COLUMBIA, S.C. –South Carolina beach volleyball wrapped up an undefeated weekend at home with two wins Sunday, defeating Morehead State (6-11) and Mercer (16-14). The Gamecocks now stand at 15-9 overall and have the second-most home wins in a single season in program history, with 11.
Sadie Nelson and Kristen Schenck started the morning off with a special win on court five, sweeping the Eagles (21-12, 21-12) for Schenck’s first collegiate win. On court four, junior Kennedy Westendorff made her season debut and won in straight sets with partner McKenizie Nichols to set the team up with a 2-0 advantage. The top three pairs took over from there, allowing 15 points or less in four of the six sets across courts one, two and three to finish off the 5-0 team victory.
The weekend closed out with a tight one against Mercer. Despite the 4-1 final margin, the Bears pushed South Carolina across all five courts. Seven of the 12 total sets were decided by the minimum two points, and the Gamecocks were fortunate to come away with a 1-1 split of the opening wave of matches. Morgan Downs and VB Trost provided a critical early momentum boost, outlasting Mercer in a 90-minute slugfest on court four, winning 28-26, 21-23, 15-10 to even the team score after the Bears opened the dual with a sweep on court five.
South Carolina clinched the team win with close sweeps on courts two and three, three of those four sets were decided by two points and all three went the Gamecocks’ way. Jolie Cranford and Julia Waugh secured the win with a 22-20, 21-19 win on court three, and Skylar Allen and Allison Coens capped the dual with a comeback win on court one, 22-24, 21-14, 15-8.
NOTABLE
- A day after making her first collegiate start, junior Kristen Schenck collected her first win Sunday morning against Morehead State. She is the eighth Gamecock to earn their first win with South Carolina this spring.
- Kennedy Westendorff made her first start of the spring in the morning dual with Morehead State. The junior has worked through lingering issues this season, after making 24 starts in 2023. With her addition to the lineup, 17 of the 19 women on the roster have made at least one start so far this season.
- The team’s 11 home wins in 2024 tie it with the 2018 team for second-most in a single season in program history. Only the 2016 squad has more wins on Wheeler Beach in a single season, with 14.
- With a morning sweep of Morehead State, graduate student Skylar Allen won her 80th career…