Gamecock Duo Earn Final Conference Pair of the Week Honors
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) announced its Pair of the Week award on Tuesday, April 22. South Carolina’s Rachel Hartmann and Riley Whitesides earned the honor, following a 4-0 weekend on court two that powered the Gamecocks (14-15) to three wins, including victories over No. 20 FGCU and No. 15 Georgia State. This is the fourth time a South Carolina pair earned a weekly CCSA honor since the program joined the conference in 2016, and first since Skylar Allen and Simone Priebe in April of 2023.
Hartmann and Whitesides finished the regular season on an eight-game win streak after a second consecutive 4-0 weekend at the Palmetto Invitational (April 18-19). The duo picked up ranked wins over the No. 3 pairing from 20th-ranked FGCU and the No. 2 pair from 15th-ranked Georgia State, helping South Carolina secure wins over both teams. Including wins over Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina on Saturday, April 19, they did not drop a single set over the four wins, holding their opponents to under 15 points in five of the eight total sets played.
With the regular season completed, the team will now turn its attention to the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association’s postseason tournament. This is the final year of the CCSA, and the tournament moves from Alabama to Louisiana as LSU is set to host the event, running April 25-26. South Carolina is the number four seed in the double-elimination tournament, facing top-seeded Texas at 10 a.m. ET on Friday, April 25. The winner faces the advancing team from the dual between two-seed Florida State and three-seed LSU at 6 p.m. Friday evening, the losing team from each first-round dual plays at 4 p.m. Friday.
Fans can follow the action for free after creating an account on VBTV. All five pairings will be streamed live, with the first and second pairs on a featured broadcast
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