Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal women's volleyball team picked up its 20th victory of the season Friday night with an easy 3-0 triumph over Belhaven at Howard Coffin Gym.
Recording 25-17 wins in all three sets, the No. 24-ranked Mariners (20-1 overall, 12-0 Southern States Athletic Conference) reached the 20-win mark for the second straight season while remaining perfect in the league at the same time.
The Mariners also won at Belhaven (10-14, 1-11) 3-0 earlier this season and have now won all but four matches in straight sets this season.
In Friday's contest, the Mariners banged out 41 kills in 84 attempts with just nine errors to hit .381 for the match. Freshman middle blocker Maddie Bounds led the offense with 11 kills in 20 attacks without an error and hit .550 for the night.
Emma Anderson added seven kills while Allie Shannon and Kara Neisen had six each. Cayley Meiners, who won SSAC player of the week honors earlier this week, finished the match with 32 assists for the Mariners.
Coastal Georgia finished with 37 digs and five total blocks while checking the Blazers to a .148 hitting percentage over the three stanzas. Belhaven had just 28 kills in 81 swings and had 16 attack errors. Taylor Hall led the visitors with nine kills.
Jennifer Johnson led the Mariners with 11 digs, Anderson recorded eight and Meiners had six. Bounds led Coastal Georgia's defense at the net with three block assists and a solo while Anderson had two block assists. Bounds also recorded two aces in the win.
"I thought Maddie played really well," said Coastal Georgia coach Jeff Huebner. "I also thought we did a good job in serve receive and passed the ball well."
Huebner also lauded the play of Amanda Kline who saw time in two of the three sets off the bench. "She has been a great leader for us the last few weeks," the coach said.
Friday was a 1980s-theme night. The Mariners practiced in bright-colored shirts and some of the players wore bright headbands and socks for the match. The out-of-bounds lines were also a bright yellow. Popular tunes from the 80s era were played over the sound system throughout the evening.
The Mariners will host Faulkner at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Coastal Georgia defeated the Eagles at home in the Mariner Invitational earlier this season and also won at Faulkner in the first conference meeting between the teams. The match is also the Mariners' annual "Dig Pink Match" to raise awareness for breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match.
