The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers open their 2025 season with a pair of home games Labor Day Weekend, hosting Big Ten resident Maryland on Friday and ACC charter member North Carolina on Sunday. It'll be the first time either school has played at CCU. The Chanticleers last played both the Terrapins and Tar Heels in 2023, losing both matches on the road. Coastal Carolina is a combined 0-6 all-time against Maryland (0-1) and North Carolina (0-5), with all six games being true road games.
OPENING AT HOMEÂ
The Chanticleers are opening the season at home for the first time since 202l and for just the third time since the HTC Center opened in 2012. They are 0-2 when opening the season at the HTC Center, falling to Youngstown State in 2013 (2-3) and Duke in 2021 (2-3). Overall, Coastal Carolina is 10-3 in its home openers at the HTC Center, including wins over P4 members Georgia Tech (2016) and TCU (2023). The Chants have won three straight home openers and 10 of their last 11.
LID LIFTERS
Coastal Carolina is 23-15 in season openers since joining the ranks of Division I in 1987. It has opened the season against a P4 opponent four times previously, going 1-3 with a win over Alabama (2003) and losses to Wake Forest (2010), Clemson (2012), and Duke (2021).
HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR STOUT
Junior setter
Jalyn Stout was voted the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year , after earning First Team All-Sun Belt honors last season. Stout ranked third in the Sun Belt in points (457.5) and total kills (402), sixth in kills per set (3.41), and 11th in digs (392). She was the only Chanticleer named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
ONE WIN UNDER OUR BELT
Coastal Carolina pulled off a reverse sweep of College of Charleston in an exhibition match last Friday night at TD Arena on the CofC campus. Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Chants rallied to win the final three sets 25-19, 28-26, 15-13.
SCOUTING MARYLAND
The Terps are coming off a 14-17 season that included a 5-15 mark in Big Ten play. Maryland is led by junior middle blocker Ava Rohrbach, who appeared in all but one match in 2024, playing a total of 107 sets. She posted back-to-back seasons with 170 kills, over 100 blocks, and a hitting percentage greater than .295. She also set career bests in digs (68) and service aces (19). Sydney Bryant is the team's top returning attacker with 290 kills last season, while defensive specialist Ally Williams' 176 digs are the most among all returning players. Rohrbach led the Terps with 108 blocks last year. They are joined by three transfers from the SEC: Ajack Malual from Tennessee, Haley Melby of Kentucky and Olivia Ruy from Arkansas.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina has been picked to finish fifth in the ACC this season, following a 14-6 conference record with an overall mark of 23-8, which included a second-round loss to Penn State in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are led by preseason All-ACC selection Safi Hampton, who returns for her junior season after a breakout sophomore campaign. She led all returning Tar Heels in kills (291), points per set (3.27), and points (342.0) last season. Zoe Behrendt led the Tar Heels with 712 assists as a sophomore last season and was second in service aces with 39. Hampton (291) and Chelsea Thorpe (290) ranked second and third in kills a year ago. Senior Maddy May's 428 digs were tops on the team last season.
CHANTS FACE CHALLENGING SCHEDULEFOUR TRANSFERS JOIN ROSTER
Kibi Jae' Huggins (Southeastern Louisiana),
Becca Micelle (Clemson),
Anzley Rinard (Oral Roberts) and
Anna Rita (Austin Peay) transferred to Coastal Carolina for the 2025 season. Huggins and Micelle are graduate transfers each with four years of experience; Rita is a junior who played each of the previous two seasons at Austin Peay; Rinard earned Summit League All-Freshman Team honors last season at Oral Roberts. Rinard and Rita joined the program in January.
FOURSOME OF FRESHMEN SIGN
Elin Andersson joins the program from the Swedish club circuit, while
Kayla Channell,
Bella Loeswick, and
Julia Rose Rivera made their way to CCU from the high school level. Channell and Loeswick each led their high school to a state championship in 2024, while Rivera helped her team capture a state title in 2023. Andersson competed for her country's national team at the 2024 U20 European Championship as well as the U17 and U19 North European Volleyball Zonal Association championships in 2022 and 2024.
TWO NEW ASSISTANTS
Head coach
Steve Loeswick assembled an entire new coaching staff over the winter, hiring Matt Scott as associate head coach/recruiting coordinator and Aaron King as an assistant coach.
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