March 28, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina sand volleyball team will make the trip to Florida for the second time in less than a month this weekend for the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Gamecocks will face Florida State (10 a.m.), Jacksonville (1 p.m.) and LSU (4 p.m.) on Saturday in dual play. On Sunday all four teams’ pairs will be split into a Gold Division and a Silver Division for a pairs tournament that gets underway at 8:30 a.m.

Saturday: vs. FSU, (10 a.m.), vs. Jacksonville, (1 p.m.), vs. LSU (4 p.m.)
Sunday: Pairs Tournament, 8:30 a.m.
On Twitter: @GamecockSandVB
Match Notes

South Carolina Overview
• The Gamecocks are in their inaugural season under the direction of head coach Moritz Moritz, who served as an assistant on the Carolina indoor staff the previous two seasons.
• South Carolina was the first SEC school to add the sport and 31st overall.
• The Gamecocks currently have a roster size of 18 players. Three of those individuals – Paige Wheeler, Litsa Darby and Megan Kent – played indoor volleyball for Carolina in 2012 before making the transition to sand only players this year.
• Twelve of the 18 players are sand only players, while six – Mikaela Christiaansen, Erin Neuenfeldt, Sarah Blomgren, Jordan Wilson-Talmadge, Helen Récaborde and KoKo Atoa-Williams – are crossover players from the indoor program.
• South Carolina boasts a diverse roster as it has players from 12 different states, including Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland and New Jersey.

Back to the Sunshine State
• The Gamecocks are making their second trip to Florida in less than a month. Carolina went 2-2 at the North Florida Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla., on March 8-9.
• South Carolina will face No. 4 Florida State, Jacksonville and LSU on Saturday in dual play.
• All four teams’ pairs will be split into brackets for a pairs tournament on Sunday.
• Seeding for the pairs brackets will be based on a team’s finish in the duals. The top eight pairs teams will be placed in the Gold Division and play a double elimination tournament.
• The remaining 12 teams will be placed in the Silver Division and play a single elimination bracket.

Projecting the Lineup
• No. 1: Paige Wheeler/Megan Kent – The duo is 2-8 overall this season and 2-6 as the Gamecocks’ top pair.
• No. 2: Mikaela Christiaansen/Sarah Blomgren – Have put together a 5-3 overall record and a 5-1 record at No. 2, with the lone loss coming against No. 9 FIU.
• No. 3: Jordan Loney/Jade Vitt – Head into the weekend with a 4-4 record as the team’s third pair.
• No. 4: Litsa Darby/Chynna Ratner – Currently 0-3 at No. 4 after losing both matches in the Gamecock Invitational.
• No. 5: KoKo Atoa-Williams/Erin Neuenfeldt – Enter this weekend at 1-4 overall and 1-2 at No. 5. Earned first win against ULM, claiming the No. 5 match 2-0.

A Bunch of Firsts
• The Gamecocks’ played their first-ever dual on March 8 against North Florida in St. Augustine, Fla.
• The No. 4 pair of KoKo Atoa-Williams and Litsa Darby was the first pair to take the court for South Carolina against North Florida (3/8).
• Atoa-Williams and Darby scored the first point and won the first set in school history, defeating North Florida’s Tanner Garbut and Cameron McGuire in the second set, 21-18 (3/8).
• South Carolina’s No. 2 pair of Sarah Blomgren and Mikaela Christiaansen became the first pair to win a match in school history, defeating North Florida’s Anna Budinska and Carie Whitmire in two sets, 21-19 and 21-18 (3/8).
• The Gamecocks recorded the program’s first win with a 3-2 victory over Jacksonville (3/8).
• In its first home match in school history, South Carolina defeated Oregon 4-1 (3/21).
• Litsa Darby and Morgan LaVigne secured the first dual point for the Gamecocks at the Carolina Sand Volleyball Complex with a win at No. 5 against Oregon, 21-16 and 21-10 (3/21).
• The first announced home attendance in program history was 1,102 for the Gamecocks’ match against Oregon (3/21).

Scouting No. 4 Florida State
• The Seminoles enter the weekend at 7-1 overall, with their lone loss coming at No. 2 Southern California.
• Florida State has been one of the most successful programs in the country the last two years, advancing to the semifinals of the AVCA Collegiate Sand National Championships in both 2012 and 2013. The Seminoles finished last year with a 17-4 record in duals.
• Six players who competed at last year’s AVCA National Championships are back this season to lead the way, including All-Americans Aurora Davis (2012) and Jace Pardon (2013).
• Davis and Pardon make up Florida State’s top pair and have a 13-1 record this season.
• Sisters Stephanie Pellitteri and Kristina Pellitteri are also back after going 34-5 a year ago. The duo is 10-3 this season.

Scouting Jacksonville
• The Dolphins are 3-10 on the season. Jacksonville went 7-17 a year ago.
• Jacksonville and South Carolina played in the North Florida Invitational earlier this season. The Gamecocks defeated the Dolphins 3-2 to for the program’s first win.
• The Dolphins top pair of Taylor Nyquist and Sammie Strausbaugh return after going 25-3 overall last season, including 16-2 in duals.
• Nyquist and Strausbaugh are 10-3 at No. 1 this season, including a 2-0 win over South Carolina.

Scouting LSU
• LSU is in its first season of sand volleyball. The Tigers became the second SEC team to add the sport, with South Carolina being the first.
• The Tigers are 2-4 on the season, including a 4-1 win over South Carolina in the Gamecock Invitational.
• LSU’s No. 1 pair of Katie Lindelow and Meghan Mannari is 3-3 on the season, including a two-set win against South Carolina.
• LSU’s roster features four sand only players and 12 players from its indoor program.

Fastest Emerging Sport in NCAA History
• Sand volleyball is the fastest growing NCAA sport ever.
• The sport had just 16 teams in its inaugural season in 2012. A total number of 41 Division I schools have decided to add the sport since then.
• Now that the number of schools is over 40, the NCAA will sponsor an NCAA Championships when those programs have sponsored the sport for two years.

There’s a Difference?
• Although sand volleyball and indoor volleyball have plenty of similarities, they also have several differences, including a court size of 16m x 8m compared to 18m x 9m.
• Each team event is called a dual and consists of five pairs for each team.
• A winner is determined when a team wins three of the five pairs matches. Each pairs match is a best-of-three format. The first two sets are rally scoring to 21 points with the third set to 15 if necessary.
• There is no open-hand tipping in sand volleyball.
• The block touch does count as the first of three allowable touches in sand volleyball.
• With the weather elements, pairs swap courts every seven points in a 21-point set and every five points in a 15-point set.
• Sand coaches are only allowed to give instructions to players during timeouts and between sets.