Beach Volleyball Splits Rain-Soaked Saturday in Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA. – South Carolina beach volleyball battled unenviable elements along with two tough opponents Saturday on day two of the Georgia State Diggin’ Duals. The Gamecocks (15-10) lost to the host Panthers, 4-1, but rallied back to end the weekend with a 5-0 sweep of UT-Martin (20-8), a squad that had defeated Georgia State (14-13) and No. 20 Stetson earlier in the tournament.

Temperatures dropped almost 30 degrees from Friday’s games and heavy wind and driving rain welcomed the teams to the courts for the entire day. Georgia State jumped ahead quickly and put the dual away with four sweeps, South Carolina’s lone point came on court two with a 21-9, 12-21, 15-13 win for Allison Coens and Lauren Wilcock.

Facing an upset-minded Skyhawk team that had just taken down Stetson in their morning dual, the Gamecocks took care of business. Carolina would not drop a single set in the matchup, highlighted by Georgia native Lizzie Thompson picking up her first career win thanks to a 21-18, 21-15 sweep of the fives pairing. Skylar Allen and Simone Priebe clinched the team win on court one, and Coens and Wilcock won again on court two to wrap up the 5-0 team win.

For continued updates on the team, follow @GamecockBeachVB on Twitter and Instagram.

UP NEXT
Only one weekend remains in the regular season, the Gamecocks Host the Palmetto Invitational next weekend with matches on Friday and Saturday. The team plays FGCU at 11 a.m. and Coastal Carolina at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, with a pregame senior night ceremony before the dual against the Chanticleers. Saturday features duals against Jacksonville and College of Charleston at 1 p.m and 5, respectively.

RESULTS
No. 11 Georgia State 4, No. 16 South Carolina 1

1. Angel Ferary/Bella Ferary (GSU) def. Simone Priebe/Skylar Allen (USC): 21-10, 21-17
2. Lauren Wilcock/Allison Coens (USC) def. Yasmin Kuck/Lila Bordis (GSU): 21-9, 12-21, 15-13
3. Elise Saga/Kelly Dorn (GSU) def. Kaeli Crews/Hannah Mackenhausen (USC): 22-20, 21-16
4. Maddy Delmonte/Ayla Johnson (GSU) def. Jolie Cranford/Kennedy Westendorff (USC): 21-17, 21-17
5. Destiny White/Aliisa Vuorinen (GSU) def. Elizabeth Thompson/Samantha Ansel (USC): 21-17, 21-19
6. Morgan Downs/VB Trost (USC) def. Cassie Thayse/Caroline Zimovan (GSU): 21-17, 21-19

Order of finish: 4,5,1*,3,2

No. 16 South Carolina 5, UT-Martin 0

1. Simone Priebe/Skylar Allen (USC) def. Dylan Mott/Logan Wallick (UTM): 21-15, 21-16
2. Lauren Wilcock/Allison Coens (USC) def. Kambree Lucas/Olivia O’Keefe (UTM): 21-12, 21-16
3. Kaeli Crews/Hannah Mackenhausen (USC) def. Addy Vaughn/Lucy Kaufman (UTM): 21-11, 21-13
4. Jolie Cranford/Kennedy Westendorff (USC) Haeleigh Paulino/Jenna Vallée (UTM): 21-15, 21-15
5. Elizabeth Thompson/Samantha Ansel (USC) def. Brooke Kuball/Ryan Rednour (UTM): 21-18, 21-15

Order of Finish 4,5,1*,2,3