Beach Volleyball . March 24, 2018

Beach Volleyball's Upset Bid Comes Just Short Against Hawai'i

March 24, 2018

Final Stats

PAIR RESULTS: FGCU

1: Williams/Denney (SC) def. Carroll/Allen (FGCU) 12-21, 21-18, 15-12

2: Smith/Bates (SC) def. Rhoades/Puisis (FGCU) 21-14, 21-12

3: Schnieder/Mannisto (SC) def. Borgiotti/ Glickert (FGCU) 19-21, 21-18, 15-11

4: Perri/Tendrich (SC) def. Burnam/Whetstone (FGCU) 21-10, 21-16

5: Harrison/Vastine (SC) def. Krivdo/Ryan (FGCU) 21-16, 21-16

Order of Finish: 4,5,2,1,3

PAIR RESULTS: HAWAI’I

1: Schucht/Maglio (UH) def. Williams/Denney (SC) 21-16, 21-17

2: Bates/Smith (SC) def. Kan/Weaver (UH) 21-9, 15-21, 15-13

3: Mannisto/Schnieder (SC) def. Monkhouse/Martin (UH) 21-19, 21-17

4: Homayun/Ozee (UH) def. Perri/Tendrich (SC) 21-18, 22-20

5: Dreeuws/Zalopany (UH) def. Harrison/Vastine (SC) 12-21, 21-16, 15-11

Ex: Fitterer/Huddleston (UH) def. Davis/Skaff (SC) 20-22, 21-17, 15-13

Order of Finish: 4,5,1,3,2

Looking Ahead

Date	Opponent (H/A/N)	Time
3/30	TCU (N)	7:50 a.m. ET
3/30	GCU (N)	1:50 p.m. ET
3/30	FIU (A)	4:50 p.m. ET
3/31	UCLA (N)	11:50 a.m. ET

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s beach volleyball team split day one of the Gamecock Challenge tournament on Saturday. The Gamecocks swept FGCU (5-4) in the opening dual, but fell just shy of upsetting No. 3 Hawai’i (16-3) to close the day, losing 3-2.

Against the Rainbow Warriors, South Carolina got out to a hot start, with leads in the fourth and fifth flights in the first set. Franky Harrison and Jess Vastine claimed a 21-12 win in the first set, but Hawai’i came back to win 21-18 in the fours so slow Carolina’s momentum. Hawai’i went ahead 2-0 in the dual after getting a 22-20 win in set two at the fours for the tight sweep, and won 21-16, 15-11 in the second and third set at five.

A win for Hawai’i at the top flight clinched the overall team dual, but the Game-cocks had plenty of fight left. Carly Schnieder and Julia Mannisto teamed up for a 21-19, 21-17 sweep on court three, and Cadie Bates and Katie Smith closed the dual in style with a 21-9, 15-21, 15-13 win on court two for the final 3-2 margin.

The team opened its weekend earlier in the afternoon, defeating Florida Gulf Coast 5-0. Tendrich and Perri won their 11th match in a row to open the dual, sweeping the Eagles 21-10, 21-16 in the fours. Harrison and Vastine followed close behind with a 21-16, 21-16 win to put the home side ahead 2-0 early.

FGCU fought back in the second wave of matches, winning the first set on courts one and three. Bates and Smith clinched the team win thanks to a 21-14, 21-12 win at two, but courts one and three were fighting to play on.

Ali Denney and Shannon Williams would overcome a 21-12 loss in the opening set to win the top pairing 21-18, 15-12 in the next two sets. It was the pair’s eighth three-set match of the season, and sixth win in three. Schnieder and Mannisto closed out the dual with a 19-21, 21-18, 15-11 win in the threes. The duo is now 11-2 for the season.

NOTABLE

Tendrich and Perri’s 11-match win streak is tied for the longest ever by a Gamecock pair. The record was originally set by Sarah Blomgren and Aubrey Ezell from March 12-26, 2016.
Saturday night was the first meeting ever with Hawai’i. The Gamecocks now have played an AVCA top-20-ranked opponent 10 times this season, coming out on top seven times.
Head coach Moritz Moritz cele-brated his birthday with career victory number 75 on Saturday. Moritz has led the Gamecocks since the program’s inception in 2014.
Carly Schnieder and Julia Man-nisto in the threes and Cadie Bates and Katie Smith in the twos have won four straight matches, and are both 8-2 in the last 10 matches.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks wrap up a three-week home stand with two more duals. At 2 p.m. they will take on TCU, who went 1-1 on Saturday. Closing the weekend is a 6 p.m. match against conference rival UAB, which went 0-2 Saturday. Attendance at Wheeler Beach is free all season.