The South Carolina sand volleyball team will turn up the heat this weekend at the Pairs Tournament at Fiesta on Siesta Key in Siesta Key, Florida.
After two weeks of preparation in the hot sand and Columbia sun of the Carolina Sand Volleyball Complex, the Gamecocks are ready to respond with a comeback, following two disappointing losses suffered in the Palmetto Invitational on March 28 and 29 against No. 3 Pepperdine and No. 6 FIU.
As a relatively new program, the sand volleyball team has been making leaps and bounds of improvement compared to their previous season.
The team held an impressive record starting early in the season. They were ranked No. 17 in the DiG Magazine Collegiate Sand Volleyball Poll ahead of Saint Mary’s, Grand Canyon and Louisiana Monroe after dominating at the Gamecock Invitational and earning a 4-1 win.
But taking the losses at the Palmetto Invitational into account, the Gamecocks have fallen to 11-5 on the season.
Already, the team's 11 wins are more than twice that of a season ago. This improvement is undoubtedly the result of the efforts of head coach Moritz Moritz and the team’s talent.
After winning their match against FIU’s Kristine Monforte and Summer Nash, seniors Paige Wheeler and Megan Kent look to make their mark, as the pair moves into this weekend with a 15-6 overall record and a 3-2 pair record. The pair is together for the second season and has made tremendous improvements since last year’s 5-18 record.
The Gamecock’s will finish out their season April 18 and 19 at the Born on the Bayou Invitational in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They will face off against five teams, three of which South Carolina has bested previously this season — Louisiana Monroe, New Orleans and Tulane — as well as Spring Hill and LSU.