of first place in the West Division at 8-4, trailing both Texas State and Troy who are tied at 10-2 on the year.
HISTORY BETWEEN COASTAL & SOUTH ALABAMA
The Chanticleers and South Alabama will be meeting for the 15th time, with Coastal Carolina holding a 12-2 advantage in the overall series. In the last outing, the Chants fell 3-1 on the road to USA on Oct. 31, 2021, snapping a 12-match winning streak.
ABOUT COASTAL
The Chanticleers enter the weekend at 17-8 overall and 9-3 in Sun Belt action on the season after winning two conference matches versus Marshall last week. Outside hitter
Ella Saada led the Chants' offense with a total of 36 kills combined over both contests, while setter
Brigitta Petrenko tallied 73 assists, eight kills, and one service ace.
Defensively, CCU blocked a combined 12 shots, as
Christina Nance and
Paulina Perez Rosas paced the defense with five and three blocks, respectively, while
Lina Perugini (23), Petrenko (23), and Perez Rosas (16) combined for 62 digs of the Chants' 94 total digs.
This season, the Chants' offense has been led by Saada with 258 kills on the year, while Perez Rosas and
Agata Lesiak have added 203 and 138 spikes, respectively. Petrenko is the team's assists and service aces leader, as the Eger, Hungary, native has 841 assists and 45 service aces on the year.
Defensively, Coastal Carolina has totaled 207 blocks as a team, highlighted by Nance with a total of 77 blocks, Shepherd with 56 blocks, and Petrenko and Lesiak with 45 and 32 blocks, respectively. Perugini has picked up 382 digs in the 93 sets played, giving the Bethlehem, Pa., native 1,573 career digs. Perugini currently sits third on CCU's all-time digs list.
ABOUT SOUTH ALABAMA
The Jags will enter play this weekend with a 14-10 overall record and sit at 8-4 in Sun Belt play. South Alabama dropped both of its matches last week to in-state rival Troy.
As a team, USA has recorded 1,198 kills, 1,113 assists, and 121 service aces on the offensive attack. Hannah Maddux leads the attack with 358 spikes, while Maddie Soboleski (244) and Niki Capizzi (217) have both put down 215 or more kills on the year. Setter Kailey Keeble leads the team with 893 set assists, while Rachel Hickey (25) and Capizzi (20) have 20 or more service aces.
Defensively, South Alabama has stopped 224 kill attempts at the net, while also digging 1,473 of their opponents' shots. The net is protected by Morgan Stalcup (100), Capizzi (84), and Maddux (60), as they are the only Jaguar blockers with 60 or more stops on the season. Defensive specialist Hickey leads the team with 372 digs, along with Keeble and Paige Lynn, who have added 299 and 227 digs, respectively.
For complete coverage of CCU women's volleyball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalVball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
