Loiola Adds Two to Beach Volleyball Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina beach volleyball head coach Jose Loiola announced the addition of two staff members for the 2026-27 season. Shannon Stone and Billy Maciel join the program as assistant coaches.

Stone joins the Gamecocks after spending the 2025 season at Coastal Carolina. Prior to her time in Conway, Stone spent two seasons at the University of Tampa, where she helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back AVCA Small College National Championships and the program’s first-ever Sunshine State Conference Tournament title.

In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Stone coached high school beach volleyball at Cambridge Christian in 2024 and previously spent a summer at IMG Academy, where she helped launch the school’s first-ever volleyball program.

During her time at Tampa, Stone played a key role in player development, game strategy and building a championship culture both on and off the sand.

A Colorado native, Stone was a standout collegiate athlete at Eastern Kentucky University, competing at the Division I level while earning her bachelor’s degree in public relations.

Billy Maciel brings a wealth of international experience and a championship-level perspective to Columbia following a successful professional playing career on the global stage.

A native of Brazil, Maciel competed professionally for more than a decade, establishing himself as one of the country’s accomplished beach volleyball athletes. He competed on the FIVB World Tour, earning multiple international finishes while facing many of the top teams in the world.

Throughout his career, Maciel partnered with several elite Brazilian athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Bruno Schmidt, while gaining valuable experience competing at the highest levels of the sport.

Maciel’s professional career featured several notable international performances, including a runner-up finish at the 2008 Kristiansand Open and a fourth-place finish at the 2011 Klagenfurt Grand Slam.