Gamecocks Edged by No. 4 Florida State, No. 9 Georgia State on Sunday

March 26, 2017

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1: FSU def. Culbert/Denney, 11-21, 21-16, 15-13

2: FSU def. Smith/Zimmerman, 18-21, 21-18, 15-11

3: FSU def. Mannisto/Schnieder, 21-19, 23-25, 15-10

4: Tendrich/Williams def. FSU, 21-18, 27-25

5: FSU def. Harrison/Vitt, 21-16, 21-19

Ex: FSU def. Feruck/Recaborde, 21-8, 21-17

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

1: GSU def. Culbert/Denney, 21-15, 26-24

2: GSU def. Smith/Zimmerman, 21-13, 21-19

3: Mannisto/Schnieder def. GSU, 21-14, 16-21, 15-11

4: Tendrich/Williams def. GSU, 13-21, 21-16, 15-9

5: GSU def. Harrison/Vitt, 14-21, 21-19, 15-11

Exhib: GSU def. Wood/Baumann, 21-17, 21-18

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

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Day two of the Gamecock Grand Slam featured a pair of top-10 battles for South Carolina, with the team falling just short in losses to No. 4 Florida State and No. 9 Georgia State. Now through four weekends, the Gamecocks stand at 11-5, 4-3 in the CCSA.

Carolina battled it out in the first match of the day, losing to the Seminoles (11-5) by the closest of margins. The Gamecocks lost three-set decisions at each of the top three pairings, costing them a chance at upsetting Florida State for the first time in program history.

Shannon Williams and Macie Tendrich scored the team’s lone win, sweeping FSU’s Katie Horton and Francesca Goncalves 21-19, 27-25. Carolina had a chance to take an early 2-0 lead in the first wave, but Katie Zimmerman and Katie Smith dropped the second and third set to let their match slip away. Adrianna Culbert and Ali Denney suffered a similar fate, winning the first set of the ones pairing 21-11 but dropped the second and third to clinch the win for the Seminoles.

Two teams desperate for a win to close the tournament hit the sand in the final dual of the weekend, with Georgia State (11-8) and the Gamecocks squaring off. The Panthers struck first with a sweep of the twos pair, but Tendrich and Williams again battled back and took the fours pair in three sets, 13-21, 21-16, 15-9, to level the dual.

The Panthers forged back ahead 2-1 after sweeping the number one flight, and the visitors come back from a 1-0 deficit in the fives pairing to clinch the team win. Georgia Johnson and Olivia Stasevich’s effort against Jade Vitt and Franky Harrison proved to be the deciding point, but the Gamecocks did close out the tournament with a three-set win by Julia Mannisto and Carly Schnieder at the threes.

Quotable: Head Coach Moritz Moritz

On the team’s results for the weekend
“We have some tweaks that we need to make in practice this week, but its great to have the opportunity to measure ourselves against such a high level of competition and see where we are and where we need to go next. We’re getting closer and closer with every step. It was a tough weekend, and even though we didn’t meet our expectations for the outcomes, we still battled. There are a lot of matches still ahead of us, and time to achieve great things as a program.”

Up Next

The team heads north for its next tournament, traveling up to North Carolina for a weekend at UNC-Wilmington. The Gamecocks face Coastal Carolina and Mercer on Saturday, April 1, then College of Charleston and host UNCW on Sunday. First serve against the Chanticleers is scheduled for 9 a.m.