McKenzie, Tenn. – The College of Coastal Georgia women's volleyball team knocked off Bethel 3-0 here on Friday night in the Southern States Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
For Coastal Georgia (10-1), the match was the first for the team since it jumped six spots to No. 14 in this week's Top 25 poll. The ranking is the highest-ever for the Mariners who were ranked 20th to open the season.
The Mariners are looking to win the SSAC a second straight season after sweeping the league's regular-season and tournament crowns by winning all 23 matches it played against conference opponents.
Coastal Georgia is opening conference play on the reyoad after hosting its Mariner Invitational last weekend at home, where the team won all four of its matches to run its record to 12-0 in the three years of the hometown event.
Against Bethel (6-6), the Mariners sailed to a 25-13 win in the opening set before winning the second and third sets by an identical 25-19 count.
For the match, the Mariners tallied 35 kills against 12 errors in 85 total attacks. Regan Coughlin and Emma Anderson combined for 22 of the team's kills with Coughlin getting down 12 in 17 attempts and Anderson notching 10 in 20 swings.
Coughlin produced a strong overall stat line as she also recorded all three of the team's service aces while finishing with four total blocks and seven digs.
Cayley Meiners, who was named SSAC Setter of the Week this past week, finished with 32 assists.
Alyssa Keeve, the league's defender of the week, recorded 17 digs to lead the defense while Kara Neisen finished with 12.
The Mariners finished with 19 total blocks – six solos and 26 block assists. Allie Shannon had five total blocks while Kyra White and Anderson also showed four for the Mariners along with Coughlin. White and Anderson both had a pair of solos.
"I love seeing how mature our group is," said Coastal Georgia coach Jeff Huebner. "We handled a good crowd and hostile environment well, and just continued to execute. Emma played great, and Regan attacked well for us. While our middles weren't as offensive as we usually are, they blocked really well, and really changed the game at the net."
The Mariners are set to play at Martin Methodist at 3 p.m. on Saturday in SSAC action.
