Volleyball Opens Season at Home with Gamecock Classic
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s volleyball team begins the 2026 season at home this weekend, welcoming UNCG and Northeastern to the Carolina Volleyball Center for the Gamecock Classic. South Carolina first faces the Spartans on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7:00 p.m. before wrapping up the tournament against the Huskies on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 1:00 p.m.
MATCH DAY INFO
Tickets to both matches can be purchased here. Admission for students is free. Both matches will be live scored (StatBroadcast) and streamed (SEC Network+); links can be found on the schedule page. Fans can also follow along from home via in-game updates on X, @GamecockVolley. Rally towels will be given out to the first 250 fans in attendance at both matches.
WELCOME HOME
Head coach Sarah Rumely Noble returns for her second season alongside Connor Zimmick who was promoted to associate head coach over the summer, Chanelle Hargreaves who added recruiting coordinator to her assistant coach title and assistant coach Christian Rupert who rounds out this year’s staff. The 2026 squad is made up of five transfers, eight returners and five freshmen. The Gamecocks are coming off of a 10-16 record for the 2025 season which included two upsets of No. 25 teams.
RETURNERS
The 2026 returners include Sydney Davis (redshirt freshman middle blocker), Sydney Floyd (senior setter), Ava Leahy (senior middle blocker), Anne Bradley Bing (sophomore libero), Claire Payne (sophomore middle blocker), Elise Marchal (junior right side), Kaia Pixler (sophomore setter) and Elizabeth McElveen (senior libero).
FROM THE PORTAL
The new Gamecocks picked from the transfer portal for the 2026 season include Ceci Vance (sophomore outside hitter from Arizona State), Ally Cavanaugh (redshirt junior right side from USF), Lilly Gillespie (junior libero from Cincinnati), Kiana Dinn (redshirt sophomore from Pittsburgh) and Olivia Borgman (sophomore outside hitter from Georgia).
ROOKIE ROLE CALL
Wrapping up the introductions with the true freshman:
- Maggie Penn (Libero – Creedmoor, North Carolina) played club volleyball for NC Academy. A standout prep player, she won the 2025 North Carolina High School 1A State Championship after leading her team to a runner-up finish in 2023. A three-time All-Conference selection, she was named the 2025 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-Region honors. Penn was also selected to the 2025 North Carolina High School Senior All-Star Game and received multiple club accolades, including Prep Volleyball Triple Crown 17 Open All-Tournament Team honors and recognition on the JVA Watchlist.
- Madisyn Crnjac (Outside Hitter – Mesa, Arizona) played club volleyball for Arizona Storm. A two-time Arizona High School First Team All-State and First Team All-Region selection, she was named the 2024 Arizona High School Region Player of the Year. She earned Arizona High School All-Academic Team honors and was ranked as Prep Dig’s No. 1 outside hitter in Arizona for the Class of 2026. At the club level, she was a two-time Prep Volleyball All-American, helped Arizona Storm capture three Arizona Club Region titles, and earned USA Volleyball GJNC 16 Open All-Tournament Team honors after a third-place finish in 2023.
- Ella Grivna (Middle Blocker – Louisville, Kentucky) played club volleyball for KIVA. She earned First Team All-State honors in 2025 after being named the Kentucky High School Region 7 Player of the Year and the Courier Journal Louisville Preseason Player of the Year. A three-time All-District selection, she also collected All-Region honors in 2024 and was an All-State Honorable Mention that season. Grivna helped lead her team to the 2025 JCIVT Championship and the 2024 District 28 title while earning multiple Courier Journal Louisville Player of the Week honors.
- Norunn Westersjo (Outside Hitter – Norway) played club volleyball for KFUM Stavanger and attended ToppVolley Norge. She is a three-time Norwegian Championship medalist, earning bronze in 2024 and 2025 before claiming silver in 2026.
- Jill Bohannon (Setter – Louisville, Kentucky) played club volleyball for KIVA. A three-time Kentucky High School State Champion and three-time Region Champion, she earned First Team All-State and All-State Tournament Team honors in 2025 while being named the State Tournament MVP. She was also recognized as the 2025 Metro Area Volleyball Fall Athlete of the Year, earned MaxPreps All-America honors, was named to the JVA Girls’ All-National Team and JVA Watchlist, and surpassed 1,000 career assists.
MIDDLE PRESENCE
The Gamecocks have a mix of new and returning faces at the net for the 2026 middles. Ava Leahy returns for her senior year after contributing heavily to the offense last year – averaging .72 blocks per set which ranked second highest on the team. She led the team in blocks at seven matches, tying her career high of 9 against Georgia. In total she notched 126 kills and 69 blocks across the 96 sets she played. Additionally, Leahy started in every match.
Sydney Davis and Ella Grivna will be the newcomers – Davis, who redshirted her freshman year due to injury will compete in her first collegiate season along with true freshman Grivna. Davis had a strong high school/club career where she set a school record for blocks during the 2021 season, hit .474 with 211 kills her senior season and helped her team finish second at the 2021 AAU Nationals. Grivna, along with her high school/club experience mentioned earlier, stands at 6’6 as the tallest player on this year’s squad, bringing some valuable height at the net. Both Gamecocks had prominent roles in the preseason exhibition matches and are eager to contribute this season.
RIGHT-SIDE PRESSURE
A wealth of experience makes up this year’s right sides, who consist of Elise Marchal and Ally Cavanaugh. Marchal, who was named 2024 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year at her previous school App State, emerged as one of the top hitters last year, contributing significantly in a few areas. Marchal recorded 10 or more kills at five different matches, reached a career high hitting percentage (.409) and led the team offensively to a top-25 win against Florida, and totaled 131 kills over 87 sets played. She added some assistance to the defensive side, earning at least one dig for all but two matches and reaching her season high of six against Ole Miss.
Ally Cavanaugh spent her past two seasons at USF where she had a breakout first year, tallying 270 kills and 296 points for the Bulls after playing in all 29 matches. Cavanaugh set career highs in hitting percentage (.588 against Georgia) and kills (19 against Ohio State) and had 11 additional matches where she notched 10 or more kills. She faced the Gamecocks once before transferring, earning 12 kills with a .478 hitting percentage last season in Tampa.
THE OUTSIDE REBOOT
The Gamecocks’ outsides went through a complete makeover this season as the group is entirely made up of newcomers. Two transfers, Ceci Vance and Olivia Borgman, make up the non-freshmen portion of the crew. Vance comes from Arizona State where she played in two matches for her freshman season. During the preseason exhibition matches, she made some noise as the top kill leader on her team for the Garnet & Black intrasquad.
Borgman comes from SEC foe Georgia where she appeared in 12 matches and 23 sets for her freshman debut. The South Carolina native concluded her first season with a total of 40 kills, 34 digs and 10 blocks, reaching a collegiate career high of 8 kills and a .500 hitting percentage against Alabama State. Borgman arrived to Columbia this past spring and was able to train in Rumely Noble’s system.
The remaining two outside hitters for the Gamecocks are freshman, Madi Crnjac and Norunn Westersjo.
DIGGING DEEP
The 2026 liberos are a mix of fresh faces and veterans. Elizabeth McElveen returns for her senior year after recording a season high nine digs and career high four aces last year. Anne Bradley Bing enters her sophomore year after appearing in six matches for her freshman season.
The Gamecocks will look to lean on Cincinnati transfer Lilly Gillespie who played in 192 sets during her time with the Bearcats, dishing out 537 digs across two seasons. She played in 28 matches both years and reached a collegiate career high 32 digs against Kansas during her sophomore campaign. Gillespie was the starting libero all of last season for the Bearcats and looks to make an impact during her first season as a Gamecock.
Freshman Maggie Penn rounds out this year’s liberos, making a few appearances during the preseason exhibitions.
SETTING UP SUCCESS
Like the liberos, the 2026 setters are also a mix of Gamecock veterans and newcomers. Sydney Floyd enters her senior year, coming off a solid junior season where she put up season highs in assists (22), aces (3) and digs (9). Kaia Pixler returns for her sophomore year after a strong collegiate debut where she had a couple breakout performances. Pixler led the team in assists against Georgia with a career high 23 and passed out 20 or more in four additional matches.
Kiana Dinn comes from Pitt, where she took a medical redshirt her freshman year before returning the following season to play in five matches. She recorded her first collegiate career dig and ace against Ohio and first assist against Duke. Freshman Jill Bohannon rounds out this year’s setter crew. All four Gamecocks made positive contributions to the team during the preseason exhibitions.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS
The SEC Volleyball Championship returned last fall for the first time since 2005, ending a 20-year hiatus and marking the addition of a championship event in every sport in the conference. The event was previously held from 1979–2005 at both campus sites and neutral locations. Past champions include Florida (12 titles), Kentucky (5), LSU and Tennessee (4 each), and Arkansas and Georgia (1 each). Kentucky won the 2025 SEC Championship, defeating Texas 3-2 in a reverse sweep. The 2026 championship will again be hosted at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga., November 20–24 .
STATUS QUO IN THE CLASSROOM
The program extended its streak to 17 consecutive seasons earning the AVCA Team Academic Award, announced July 23, after posting team GPAs above 3.50 in both the fall and spring semesters. Only 14 of the 353 Division I programs hold a longer streak.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
UNCG went 17-12 overall last season with a 9-7 conference record. The Spartans made it to the second round of the 2025 Southern Conference (SoCon) tournament after defeating Chattanooga 3-1, ultimately falling 3-1 to No. 1 seed ETSU. In the 2026 SoCon Preseason Coaches’ Poll, UNCG was selected to finish fourth. UNCG returns its top kill leader Allie Sweet, who accumulated 501 last season, averaging 4.43 per set. Sweet was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week twice and concluded the 2025 season with a selection to the All-SoCon First Team. She was named to the SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team heading into this season. The Spartans also return their top setter from last season, Gabby Seeds, who passed out a total of 969 assists, averaging 9.69 per set. Seeds earned three SoCon Setter of the Week accolades and reached a career-best 60 assists against The Citadel.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northeastern went 9-16 overall and 5-11 in conference last season. The Huskies did not qualify for the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship, ending their season with a 3-1 loss to Hofstra. The team returns top kill leader Emma Rowell, who tallied 278 kills last season. Sofia King, the team’s assist leader (442) last season, returns as well. On the defensive side, the team lost its top libero Nadia Koanui who notched 421 digs last season, but return Beatrice Gennari who reached a team-leading 97 blocks last season. Two players earned CAA preaseason honors with Rowell being named to the Preseason All-CAA Team and Gennari earning an honorable mention recognition.
For continued updates on the team, follow Gamecockvolley on X/Twitter and GamecockVB on Instagram.
