CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina beach volleyball will open the 2024 season in Jacksonville, Fla., as the Sandy Chants are set to compete in the Jacksonville Invitational on Feb. 23-24 hosted by Jacksonville University. Coastal will face No. 3 Florida State and host Jacksonville on Friday before tangling with No. 13 FIU and Chattanooga on Saturday.
First-year head coach
Collin Wilson returns 11 players from last year's team that won a program-record 25 matches and became the first team in program history to earn a top-20 national ranking.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The Sandy Chants enter the season having received votes in the in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Preseason Poll for the first time in program history. The Chanticleers, one of two teams from the Sun Belt Conference to receive votes, earned three votes, placing the Chants 24th among the 29 teams to appear on a ballot.
KEY RETURNERS
2023 All-Sun Belt selections
Madie Lichty,
Madison Allred, and
Raychel Ehlers headline the 2024 squad. Allred and Ehlers set a program record in 2023 with 27 wins as a pair. The Chants also return
Martine Kragholm and
Ellie Hanford, who rank first and second in program history in individual wins, along with
Sarah Riedell, who combined to win 20 matches at the No. 1 flight last season with Kragholm.
COASTAL & FLORIDA STATE HISTORY
The two teams will be meeting for the second time, as the Sandy Chants trail in the all-time series 0-2. The Seminoles and Chants met for the first time last season with FSU claiming a pair of 5-0 victories.
COASTAL & JACKSONVILLE HISTORY
Coastal Carolina is on a 10-match winning streak over the Dolphins after dropping the first four matches between the programs to lead the all-time series at 10-4. The Chanticleers picked three wins versus Jacksonville during the 2023 season.
COASTAL & FIU HISTORY
The Sandy Chants have never beaten the Panthers, trailing the all-time series 0-5. Coastal suffered a 5-0 defeat in the last meeting between the two squads in 2023.
COASTAL & CHATTANOOGA HISTORY
Coastal Carolina won the first and only meeting between the Chants and Mocs, 5-0, in 2021.
JACKSONVILLE INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, February 23
- vs. No. 3 Florida State @ 10 a.m. ET
- at Jacksonville @ 12 p.m. ET
Saturday, February 24
- vs. No. 13 FIU @ 10 a.m. ET
- vs. Chattanooga @ 12 p.m. ET
A link for live stats for all four matches can be found on the Beach Volleyball Schedule page at
www.GoCCUsports.com.
For complete coverage of Coastal Carolina beach volleyball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalBeachVB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
