Gamecocks Fall to No. 1 Southern Cal, No. 13 Stetson on Saturday

March 25, 2017

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1: Culbert/Denney def. Stetson, 21-16, 21-16

2: Stetson def. Smith/Zimmerman, 21-17, 19-21, 15-10

3: Stetson def. Mannisto/Schnieder, 21-12, 24-22

4: Tendrich/Williams def. Stetson, 21-18, 16-21, 15-13

5: Stetson def. Harrison/Vitt, 20-22, 21-11, 15-11

Ex: Stetson def. Sorensen/Nacouzi, 21-8, 21-17

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

1: USC def. Culbert/Denney, 21-8, 21-18

2: USC def. Smith/Zimmerman, 21-18, 21-16

3: USC def. Mannisto/Schnieder, 21-13, 21-12

4: USC def. Tendrich/Williams, 21-18, 24-22

5: USC def. Harrison/Vitt, 17-21, 21-15, 15-12

Exhib: USC def. Edelman/Skaff, 21-14, 21-16

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

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina beach volleyball team opened up the Gamecock Grand Slam on Saturday with a pair of nationally ranked opponents. The team dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 13 Stetson (7-8) in the afternoon, and lost 5-0 to defending national champion Southern Cal (14-0) in the night cap. The two losses set the No. 9 Gamecocks to 11-3 for the season.

Carolina’s dual with the Hatters was a dogfight from the very start, as both first-wave matches went to three sets. The Gamecocks won at the four pair with Macie Tendrich and Shannon Williams prevailing, 21-18, 16-21, 15-13, but Stetson took the twos pair in three.

Stetson took a momentary 2-1 lead after coming back to win the fives pair in three sets as well, but a sweep by Ali Denney and Adrianna Culbert in the top flight made it 2-2 with just the threes left. After losing the first set 21-12, Carly Schnieder and Julia Mannisto rallied to take a lead late into the second set but could not hold off the sweep and lost 24-22 to close the dual.

Against the No. 1 Trojans, South Carolina was only able to push it to a third set at the fives pair of Harrison and Vitt, as the two-time defending national champions swept the team scoring 5-0. The Gamecocks’ top two pairs showed great effort against Southern Cal, but weren’t able to avoid the sweeps.

Quotable: Head Coach Moritz Moritz

On day one of the Gamecock Grand Slam
“Stetson was a tough one, they did a nice job of competing and our girls really battled. I never thought at any point that we were down, I thought we had a chance to win throughout the entire match and we really just didn’t come out on the right side of that one. Southern Cal, they’re the number one team in the country for a reason, but I also saw great effort and great energy for our team which is encouraging heading into tomorrow.”

Up Next

The Gamecocks have two more top-10 opponents waiting for them Sunday. South Carolina takes on No. 4 Florida State at 1 and No. 9 Georgia State at 5. Both matches will air on the SEC Network+.