CCU Sports Notebook: Chants’ soccer teams surging

Coastal Carolina men’s soccer coach Shaun Docking can’t help but consider the what-if.

What if the Chanticleers hadn’t taken a surprising 3-2 loss at UNC Asheville earlier this month for their lone blemish of the season?

But the overall body of work has been nothing short of superlative for the Chants this fall as they take a 10-1-1 record and No. 11 national ranking in the latest NSCAA poll into the final five games of the regular season.

“Overall I’m pleased with how we responded. Obviously still real disappointed in the Asheville result because if you’re 11-0-1 right now you’re higher than No. 4 in the country,” said Docking, who team’s peaked at that No. 4 national ranking before that Oct. 11 loss.

“The opportunities that we created in the first half of the season we kind of let get away from us with that Asheville result. So disappointing. The challenge for us now is to get back to where we were at the end of preseason and be at that level that we can compete and beat good teams as we hit the tail end of the season.”

UNC Asheville is just 4-8-1 and near the bottom of the Big South standings so that defeat certainly came as a shock to the surging Chants, but since then, Coastal Carolina has reeled off three straight wins over Campbell (2-1), Liberty (1-0) and Hofstra (2-1), which was ranked No. 22/24 at the time in various national polls.

Senior forward Bryce Follensbee continues to pace the team offensively with a team-high seven goals, including the game-winner in the 83rd minute Monday against Hofstra. And the Chants’ defense, with exception to that one aberration at UNC Asheville, has been dominant in allowing only seven goals all season.

Leading that stout defense has been junior goalkeeper Fernando Pina, who has proven to be an impact addition in his first year with the program while posting a 0.58 goals-against average and an .844 save percentage.

“Pina’s been great in goal. He’s played really well for us and come up with some big saves, so I think for sure he’s been a big factor,” Docking said. “And I think overall the team as a whole they’ve done a good job managing the game. I think if you go up a goal or two we’ve got an experienced group of guys that know how to manage the game tactically and psychologically.”

After playing four games in a nine-day span from Oct. 11-19 due to rescheduling and postponements caused by the heavy rains earlier this month, the Chants return to action with road games Saturday at Longwood and Wednesday at Winthrop.

And while the team is again playing well after that lone setback, Docking doesn’t want the Chants getting too comfortable.

“I still think we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.

Women’s soccer rolling

Coach Paul Hogan said from the start that he wanted to challenge his Coastal Carolina women’s soccer team with a tough non-conference schedule to prepare for the Big South slate, and it certainly looks as if that strategy has paid off.

The Chants are 7-1-1 in their last nine games to improve to 10-5-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the league.

And with Campbell second in the Big South standings at 6-3, Coastal Carolina controls its own path to the conference title now with just two regular-season games remaining.

“We’re really excited. I think we’re doing better than we might have imagined after losing a lot of seniors last year,” Hogan said. “[I’m] really excited about the place we’re in and hopefully we can finish it out Saturday.”

The Chants play at Liberty on Saturday afternoon before closing the regular season at home Tuesday night against Charleston Southern.

Hogan said he is especially pleased with how the team’s attack has come together this fall, freshman forward Kayla Christian (eight goals, three assists), sophomore forward Daniella Famili (seven goals, two assists) and junior defender Amber Adams (five goals, six assists).

It’s been a process for the Chants under Hogan, who is in his fifth season leading the program, but that has only made the progress all the more rewarding as the team looks to build on its 11-8-2 overall record and 7-2-1 Big South mark from a year ago.

“I don’t think you ever achieve something without going through some struggles, and I think we’ve gone through that as a program,” Hogan said. “I look back to my first year and we won two games and now we [are in control of the league race]. It’s gratifying for our staff, for our players. Now we’ve set the standard for where we want to be and that will stay the same.”

Volleyball team in control

The Coastal Carolina volleyball team is riding an eight-match winning streak as it opens an extended homestand with contests Friday night at 7 p.m. against Gardner-Webb and Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against UNC Asheville.

It’s the longest winning streak since 2008 for the Chants, who are 15-4 overall and 7-0 in the Big South to lead the conference.

To further underscore just how dominant the team has been, the Chants have set a program record by losing just one set through their first seven matches against league foes.

Fittingly, the team was honored by the Big South this week as sophomore outside hitter Leah Hardeman was named conference player of the week and freshman setter Sara Boothe was tabbed freshman of the week.

Hoopla set for The HTC Center

Fans can get their first look at the 2015-16 Coastal Carolina men’s and women’s basketball teams Wednesday Oct. 28 as the Chants host their preseason “Hoopla” event at 10 p.m.

Doors to The HTC Center will open at 9:45 p.m., admission is free and the first 250 fans will receive a free t-shirt while the first 300 will be provided with free pizza.

The event will feature a dance contest with students and players, a shooting contest with the Chants and a dunk contest with five players from the men’s team.

May to play for USA

Former Coastal Carolina baseball standout Jacob May has made the 2015 U.S. Premier12 Baseball Team, which will compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Tournament in Taiwan next month.

The U.S. roster features 27 players not currently on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters.

May, a third-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2013, was named to the Southern League mid-season and post-season all-star teams in 2015 while playing for the Class AA Birmingham Barons.

Golf on the schedule

The Coastal Carolina men’s and women’s golf teams will both be in action over the next week.

The women wrap up their fall schedule with their third and final event at the Palmetto Intercollegiate at Turtle Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island next Sunday through Tuesday.

The men, meanwhile, are also instate while competing in the USC Camden Intercollegiate at Camden Country Club on Saturday and Sunday.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "CCU Sports Notebook: Chants’ soccer teams surging."