April 4, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina sand volleyball team will make the trip to Mt. Pleasant, S.C., this weekend for the College of Charleston Sand Classic.

The two-day event will be held at the Creekside Tennis and Swim Club. The Gamecocks have a stiff challenge in front of them, as they will face No. 4 Florida State (8 a.m.) and College of Charleston (12 p.m.) on Saturday and No. 8 Georgia State (12 p.m.) on Sunday.

Saturday: vs. No. 4 FSU, (8 a.m.), vs. College of Charleston, (12 p.m.)
Sunday: vs. No. 8 Georgia State, (12 p.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.

Keeping it in the State
• The Gamecocks are making their first road trip within state borders as they head to Mt. Pleasant, S.C., for the College of Charleston Sand Classic at Creekside Tennis and Swim Club.
• South Carolina will face No. 4 Florida State (8 a.m.) and College of Charleston (12 p.m.) on Saturday and No. 8 Georgia State (12 p.m.) on Sunday.
• The combined record of South Carolina’s three opponents this weekend is 24-5.
• The Gamecocks have already played Florida State and Georgia State this season. The Seminoles claimed a 5-0 win in Tallahassee, Fla., while the Panthers defeated the Gamecocks 5-0 in Atlanta.

Projecting the Lineup
• No. 1: Paige Wheeler/Megan Kent – The duo is 3-12 overall this season and 2-9 as the Gamecocks’ top pair in duals.
• No. 2: Mikaela Christiaansen/Sarah Blomgren – Have put together a 6-7 overall record and a 5-4 record at No. 2 in duals.
• No. 3: Jordan Loney/Jade Vitt – Head into the weekend with a 5-7 overall record and a 5-6 mark as the team’s third pair in duals.
• No. 4: Litsa Darby/Chynna Ratner – Currently 1-6 overall and 1-5 at No. 4 in duals.
• No. 5: KoKo Atoa-Williams/Erin Neuenfeldt – Enter this weekend at 2-7 overall and 2-4 at No. 5 in duals.

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).
• The Gamecocks played in their first pairs tournament on March 30 in Tallahassee, Fla.
• The pair of Paige Wheeler and Megan Kent defeated teammates Mikaela Christiaansen and Sarah Blomgren 2-1 for the first win in a pairs tournament (3/30).

Scouting No. 4 Florida State
• The Seminoles enter the weekend at 10-1 overall, with their lone loss coming at No. 2 Southern California. FSU has won five straight matches.
• FSU 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.
• The Seminoles have lost only six sets all season out of 55 total. FSU has also won all five sets in seven out of its 11 matches.
• 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 an 18-1 record this season. The FSU duo won last weekend’s Gold Bracket in the pairs tournament in Tallahassee, Fla. In dual play, they defeated South Carolina’s Paige Wheeler and Megan Kent, 21-14 and 21-11.
• Sisters Stephanie Pellitteri and Kristina Pellitteri are also back at No. 2 after going 34-5 a year ago. The duo is 13-4 this season, including a two-set win over the Gamecocks’ Mikaela Christiaansen and Sarah Blomgren.

Scouting College of Charleston
• The Cougars are in their third season of sand volleyball. College of Charleston went 6-4 last season.
• In their inaugural season, the Cougars made the AVCA National Championships field and finished fourth.
• College of Charleston enters the weekend at 5-1 on the season. The Cougars lone loss was at No. 8 Georgia State, 5-0.
• Darcy Dorton and Emily Neideffer have played at No. 1 for the Cougars this season. The duo is 0-6 in dual matches.
• Dorton was the CAA Player of the Year for College of Charleston’s indoor volleyball team.

Scouting No. 8 Georgia State
• Georgia State went 8-9 in its inaugural season in 2013, including wins over AVCA National Championship participants North Florida and Louisiana-Monroe.
• The Panthers enter the weekend at 9-3 on the season. Georgia State’s losses have come against No. 2 Pepperdine, No. 7 FIU and Stetson.
• Georgia State has won all five sets in four of its 12 duals.
• In the first matchup this season, Georgia State defeated the Gamecocks 5-0 in Atlanta.
• Georgia State’s top pair from last year of Lane Carico and Katie Madwell went 33-8 at No. 1 and advanced to the semifinals of the AVCA Sand Championships Pairs Tournament. With Carico gone, Madewell returns for her senior season to lead the way.

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.