Marshall Volleyball Recap
By Shane Darling, FM88 Sports
Sept. 28, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Excitement was in the air this weekend as Marshall volleyball opened Sun Belt Conference play against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
Marshall is coming off an unfortunate 2024 Sun Belt Conference season where its 2-10 divisional record resulted in last place in the SBC East Division and kept the Herd out of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. However, a promising 8-5 pre-conference record left the Thundering Herd confident as it came into its series against Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina was 6-6- in the SBC East last season, making the SBC Tournament as the East Division’s third seed and defeating Southern Miss in the first round.
The Chants were 7-4 coming into conference play with victories against the Big Ten’s Maryland University and the ACC’s North Carolina State. Coastal managed to play four of the top 50 ranked teams in the nation in its 11 pre-SBC matchups.
The Chanticleers pounced quickly on the Herd Friday night, winning the first set of the first game 25-12. Marshall was able to regroup and play the second set closer, but the Chants would come up victorious once again, 25-21. Marshall fought hard to avoid the sweep, but the Chanticleers proved to be too dominant for the Thundering Herd in the first matchup, completing the sweep with a 25-18 third set victory.
This would mark the fourth straight sweep for Coastal Carolina over the Herd dating back to 2023.
Coastal was led in the first game by Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Jalyn Stout, who had 11 kills, 11 sets, 5 blocks and was just short of a triple-double with nine digs. Marshall did have a bright spot in the game with Marae Reilly racking up seven kills at a .500 hitting percentage.
Marshall came into the second match on Saturday afternoon with an apparent sense of pride and energy as it took the first set 25-21. Coastal Carolina did not let this phase itself as it proved its dominance once again with a 25-13 victory to knot things up at a set apiece. The third set was played tightly between the two sides with Marshall being up 20-18, but Coastal would go on to score seven straight and take the set 25-20. The Thundering Herd was not ready to give in as it stormed up 5-1 to start the fourth. The Chanticleers managed to buckle down and fight its way back, completing the two-game sweep with a 25-17 set win, 3-1 victory overall.
Jalyn Stout led Coastal Carolina again in the second game with 15 kills, but Anna Rita had a phenomenal defensive weekend for the Chants with 14 blocks over the two games. Marshall’s Emma Barnett had 13 kills and 4 service aces in the second match.
The main differences that separated the two squads were Coastal leading in total blocks 26-10, and the Chants hitting at a .326 and .331 hitting percentage while the Herd had .121 and .190 clips.
Marshall looks to get back on track as it travels to Statesboro, Ga. next weekend for a two-game SBC series with Georgia Southern. First serve on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday’s matchup scheduled for 1 p.m.