Beach Volleyball . April 20, 2018

Beach Volleyball Begins Conference Tournament with Two Wins

April 20, 2018

Final Stats

PAIR RESULTS: UAB

1: Bates/Smith (SC) def. May/Adams (UAB) 21-13, 21-16

2: Williams/Denney (SC) def. Logoleo/Bognar (UAB) 21-17, 21-10

3: Schnieder/Mannisto (SC) def. Moreno/Martinez (UAB) 21-14, 21-13

4: Perri/Tendrich (SC) def. McClure/Buckland (UAB) 21-12, 21-11

5: Skaff/Vastine (SC) def. Napolitano/Pringle (UAB) 22-24, 21-10, 15-9

PAIR RESULTS: TULANE

1: Bates/Smith (SC) def. McHugh/Mertz (TLN) 21-17, 21-12

2: Williams/Denney (SC) def. Mergener/Nguyen (TLN) 15-21, 21-16, 15-8

3: Orlich/Chin (TLN) def. Schnieder/Mannisto (SC) 21-13, 16-21, 15-12

4: Perri/Tendrich (SC) def. Frohoff/Becerra (TLN) 21-9, 21-17

5: Delgado/Hermstad (TLN) def. Skaff/Vastine (SC) 21-12, 21-9

Looking Ahead

Date	Opponent (H/A/N)	Time
4/21	College of Charleston	9 a.m.
4/21	FIU	12 p.m.
4/22	CCSA Championships	Semifinal/Final Rounds

EMERSON, GA. – The South Carolina beach volleyball team had a cathartic first day at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association’s conference tournament. The Gamecocks (22-6) defeated UAB, 5-0, and held off Tulane (21-13) by a score of 3-2 to finish the first day of pool play undefeated.

The Blazers upset South Carolina in the regular season, 3-2, but the Gamecocks were locked in from the opening serve on all five courts. The top four pairs swept their matches, allowing UAB to score more than 15 points in just two of the eight total sets. The fives pairing of Jess Vastine and Caroline Skaff rebounded from a 24-22 loss in the first set of their match, and came back to win with set scores of 21-10 and 15-9 in the second and third games, respectively.

In the afternoon, the Gamecocks faced a Tulane team that beat them 3-2 in pool play of last year’s conference tournament, keeping them from advancing out to the Sunday bracket. It was another tough battle with the Green Wave, who took a quick lead with a sweep of the fives before South Carolina could counter with wins at one and four. Cadie Bates and Katie Smith, playing up in the number one pairing for the first time this weekend, handled Tulane’s all-conference pair of Madeline Mertz and Kaylie McHugh with a 21-17, 21-12 sweep to put South Carolina up 2-1.

The final two matches, at number two and number three, went to a third set. Tulane would claim the first point, winning 21-13, 16-21, 15-12 at the threes. Ali Denney and Shannon Williams provided the clinching point at the twos, though, thanks to a 15-21, 21-15, 15-8 rally for the overall team win.

NOTABLE

Denney and Williams are now 9-2 in three-set matches this season.
With two more wins on Friday, Macie Tendrich and Leah Perri now are 21-7 overall this season. That moves them up to fourth in program history for wins by a pair in a single season. Ten of those 21 wins have come over nationally ranked opponents.
The Gamecocks now have five individuals with 20 or more wins this season: Julia Mannisto, Leah Perri, Carly Schnieder, Katie Smith and Macie Tendrich.
With two wins Friday, Ali Denney and Shannon Williams moved up to third for most career wins by a pair. The duo are now 26-18 together over the last two seasons.

UP NEXT

The team has two more matches remaining in pool play. On Saturday, South Carolina will face in-state rival College of Charleston at 9 a.m. and then wraps up the day with a noon showdown with No. 3-seed FIU. After all five teams in the pool face each other, the top two teams will advance to Sunday’s single-elimination semifinal round.