LITTLE RIVER — The North Myrtle Beach volleyball team kept on rolling Monday.

The Chiefs shut out Hanahan (25-10, 25-14, 25-23) in the Class AAA Lower State semifinals.

“I was pleased with the way we played,” North Myrtle Beach coach Estelle Barentine said. “On that third set they were ahead of us and we came back. We just made some errors – so it was close – but I was pleased with the way we played.”

Taylor Allman led the way with 19 kills, Ellen Johnson added 15 kills and Marci Chestnut had seven kills for the Chiefs.

“Allman had the match point and killed it to make a statement,” Barentine said. “But overall, it was a great team effort. We had quite a few kills.”

Tara Hix helped out North Myrtle Beach with 26 assists, Madison Treece added 18 assists and Moriah Jones had 30 digs, 14 service points and three aces.

Next on the slate for the Chiefs is the Lower State finals. North Myrtle Beach (28-1) travels to Airport on Wednesday to battle it out.

“We have played Airport. We beat them in a tournament, but it didn’t mean much,” Barentine said. “They’re kind of similar to us, they don’t have really tall girls but they have good players. It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to have to play our best to beat them. We’ll be ready for them.

“Our goal is to make it to the [state tournament]; so we’ll do whatever it takes.”

CCU football

Coastal Carolina sophomore Quinn Backus certainly looks to be the odds-on favorite to win Big South Defensive Player of the Year honors this season.

Especially now.

The hard-hitting linebacker was recognized yet again Monday for his breakout campaign while being named Big South Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time after a stellar performance in the Chanticleers’ 36-12 win over Liberty, the conference announced. Backus had a career-high 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and his first career interception to key the Chants’ most impressive defensive effort of the season.

Backus ranks eighth among all FCS players and second in the Big South in tackles, averaging 11.25 per game. With 90 total tackles through eight games and three left to play, he’s on pace to eclipse Coastal’s single-season record of 116, which was set by Jamar Leath in a 12-game season in 2006.

With his latest honor, he becomes only the second player in Big South history to earn Defensive Player of the Week recognition four times in one season, joining Gardner-Webb’s Mario Williams (2002).