July 7, 2017

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – South Carolina beach volleyball senior Macie Tendrich will compete for the United States starting this weekend at the Maccabiah Games. The Games are similar to the Olympics — held once every four years — and are made up of athletes of the Jewish faith from all around the world. Already the Gamecocks’ all-time wins leader, Tendrich will take part in a six-day tournament with matches running July 9-13.

This will be the 20th Maccabiah Games, and roughly 7,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries will compete alongside 2,500 Israeli athletes in 45 different sports.

Tendrich made the team after tryouts in the winter, and will pair up with teammate Samantha Lemmon for five matches in pool play running July 9-12. The gold medal and bronze medal matches will be held July 13.

This past spring, Macie broke her own school record for wins in a season with a 27-7 overall mark and she became the program’s first athlete to reach 70 wins in a career. Among the 27 wins were nine against AVCA Top 15 teams, also a team high. After helping the Gamecocks make their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, she qualified for the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Pairs Championship, where she and teammate Katie Zimmerman competed in pool play.

Tendrich enters her final year at South Carolina in 2017, and is one of seven returning starters for the Gamecocks. On top of making the national tournament, the team also set a new record for wins in a single season after finishing 23-11 and finished the year ranked No. 8 in the AVCA Top 15 coaches poll.

For more information on the Maccabiah Games and the Tendrich family, read Macie’s story, compiled by USC student journalists Devyn Doyle, Dakota Watson and Mia Bolton.