Beach Volleyball Opens April at Home

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Following a bye week, South Carolina beach volleyball ramps up for the final month of the regular season with the Carolina Challenge, a two-day tournament that runs April 1-2 at Wheeler Beach. The 14th-ranked Gamecocks (10-7) host Jacksonville, No. 19 Stetson, UAB and UNCW, playing their games at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

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.

SCOUTING THE WEEKEND FIELD
Jacksonville is on a three-game win streak entering the weekend and already have a program-record nine wins for the season. The Dolphins are a young squad, with nine freshmen and three sophomores on the roster. Fifth-year senior Shaylee Befus is the top returner, holding down a spot in the number one pairing for each of the last three spring seasons.

• South Carolina leads, 5-2 (Since 2014)
• Gamecocks won, 5-0 (March 14, 2021)
• South Carolina is on a three-game win streak in the series, giving up just one point in that span.

The Gamecocks look to even their season series with Stetson when they play the Hatters at 5 p.m. on Friday. Stetson earned a 4-1 win on the opening day of the season, scoring three-set wins on courts one and two to secure the win. The Hatters are 9-11 overall and coming off a 1-3 weekend at home with losses to FAU, Georgia State and FIU. Shae Henson and Kylie Neuschaeferova have 10 wins at the number one pairing, but it is Carolina Ferraris and Anete Namike that lead in overall wins thanks to a 14-3 mark together on court two.

• Stetson leads, 7-3 (Since 2016)
• Hatters won, 4-1 (February 25, 2022)
• The Gamecocks have never beaten Stetson at home in the all-time series; of the 10 meetings total, eight have been decided by 3-2 scores.

UAB have played a grueling schedule, with 10 games against top-20-ranked teams already entering April. The Blazers are 5-14 overall, dropping eight straight that includes six losses to ranked teams at the March to May tournament in Gulf Shores March 18-20. The team’s top pair so far this season is on court one, with the team of Rachel Tam and Adriana Pereira going 7-11 on the top court.

• South Carolina leads, 11-1 (Since 2014)
• Gamecocks won, 5-0 (March 19, 2022)
• UAB’s lone win in the series came on Wheeler Beach in 2018; South Carolina is on a four-game win streak in the series that have all been 5-0 sweeps.

UNCW is in its first season competing in the Atlantic Sun conference and the Seahawks are off to a hot start with a 16-4 overall record. Eight individuals already have 10 or more wins, with the pair of Ellie Bucci and Tessa Rogers combining for 15 wins together as the top pair (10 at No. 3, 5 at No. 4). Mattie Johnson and Sadie Sharkey are the team’s win leaders on court one, going 9-5 together so far this spring.

• South Carolina leads, 9-0 (Since 2016)
• Gamecocks won, 4-1 (April 17, 2021)
• UNCW has had two of its best showing against Carolina come in its last two trips to Wheeler Beach. The Seahawks lost 4-1 last April and came just shy of the upset, 3-2, on April 13, 2019. 

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. 14 in the latest poll, marking 55 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 144-89 (.618) 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 46-33 (.582).
• In matches at Wheeler Beach, Carolina is 62-21 (.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.