During the height of summer in Canada, Coastal Carolina Beach Volleyball player Emma Kunaus received an unexpected opportunity.

The Elite16 tournament — featuring the world's top-ranked beach volleyball pairs — was taking place in the province of Quebec, just a few hours from her home in Ontario. When a few teams dropped out at the last minute, Kunaus and Canadian teammate Dana Roskic jumped at the chance to compete at the highest level of the sport.

"They were the highest-rated point team that was in Quebec, so they drove up last minute and competed," said Coastal Beach Volleyball Head Coach Collin Wilson, the reigning Sun Belt Coach of the Year. "It was a big deal because Coastal's never had a beach player in the Elite16."

The offseason for college beach volleyball presents a unique opportunity: a chance for players to represent both their university and their home country on the international stage. For Kunaus, fellow Canadian Maya McNabney, and Danish standout Frida Meincke Lyø, that meant a summer spent globetrotting for some of the sport's most competitive events.

The trio of international Chants competed on the Canadian and Danish national tours, while also participating in events hosted by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) — the global governing body for the sport and one of the main pathways to the Olympics.

FIVB tournaments are broken into three tiers: Futures, Challenger, and Elite16, with the latter reserved for the world's top talent. Each tournament awards ranking points based on performance, which players use to qualify for higher-level events.

"Your performance at different tournaments gets you points," Wilson explained. "Points determine your seed for the next tournament that you sign up for. Once you get a certain number of points, you can qualify for the next set of tournaments."

Kunaus and McNabney also participated in NORCECA, the continental federation for North and Central America and the Caribbean. These events are part of the Continental Cup system —another path to Olympic qualification.

"To go to the Olympics, you either have to be one of the 12-best pairs by an FIVB standard, or you have to win your Continental Cup," Wilson said. "It's all giving yourself a chance to be Olympic-level at some point."

For Lyø, the offseason included success both internationally and at home. She spent the summer competing in Futures events and ultimately won the Danish national championship — a moment she marked with a simple, two-word message to her coach.

"We won."

"It's really cool to see her do that and take it on," Wilson said. "She's started to take some of the things she learned from here, so getting little highlight clips and seeing her do it has been really fun."

Her international schedule isn't slowing down, either. Lyø will compete in a Challenger event in Veracruz, Mexico this October as part of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Back in Conway, the reigning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year is showing no signs of slowing down.

"I think Frida's lost one game all fall," Wilson said. "She's dominating."

McNabney has also elevated her game after international play.

"With her getting that Continental Cup experience, I think she's raised her level and will continue to be a benefit to whoever she plays with this year," Wilson said.

For Wilson, international exposure is more than just a nice bonus — it's part of a bigger vision for the Coastal program.

Wilson's message to recruits is simple: he's building toward an Olympic Chant.

"I want to have a reason to go to Los Angeles and see one of our players balling out at that level," Wilson said.

Following the program's first regular-season Sun Belt championship, the Chants are back on campus preparing for another big year. Fall practices are underway on the beach volleyball courts in Conway, with scrimmages and exhibitions scheduled throughout the semester. The next official season begins in February — but for these internationally seasoned players, the grind never really stops.