Beach Volleyball Hosts First Home Tournament of 2022

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After spending its first two weekends on the road, South Carolina beach volleyball opens its home schedule March 11-12 with the Gamecock Grand Slam. The two-day tournament welcomes in Pepperdine, LSU, Louisiana Monroe and Mercer. Games will run from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. both days with the Gamecocks playing at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day.

This spring, attendance at home matches is again open to the general public. Masks are encouraged but not required at Wheeler Beach. Please continue to follow the athletics department’s clear bag policy. Fan entrance is only permitted on the north side of the facility through the main gate and only teams and game-day personnel are permitted on the sand surface.

WEEKEND NOTABLES (@ HORNED FROG CHALLENGE)

• The team was without a pair of key starters for the weekend. Alyssa Keller (3-1 at No. 1 in week one) and Jordan Smith (3-1 at No. 2) did not travel with the team to Texas. 
• As a results of the pair’s absence, the Gamecocks debuted a number of new pairings and two individuals made their season debut – Abby Carroll and Jillian Gleason.
• Gleason teamed with Whitley Ballard to earn her first career win on day one. The pair won 21-12, 21-17 at No. 3 against Central Arkansas.
• Abby Carroll teamed with Skylar Allen at number one against Central Arkansas and won, 21-15, 21-15. It is the senior’s first career win at the number one position in the lineup. She previously won five career matches at No. 2 and seven at No. 3.
• Carroll picked up another big win to end the weekend, pairing up with Lauren Wilcock to defeat No. 3 Florida State in the twos pairing.

SCOUTING THE WEEKEND FIELD
Pepperdine heads east for the first time this spring, holding a 5-0 record. The Waves have a young roster, with 11 of their 19 members either a freshman or sophomore and two of their senior members joining the team for the first time this year. Veteran Melanie Paul has teamed with Pepperdine indoor volleyball standout Madison Shields to go 4-1 on court one through the first two weeks of competition. Senior Simone Priebe and freshman McKenna Thomas are undefeated at No. 2 and seniors Peyton Lewis and Savana Greene are also 5-0 together in the fifth position. The Waves are ranked 15th in the latest AVCA coaches poll.

Graduation has not slowed LSU’s roll, the fifth-ranked Tigers are 9-0 through the first two weeks despite a reconstructed lineup that lost eight significant starters from 2021. Kelli Greene-Agnew and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope returned from major roles last season and are back in the lineup, joined by three transfers who already have locked in their spots in the top five. Indoor transfers Kylie Deberg and Holly Carlton are currently undefeated on courts two and three, respectively, and Grand Canyon transfer Bell Bauman is currently teamed with Rasnick-Pope at the top court.

Louisiana Monroe enters the weekend with a 3-4 overall record, coming off a 1-2 weekend at home March 4-5. The Warhawks are led by a veteran top pairing of Audrey Brooks and Julia Blazek. The duo won a program-record 21 matches on the top court in 2021 and are currently 4-3 so far this spring.

Mercer played just 13 duals in 2021, finishing with a 6-7 overall record. It will be a brand-new look for the Bears in 2022, with 11 freshmen on the 16-women roster. Mercer lost its entire No. 1 and No. 2 pairings and will lean on returner Olivia Boeve, who went 7-6 as a junior in 2021. She and freshman Lexi Polychrones have held down the top pairing so far this spring. The team stopped in Atlanta for Georgia State’s Day of Duals on March 9 before coming to Columbia, defeating Tusculum and losing to Coastal Carolina and the host Panthers.

GAMECOCKS IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
The team earned its first-ever ranking by the AVCA on March 6, 2017, and have not left the polls since. The Gamecocks peaked at No. 8 in the polls in 2018 and check in at No. 19 in the latest poll, marking 52 weekly rankings in a row in the coaches poll. 

2021 SEASON NOTABLES

• The team’s 23 wins were tied for the second highest total in program history, and its 12 regular-season wins against conference opponents was a single-season record. All nine of South Carolina’s losses came against nationally ranked opponents. The Gamecocks’ 14 total duals against ranked teams was the third-highest single-season total in program history.
• Katie Smith and Skylar Allen were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) second-team All-America squad. The duo were the first Gamecocks in program history to earn All-America status.
• Allen and Smith were also named the AVCA’s National Pair of the Week on April 27, coming after the pair finished with a perfect 4-0 record at the CCSA conference tournament, including wins over the top pairs for No. 3 Florida State and No. 7 TCU. 
• Allen and Smith finished the season 16-6 together on court one, with an 8-7 record against nationally ranked opponents. Only Cadie Bates and Shannon Williams in 2019 (17) had more single-season wins in the top pairing, but Allen and Smith’s .727 win percentage was a program single-season record for playing on the top court.
• Individually, Allen ended the season with a 20-10 record on the top court. She was the first Gamecock to win 20 matches at No. 1 in a single season; the previous high was 17.
• Katie Smith ended her career at South Carolina with 96 career dual wins and 99 career wins overall; both are program records.
• Jess Vastine and Jordan Smith ended the season sharing the team lead for individual wins with Carly Schnieder. The trio finished with 26, one shy of the program’s single season record.
• Jordan Smith’s record of 26-4 gave her a final win percentage of .867, a single-season program record.
• Schnieder and Morgyn Greer finished the season with a record of 23-5 as a pair. That was the third-highest single-season win total by a Gamecock pair in program history
• Schnieder left South Carolina with 92 career wins, the third-highest total in program history.

ALL-TIME RECORDS

• South Carolina holds a 138-86 (.616) all-time program record, dating back to 2014.
• The Gamecocks joined the CCSA for volleyball in 2016, and have an all-time conference record of 45-30 (.600).
• In matches at Wheeler Beach, Carolina is 59-20 (.747).
• Moritz Moritz is in his ninth season as head coach of the Gamecocks, spanning the entire young history of the program. He earned his 100th career win vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville on April 6, 2019.