Beach Volleyball Closes Regular Season With Two Wins Saturday
April 14, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s beach volleyball team ended its regular season on a high note Saturday, with the Gamecocks (20-6, 9-3 CCSA) taking down Missouri State (7-10) in a 5-0 sweep and defeating conference rival College of Charleston (15-8) 4-1. The team ends the home tournament with a 4-0 record, helping secure its third-straight 20-win season.
In the first dual of the day, the Gamecocks made quick work of a Missouri State team that’s in its first season as a beach program. Senior Julia Mannisto and her partner, Carly Schnieder, provided the clinching point with a 21-9, 21-17 wins on court three.
Wrapping up the weekend was a Charleston team that came into the tournament ranked 20th in the AVCA coaches poll, with the Cougars winning four straight duals in their last competition. Tendrich and Perri put the Gamecocks up early with a 21-17, 21-17 win at the fours, and Cadie Bates and Katie Smith followed close behind with a sweep of the twos that put the home side up 2-0 after the opening wave.
Mannisto and Schnieder again would clinch the overall win, this time with a 21-15, 21-13 win at the threes, but Charleston countered with a sweep on court five to make it 3-1. Ali Denney and Shannon Williams closed the dual with an exciting comeback in the number one pairing. After losing 21-19 in set one, Williams exploded offensively in set two for a 21-16 win, and the duo carried that momentum into a big win in set three, 15-8, that secured the 4-1 win.
NOTABLE
- It was a perfect weekend for South Carolina’s four seniors ââ’¬” literally and figuratively. Julia Mannisto went 4-0, Macie Tendrich and Leah Perri teamed together to go 4-0, and Hannah Sorensen went undefeated in two exhibition matches.
- Behind her four wins this weekend, Tendrich reached 90 career wins on Sunday. The Boynton Beach, Fla. native is already the program’s all-time wins leader.
- The College of Charleston dual was also the 124th career start for Tendrich and Mannisto. That pushes them past former teammate Jade Vitt for the most matches played in program history.
- South Carolina now has three-straight 20-win seasons. The team’s 11 home wins are the second-most in a single season, behind only 2016’s total of 14.
- With wins over No. 19 Tulane and No. 20 College of Charleston over the weekend, the Gamecocks now have 10 wins over nationally ranked opponents to far this season.
- Ali Denney and Shannon Williams‘ 14 wins as the top pair for the Gamecocks match the program record for most wins by a pair at number one. Eight of those 14 wins have come in three sets, as the pair came from behind to defeat College of Charleston in the weekend finale.
- Leah Perri/Macie Tendrich and Carly Schnieder/Julia Mannisto end the regular season tied for the team lead for wins, with 19 apiece. That puts them in a tie for sixth-most in a single season in program history.
UP NEXT
With the regular season wrapped, the Gamecocks will now await for their seeding in next weekend’s conference tournament. The Coastal Collegiate Sports Association’s three-day event in Emerson, Ga. begins Friday with two days of pool play, then the semifinal and final held on Sunday. The two pools of teams will be announced early this week.
