Gamecocks Cap Perfect Weekend With Two Saturday Wins

ATLANTA, GA. – Gamecock beach volleyball (18-7, 10-5 CCSA) completed its second undefeated weekend tournament of the season on Saturday, defeating Southern Miss 5-0 and No. 19 Georgia State 3-2 to run the team’s win streak to five games. 
 
It was all business for the team in the opener, sweeping all five courts against the Golden Eagles. Of the 10 total sets played by the five pairs, South Carolina limited its opposition to 10 points or fewer in six of them. Alyssa Keller and Hannah Mackenhausen scored the dual’s first point with a 21-10, 21-16 sweep on court four, Skylar Allen and Katie Smith clinched the dual with a 21-15, 21-12 win on the top flight to make it 3-0. Avery Davis and Madison Brabham provided the most decisive win of the dual, winning 21-10, 21-6 in the number two pairing.
 
Closing the weekend with a third matchup with the Panthers in the last five duals overall, it was another hotly contested affair with Georgia State. In the first wave, South Carolina won its first set at four but lost at five. Those results flipped for the final score, though, with Morgyn Greer and Carly Schnieder coming back for a 19-21, 21-16, 15-13 win in the fifth flight but the Panthers would also have a comeback and won in three over Keller and Mackenhausen in flight four.
 
With the 1-1 team score heading into the second wave of matches, Georgia State took a momentary lead with a 21-16, 21-14 win on court two, but Jess Vastine and Jordan Smith followed quickly with a 21-19, 21-18 win at three to again tie the team score.
 
In a 2-2 dual, Allen and Smith found themselves in a marathon battle for the deciding point. After cruising to a 21-13 win in the opening set, the Gamecock pair came out on the wrong side of a 34-32 score in the second as Georgia State pushed for a third. The final set of the weekend was tight, but Allen and Smith scored four of the final five points to grab a 15-11 win and secure the victory.
 
“Skylar and Katie played with a lot of composure and confidence all weekend, they knew they were going to face tough matches and knew that they were going to make this weekend different than any other they’ve had so far this spring,” head coach Moritz Moritz said after the weekend finale. “I also have to say that Carly and Morgyn came through in such a big way this weekend, especially playing a pair from Georgia State that honestly just isn’t a good matchup for them. For them to pull their game together and be so solid was a big deal for the whole team.”
 
NOTABLE

• Katie Smith now stands at 89 career dual wins after her four wins this weekend. With three more duals at home next weekend and potential postseason duals as well, Smith still is within range of matching Macie Tendrich’s program record of 93 career dual wins. Including her pair play wins from 2017 and 2018, Smith’s overall win total is now 91, four behind Tendrich’s record of 95.
• Jordan Smith (23-2) and Jess Vastine (21-4) both eclipsed 20 wins for the year this weekend, and are now 14-1 overall as a pair. Smith’s 23 wins is the fifth-highest win total in a single season by any Gamecock individual.
• Of Smith’s team-leading 23 wins, 13 have come against conference rivals. That ties her with Macie Tendrich’s 2017 total for the program record for most CCSA wins in a single season.
• With the two wins over the 19^th-ranked Panthers, South Carolina has five wins over ranked opponents so far this season. That’s the second-highest single-season total in program history.

QUOTABLE: HEAD COACH MORITZ MORITZ
On the team’s success all weekend
The fight we showed this weekend, it’s important to see. One of the things we’ve realized is that we find ourselves in these tight 3-2 scores a lot and that’s not something you can replicate in practice, it’s something you need to experience and grow from as an individual. 
 
To be in situations where you need to fight for every single point like this weekend when you’re heading towards postseason play, it’s invaluable. Regardless of what chance people outside of the team may give us in the postseason, our goal remains to finish strong at home next weekend and compete for a conference championship in two weeks.
 
UP NEXT
One more weekend remains in the regular season, and it will come on the white sand of Wheeler Beach. The Gamecocks host the Palmetto Invitational next Friday and Saturday, facing UNCW on April 16 at 5 p.m. and then Erskine and College of Charleston at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, Saturday. 
 
There will be a special senior ceremony on Saturday prior to the College of Charleston dual, where the team will honor not only this year’s active graduates (Madison Brabham, Carly Schnieder, Morgyn Greer, Katie Smith, Jess Vastine, Quinn Fulton, Louise Kooiman, Avery Davis, Kennedy Copeland) but also recognize three members of the 2020 roster who were unable to celebrate their day due to the cancelation of the season (Hannah Edelman, Franky Harrison and Sarah Nacouzi).
 
RESULTS
No. 18 South Carolina 5, Southern Miss 0
1. Skylar Allen/Katie Smith (SC) def. Kylie Grandy/Abbey Wilson (USM) 21-15, 21-12
2. Madison Brabham/Avery Davis (SC) def. Valeria S. Papakyria/Haley Hop (USM) 21-10, 21-6
3. Jess Vastine/Jordan Smith (SC) def. Breleigh Favre/Kellie Garraway (USM) 21-9, 21-9
4. Alyssa Keller/Hannah Mackenhausen (SC) def. Madison Lawler/Olivia Hepworth (USM) 21-10, 21-16
5. Morgyn Greer/Carly Schnieder (SC) def. Kaylie Beck/Melanie Miller (USM) 21-10, 21-13
Ext. Hallie Phelan/Kai Norman (USM) def. Sophie Bengoechea/Abby Carroll (SC) 21-19, 13-21, 15-7
Order of finish: 4,5,1*,2,3
*-Deciding Point
 
No. 18 South Carolina 3, No. 19 Georgia State 2
1. Skylar Allen/Katie Smith (SC) def. Eden Hawes/Maddy Delmonte (GSU) 21-13, 32-34, 15-11
2. Kate Novack/Kelly Dorn (GSU) def. Madison Brabham/Avery Davis (SC) 21-16, 21-14
3. Jess Vastine/Jordan Smith (SC) def. Elise Saga/Meagan McCall (GSU) 21-19, 21-18
4. Olivia Stasevich/Mattie Johnson (GSU) def. Alyssa Keller/Hannah Mackenhausen (SC) 17-21, 21-19, 15-3
5. Morgyn Greer/Carly Schnieder (SC) def. Angel Ferary/Bella Ferary (GSU) 19-21, 21-16, 15-13
Ex. Sophie Manson/Kaeli Crews (SC) def. Bekah Brodbeck/Kaylee McClure (GSU) 16-21, 21-15, 15-7
Order of finish: 4,5,2,3,1*