Beach Volleyball . March 30, 2018

Gamecocks Battle Through Three Friday Duals

March 30, 2018

Final Stats

PAIR RESULTS: TCU

1: Williams/Denney (SC) def. Hill/House (TCU) 21-19, 16-21, 16-14

2: Bates/Smith (SC) def. Scheel/Bledsoe (TCU) 21-18, 21-14

3: Schnieder/Mannisto (SC) def. Bergeson/Greene (TCU) 22-20, 21-9

4: Perri/Tendrich (SC) def. Rogers/Doyle (TCU) 21-17, 21-14

5: Sassin/Westerdorff (TCU) def. Vastine/Harrison (SC) 21-19, 21-19

Ex: Wieser/Arellano (TCU) def. Skaff/Davis (SC) 21-14, 21-13

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

PAIR RESULTS: GRAND CANYON

1: Turner/Towne (GCU) def. Williams/Denney (SC) 21-17, 21-19

2: Bates/Smith (SC) def. Stansfield/Bauman (GCU) 21-17, 14-21, 15-12

3: Mannisto/Schnieder (SC) def. Pyles/Iverson (GCU) 21-18, 21-10

4: Tendrich/Perri (SC) def. Clark/Relaz (GCU) 12-21, 21-12, 15-8

5: Reinking/Walsh (GCU) def. Vastine/Davis (SC) 21-15, 21-18

Ex: Jordan/Unnasch (GCU) def. Skaff/Harrison (SC) 21-13, 21-15

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

PAIR RESULTS: FIU

1: Frasca/Bianchin (FIU) def. Williams/Denney (SC) 21-18, 21-17

2: Sataric/ Zembyla (FIU) def. Bates/Schnieder (SC) 21-17, 21-17

3: Bernier/Besterfield (FIU) def. Perri/Tendrich (SC) 21-14, 21-18

4: Mannisto/Skaff (SC) def. Bethancourt/Giron (FIU) 21-18, 21-23, 15-10

5: Dal Pozzo/Thomas (FIU) def. Vastine/Davis (SC) 23-21, 24-22

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

Looking Ahead

Date	Opponent (H/A/N)	Time
4/13	Coastal Carolina (H)	1 p.m. ET
4/13	Tulane (H)	5 p.m. ET
4/14	Missouri St. (H)	1 p.m. ET
4/14	College of Charleston (H)	5 p.m. ET

MIAMI, FLA. – The South Carolina beach volleyball team spent an eventful day on South Beach Friday, going 2-1 at the Surf ‘N Turf Invitational. The Gamecocks defeated TCU and No. 11 Grand Canyon, but dropped a 4-1 decision to host FIU to close out the day. The team is now 16-5 for the season, 7-3 in conference play.

Less than a week removed from a 3-2 win over TCU, the Gamecocks squared off again with the Horned Frogs. South Carolina won the second, third and fourth pairings last Sunday, and would repeat that success again Friday. The number one pair of Ali Denney and Shannon Williams rebounded from a sweep at the hands of TCU last weekend, pulling out a 21-19, 16-21, 16-14 victory for the 4-1 final.

Against Grand Canyon, the team found itself in a hole early after being swept on courts one and five by the Antelopes. South Carolina got on the board with a sweep by Carly Schnieder and Julia Mannisto, but the final two pairs would go to a third set. Cadie Bates and Katie Smith gutted out a 21-17, 14-21, 15-12 win on court two that leveled the dual at 2-2, and all eyes went to the fours match with Leah Perri and Macie Tendrich. The two dropped their first set, 21-12, but rallied to flip the scoreboard in set two and force a decisive third set that would also decide the dual. They rode the momentum of a big set two win to clinch the win by a 15-8 score in the third.

The Gamecocks needed to adjust to a new lineup for the final dual of the day. After gritting her way to two wins despite a stomach bug, Katie Smith was dropped out of the lineup for the dual with FIU. The team rolled out two new pairs (Bates and Schnieder at two, Skaff and Mannisto at four) and moved Perri and Tendrich up into the number three pairing against the Panthers. Skaff and Mannisto would pull out the team’s lone win, taking a three-set decision on court four, 21-18, 21-23, 15-10.

NOTABLE

Shannon Williams won her 50th career match after defeating TCU Friday morning. Williams is just the fifth Gamecock in program history to reach the milestone.
Caroline Skaff stepped into the fours pairing for the FIU match after the team lost Katie Smith to illness, and the sophomore stepped up with her second career win.
Julia Mannisto went 3-0 for the day, getting two wins with Carly Schnieder and one with Skaff. The senior is now 17-4 this season, and has won nine straight matches.
Katie Smith and Schnieder each picked up their 17th win of the season, moving them up to third for most wins in a season by a sophomore.
Smith and Cadie Bates are now 14-2 as a pair this season. That is the second-best win total for a twos pair in program history. Mannisto and Schnieder (15 wins) moved up to second in program history for wins by a threes pair and Perri/Tendrich moved up to third for wins by a threes pair (14).

UP NEXT

It will be a lighter day Saturday, but a big opponent awaits the Gamecocks. The team will play No. 2 UCLA at approximately 12 p.m. on Saturday to wrap up the weekend tournament. The Bruins have won 17 straight duals and went 3-0 on day one of the tournament.