Beach Volleyball . April 13, 2018

Gamecocks Win Twice to Open Weekend Tournament

April 13, 2018

Final Stats

PAIR RESULTS: COASTAL CAROLINA

1: Williams/Denney (SC) def. Hardeman/Djuric (COASTAL) 21-10, 21-13

2: Dora/Cahill (COASTAL) def. Ezell/Dimke (SC) 21-18, 21-18

3: Bates/Smith (SC) def. Windisch/Ladewig (COASTAL) 21-7, 21-11

4: Mannisto/ Schnieder (SC) def. Gauthier/Manning (COASTAL) 21-11, 21-12

5: Tendrich/Perri (SC) def. Aristea/Kalin (COASTAL) 21-10, 21-13

Ex: Vastine/Skaff (SC) def. Otto/Beck (COASTAL) 21-16, 21-12

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

PAIR RESULTS: TULANE

1: McHugh/Mertz (TLN) def. Williams/Denney (SC) 21-14, 21-16

2: Mergener/Nguyen (TLN) def. Bates/Smith (SC) 12-21, 22-20, 16-14

3: Ezell/Dimke (SC) def. Orlich/Chin (TLN) 21-19, 18-21, 15-10

4: Mannisto/Schnieder (SC) def. Delgado/Hermstad (TLN) 21-18, 21-12

5: Tendrich/Perri (SC) def. Frohoff/Becerra (TLN) 21-19, 21-14

Ex: Sorensen/Harrison (SC) def. Brennan/Esters (TLN) 21-12, 21-14

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

Looking Ahead

Date	Opponent (H/A/N)	Time
4/20	CCSA Championships	Pool Play
4/21	CCSA Championships	Pool Play
4/22	CCSA Championships	Semifinal/Final Rounds

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina beach volleyball team opened its final weekend of the regular season with a pair of home wins Friday at the Palmetto Invitational. The Gamecocks defeated Coastal Carolina, 4-1, and overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 19 Tulane, 3-2, to end the day. The wins move the ninth-ranked Gamecocks to 18-6 overall this season, 8-3 in CCSA conference matches.

In the opening dual with the Chanticleers, the Gamecocks had to change up their lineup thanks to the return of Lydia Dimke. The graduate transfer was injured in the team’s opening dual of the season way back on Feb. 23, but returned to the lineup Friday with a new partner in Aubrey Ezell. Though the duo would not come up with the win, the rest of the lineup picked up the slack and guided South Carolina to the 4-1 win.

Dimke and Ezell would be a major factor in the team’s second dual of the day, squaring off with a Tulane side that had won seven of its last eight duals to crack the AVCA top 20 poll this week.

In the first wave, Carly Schnieder and Julia Mannisto earned the first point with a 21-11, 21-12 sweep in the fours. Tulane answered with a big comeback win on court two, winning 12-21, 22-20, 16-14 to split the opening wave. A quick sweep on the top pairing put the Green Wave in the driver’s seat with the 2-1 lead, but the Gamecocks answered with a 21-19, 21-14 win from Macie Tendrich and Leah Perri on court five.

All eyes turned to Dimke and Ezell’s court, with Tulane forcing a third set to decide the match. The set to 15 was tight early, but Ezell helped the Gamecocks breakaway behind her big serve. Making her first start of the season, Ezell put down four straight aces to turn a modest 6-4 lead into a 10-4 advantage for Carolina, and they would carry that momentum to a 15-10 win to clinch dual for the team.

NOTABLE

The Gamecocks celebrated four seniors prior to the dual with Tulane. This weekend will be the final home matches for Leah Perri, Julia Mannisto, Hannah Sorensen and Macie Tendrich. The four seniors went undefeated between the two duals on Friday.
Ezell’s start on Friday was her first start since April 24, 2016. After spending last spring training with the indoor program, Ezell is back in the lineup and picked up career win No. 23.
With a 2-0 day, Julia Mannisto and Carly Schnieder now lead the team with 19 wins so far this season.
With Dimke returning to pick up her second win of the season, the team’s three graduate transfers in the starting lineup (Dimke, Cadie Bates and Leah Perri) are a combined 34-12.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks have two more duals ahead of them Saturday. The team hosts Missouri State at 1 p.m. and closes the tournament with a showdown with state and conference rival College of Charleston at 5 p.m. The top two pairs for both duals will air live on the SEC Network+ stream online.