Friday, September 25
Conway, SC
6:00 p.m.
Coastal Carolina University
vs
Georgia Southern
Volleyball Opens SBC Slate At Home Against Georgia Southern
9/24/2026 6:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CONWAY, S.C. --- Coastal Carolina opens its 11th season of Sun Belt Conference play when it hosts Georgia Southern for two matches at the HTC Center. The teams meet Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. Both matches will stream on ESPN+.Â
Coastal is 10-0 all-time in Sun Belt Conference openers since joining the league in 2016 and has a 19-1 record on opening weekend, posting 18 consecutive wins. The Chants have not lost on the first weekend of conference play since Sept. 25, 2016 to Arkansas State. CCU has swept its opening SBC weekend matches each of the previous four seasons (2022 - Georgia State, 2023 - at Georgia State, 2024 - Marshall, 2025 - at Marshall) since the SBC instituted the current scheduling format. Coastal is opening conference play against Georgia Southern for the first time since 2019.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 25 vs. Georgia Southern | 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 26 vs. Georgia Southern | 2 p.m. |Â ESPN+Â |Â Live Stats
SCOUTING GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Georgia Southern enters conference play 8-4 after starting the season with losses to Hawaii, San Diego and Baylor. The Eagles have since won eight of nine matches and carry a four-match winning streak into Conway. The Eagles are hitting .273 while limiting opponents to .194. Georgia Southern averages 13.89 kills, 15.45 digs and 2.19 blocks per set. Reagan Barth leads the Eagles with 142 kills and averages 3.84 per set. Beka Pfefferkorn has added 135 kills while hitting .317, and Alex Myers is hitting a team-high .422 with 87 kills. Kayla Knowles leads Georgia Southern with 49 blocks.
SERIES VS. GA. SOUTHERN | RESULTS
Coastal owns a 27-5 advantage in the all-time series with Georgia Southern, including a 13-2 record in Conway. The Chanticleers have won seven of the last 10 meetings, but the Eagles won both matches in Statesboro last season. Georgia Southern took the opener 3-1 before winning the second match 3-0.
NON-CONFERENCE REVIEW
The Chanticleers completed non-conference weekends with a 4-5 record with three of those victories coming away from the HTC Center. Eight of its nine matches went at least four sets, including four five-set matches. The Chants are 2-2 in five-set contests, defeating Queens and Wofford while falling to UConn and NC State.
STRONG AT THE NET
Coastal enters conference play with an 86-71 advantage in total blocks. The Chanticleers are averaging 2.21 blocks per set while limiting opponents to 1.82. Hatteras Welker leads Coastal with 39 blocks and averages 1.00 per set. Natalie Hughes has recorded 35 blocks, while Amarah Johnson has 22 in 22 sets. Coastal matched a season-high opponent with 11 blocks against NC State. Hughes finished with a season-high seven blocks, while Welker added six.
MILESTONE ON THE HORIZON
Junior Anzley Rinard is four kills shy of 500 for her career. She has amassed 298 kills in 139 sets played at Coastal after recording 198 kills during her lone season at Oral Roberts. She has reached double figures in kills five times and leads the team with 95.
RITA's HOT START
Since rejoining the team two weeks after playing in the European Championships, senior Anna Rita has .406 hitting percentage (35-9-64) through four matches. She has 473 career kills and needs 27 to reach 500 and is 16 blocks shy of 350.
SPAWNING THE BACK ROW
Maryland transfer Jonna Spohn leads Coastal with 159 digs and averages 4.08 per set, ranking fifth in the Sun Belt. She has recorded double-digit digs in eight of nine matches and has surpassed 20 digs four times. Spohn surpassed 500 career kills Sunday against NC State.
HUGHES FINISHING STRONG
San Diego State transfer Natalie Hughes has found her swing in her first year with the Chants, hitting a career-best .280 through nine matches. She ranks second on the team in kills (81) and points (100.5). Hughes has hit over .300 four times this season (minimum of 16 attempts) with a season-best .414 (13-1-29) against Florida A&M.
WELKER FINDS HER SWING
Hatteras Welker committed only two attack errors in 16 attempts during the Chanticleer Classic. She hit .600 (7-1-10) with seven kills against Indiana before hitting .500 (4-1-6) with four kills against NC State. Welker has hit better than .400 in four matches, with a season-best .588 (12-2-17)Â at Jacksonville.
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
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