Coastal Carolina women’s lacrosse joins Atlantic Sun Conference

The Atlantic Sun Conference welcomed Coastal Carolina as its newest affiliate member for women’s lacrosse Friday.

The addition of the Chants expands the league to 11 programs beginning in the 2017 season.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coastal Carolina University to the Atlantic Sun as an affiliate member,” A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart said in a statement. “Coastal has showcased a steady increase of success since their first season which coincides with the progress of A-Sun Women’s Lacrosse.”

Coastal had participated in the Big South for three seasons.

“We are excited about our women’s lacrosse program joining the Atlantic Sun. During the advent of our new program over the last couple of seasons, we have enjoyed great competition with A-Sun schools and I know our student-athletes are looking forward to these contests on a regular basis,” Coastal Carolina Director of Athletics Matt Hogue said in a release. “We are grateful to Commissioner Ted Gumbart and the A-Sun membership for providing us this affiliate opportunity.”

Coach Kristen Selvage will be in her first season with Coastal Carolina after spending 15 seasons as the head coach at Lock Haven, where she led the program to three NCAA Division II Championship appearances since 2009.

“Joining the Atlantic Sun is a tremendous opportunity for the Coastal Carolina Women’s Lacrosse program,” Selvage said in a statement. “The teams are highly competitive and they will help us to improve our development as we seek an opportunity to break into tournament play. We would like to thank the Atlantic Sun and the other lacrosse programs for welcoming our program. This is a very exciting time for Coastal Carolina Women’s Lacrosse.”

In early October, the Atlantic Sun and Coastal Carolina agreed to an affiliate membership for beach volleyball as the Chanticleers will participate at the 2016 A-Sun Beach Volleyball Championship on Apr. 22-23.

“Similar to Beach Volleyball, the A-Sun has demonstrated leadership in women’s lacrosse and continued growth in the sport with our latest addition,” Gumbart also said in the statement. “We look forward to providing the Chants and the rest of our A-Sun teams a continually enhanced experience for all the student-athletes.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina women’s lacrosse joins Atlantic Sun Conference."