Gamecocks Send Two Pairs to USA Beach Volleyball Collegiate Championship
May 8, 2018
USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships
HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. – The USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championship field was finalized Tuesday, and two pairs from the eighth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks will compete in the field of 32 teams this weekend on the sand of Hermosa Beach, Calif. Cadie Bates and Katie Smith, and Carly Schnieder and Julia Mannisto are ready to compete in the three-day tournament, with the victors representing the United States at the 2018 FISU World University Championship.
Bates and Smith went 20-7 as a pair this season, with 16 wins from the number two position and a 3-3 record at the number one position during postseason play. The 20 wins ranks seventh-most for a Gamecock pair in a single season. Seven wins came against nationally ranked opponents, including LSU, Hawai’i, Grand Canyon and Georgia State. Smith, a sophomore, is making her second trip to the Collegiate Beach Championship. Bates, a Temecula, Calif. native, will be competing for the first time.
The team of Mannisto and Schnieder is South Carolina’s winningest pair in school history, with 43 wins together over the last two seasons. Mannisto ranks second in school history for wins as an individual, sitting at 74 entering the final event of her collegiate career. Schnieder is making her first appearance at the event as she wraps up her second season in Columbia. The team went 21-8 this season, including nine wins against ranked foes.
The tournament’s pairs are made up of US-born college student-athletes. South Carolina is one of eight schools with more than one duo participating in the tournament. Matches begin on Thursday with pool play running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. Friday sees the round of 24 and 16 in the morning, followed by the quarterfinals from 3-5 p.m. Saturday will have the semifinals at 8 a.m. and the championship at 1 p.m. live on NBC Sports Network. The tournament is free to the public for the entire weekend.
