Building Coastal Volleyball Through Relationships
8/11/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina head volleyball coach Steve Loeswick believes building a successful program starts with something that can't be measured on a stat sheet.
Relationships.
Loeswick wants those relationships to extend beyond the coaching staff and into the locker room.
"We've always been a relationship-driven program," Loeswick said. "Not only between the coaches and the players, but the importance of the player-to-player relationship and them being able to trust each other, care about each other, but also hold each other accountable."
Junior outside hitter Anzley Rinard has seen that philosophy take shape within the team.
"I think our coaches giving us the opportunity to be so relationship-driven helps everyone stay extremely bought into what we're doing because we created this," Rinard said. "We all support and love each other so much. It's like a sisterhood. I would never be scared to come to the coaches with something in my student-athlete life or my personal life. We are truly a family."
That philosophy remained a priority throughout the summer, even when the Chanticleers were apart.
"The challenge for them is how much can they stay connected," Loeswick said. "Even if they weren't in the same city, could they encourage each other? Could they empower each other from being even a distance apart?"
That challenge helped the Chanticleers strengthen their relationships and become more accountable to one another.
"Our accountability as a team has gotten better every single day," Rinard said. "Accountability with our team looks not only like holding each other accountable in volleyball day to day, but also in real life as people and helping each other become the best version of ourselves as a group."
Those standards, along with effort, communication and performance on the court, have been a point of emphasis throughout the first week of preseason practice.
"We're going to create opportunities for them to play and have fun, and then use those moments to show them where we want to be and how to get there," Loeswick explained. "We want them to understand what Chanticleer volleyball is about and make sure we create that identity."
Rinard believes what it means to be a Chanticleer extends beyond volleyball.
"Being a Coastal volleyball player has truly changed my life for the better," Rinard said. "This team is a family, and I can truly attest to that. We are cared about more as people first than we are athletes."
Relationships.
Loeswick wants those relationships to extend beyond the coaching staff and into the locker room.
"We've always been a relationship-driven program," Loeswick said. "Not only between the coaches and the players, but the importance of the player-to-player relationship and them being able to trust each other, care about each other, but also hold each other accountable."
Junior outside hitter Anzley Rinard has seen that philosophy take shape within the team.
"I think our coaches giving us the opportunity to be so relationship-driven helps everyone stay extremely bought into what we're doing because we created this," Rinard said. "We all support and love each other so much. It's like a sisterhood. I would never be scared to come to the coaches with something in my student-athlete life or my personal life. We are truly a family."
That philosophy remained a priority throughout the summer, even when the Chanticleers were apart.
"The challenge for them is how much can they stay connected," Loeswick said. "Even if they weren't in the same city, could they encourage each other? Could they empower each other from being even a distance apart?"
That challenge helped the Chanticleers strengthen their relationships and become more accountable to one another.
"Our accountability as a team has gotten better every single day," Rinard said. "Accountability with our team looks not only like holding each other accountable in volleyball day to day, but also in real life as people and helping each other become the best version of ourselves as a group."
Those standards, along with effort, communication and performance on the court, have been a point of emphasis throughout the first week of preseason practice.
"We're going to create opportunities for them to play and have fun, and then use those moments to show them where we want to be and how to get there," Loeswick explained. "We want them to understand what Chanticleer volleyball is about and make sure we create that identity."
Rinard believes what it means to be a Chanticleer extends beyond volleyball.
"Being a Coastal volleyball player has truly changed my life for the better," Rinard said. "This team is a family, and I can truly attest to that. We are cared about more as people first than we are athletes."
Players Mentioned
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