Gamecocks Open Play at Fiesta on Siesta Key on Saturday
April 11, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina sand volleyball team will take a break from dual play this weekend as it heads to the Fiesta on Siesta Key pairs tournament in Siesta Key, Fla.
The event, which will be held on a public beach, features pairs from 29 teams and is considered the largest collegiate sand volleyball event in the country. A total of eight Gamecock pairs will compete on Saturday and Sunday in pool and bracket play.
“We are excited for another opportunity to learn and get better,” South Carolina head coach Moritz Moritz said. “We are still focused on the task at hand, and that is simply to work to improve every chance we can. This event is also a great chance for all of our players to get experience, which is a crucial component of their continued development. All in all we are excited for the weekend.”
South Carolina’s No. 1 and 2 pairs will open play on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in two rounds of pool play. The top two pairs from 15 schools along with two at-large pairs will be split up into eight pools of four teams. Each match will be a best-of-three sets format, going to 21 points in the first two sets and 15 if a third is needed. Using the results of pool play, the pairs will then be seeded into Gold or Silver single elimination playoff brackets, which will be contested on Sunday.
The Gamecocks’ top pair of Megan Kent and Paige Wheeler will be in a pool with pairs from Stetson, North Florida and Florida Atlantic. South Carolina’s No. 2 pair of Mikaela Christiaansen and Sarah Blomgren will match up against pairs from North Florida, UAB and Stetson.
The remainder of the event will be the Fiesta on Siesta Team Cup Competition, which begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday and consists of the remaining pairs from each school. Pairs will be divided into a total of 25 pools of four teams and will play one set to 25 during pool play. Following pool play, all of the pairs will advance to four single elimination playoff brackets, with playoff matches being one set to 25 points. The 2014 Fiesta on Siesta Team Cup will be awarded based on the final finish points for the top four pairs from each school.
South Carolina’s No. 3 pair of Jordan Loney and Jade Vitt, No. 4 pair of Litsa Darby and Chynna Ratner and No. 5 pair of Erin Neuenfeldt and KoKo Atoa-Williams will be joined by the pairs of Morgan LaVigne and Helen Récaborde, Shiloh Burgreen and Jordan Wilson-Talmadge and Katie McCormick and Haley Guyton.
Play is estimated to conclude at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
