Beach Volleyball Inks Four in Fall Signing Period
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina beach volleyball team opened the fall signing period with a four signees this week. Along with two incoming freshmen, the team signed a pair of high-profile graduate transfers. The Gamecocks will add Cadie Bates from Duke and Lydia Dimke from Creighton, with both student-athletes enrolling in January to compete immediately for the 2018 spring season. Jordan Smith and Abby Carroll will join the team for the 2018-19 school year.
“This class will continue to fit into and enhance what we’re been doing the last couple of years,” head coach Moritz Moritz said. “One of the primary components for us is the culture and the work ethic. With this class, we continue to add that element, because they come in the door passionate about what we already have with our program, and how they can add to it.”
Bates is a 6-foot, 2-inch outside hitter for the Blue Devils, coming from Temecula, Calif. for four seasons at Duke. Still with five matches to go this season, she leads the team in kills (304) and service aces (22) and ranks second in digs (321) while not missing a single set over the team’s 26 matches. She has more than 100 career matches under her belt indoors, but also has a strong beach pedigree stretching back before her college career.
Dimke is a 6-foot, 3-inch setter in the middle of her second season with the Bluejays. After transferring from Purdue following her sophomore year, Dimke exploded onto the national scene in 2016. She was named the BIG EAST Player of the Year and an AVCA Third Team All-American after averaging 11.36 assists, 2.67 digs and 1.14 kills per set. Creighton advanced all the way to the Elite Eight in 2016, and currently stands at 20-5 overall with a No. 14 ranking this season.
“Cadie and Lydia have been major contributors at high-level programs, and we’re excited to bring their physical skill set and incredible leadership qualities to our program,” Moritz said. “Both of these young women should bring an instant impact to our program’s culture as well as our skill level on the sand.”
Bates will have two seasons of eligibility at South Carolina, Dimke will have just the upcoming 2018 season. The two join Clemson graduate transfer Leah Perri, who is already on the active roster for the Gamecocks.
Abby Carroll, a Southlake, Texas native, comes to South Carolina with a family history with Gamecock athletics. Her mother, Liz, competed for the women’s golf team. She was an AAU national champion in 2016 for beach volleyball, part of the first ever duo from Texas to win the tournament. Indoors, she won three district championships in high school.
Jordan Smith will compete alongside her sister, current sophomore Katie Smith, when she arrives in Columbia next year. Jordan comes to the team from West Chester, Ohio. This summer, she was the USA Volleyball High Performance Zonal U19 gold medalist and finished second at the USA Volleyball Nationals. Over the last two years, she has a pair of first-place finishes at AVPNext tournaments as well.
South Carolina aims to follow up on a historic 2017 season with a group of seven returning starters who won 20 or more dual matches last season. The Gamecocks open year five of the program this spring, stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com for the team’s schedule release this winter.
