TAMPA, FLA. – South Carolina Beach volleyball jumps into the sand for its first weekend of competition this weekend, traveling south for the Tampa Invite from Feb. 23-24. The Gamecocks, ranked 17th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s preseason top-20 poll, will face four opponents over the two-day tournament, hosted by the University of Tampa. Along with the home Spartans, South Carolina will face No. 11 FAU, No. 12 Georgia State and No. 18 Arizona State.
SCOUTING THE WEEKEND FIELD
TAMPA SPARTANS
- South Carolina won its lone meeting with Tampa. The Gamecocks swept the Spartans in the first meeting, coming exactly five years ago (2/23/19).
- The Spartans are coming off a championship season where they earned a record of 21-13 and won their third AVCA Division II National Championship, all coming over the last five seasons.
- Two of their players earned all-american honors: Payton Brunick is just the fifth Spartan in program history to be named an all-american, after earning 21 victories between both the first and second pairings. Julia Oswald was named an all-american for the second time in her career after also posting 21 wins last spring. The two combined for a 19-6 record together at number one.
FAU OWLS
- The Gamecocks lead the all-time series. 8-2 (since 2014)
- In the last meeting between the two teams, the Gamecocks won 3-2 (March 19, 2022)
- FAU enter the season ranked 11th in the AVCA coaches poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history. It is the seventh consecutive year FAU opens the spring ranked in the top 20.
- Steve Grotowski is going into his second full season as the Owls head coach, coming off a 2023 C-USA Coach of the year award. He led them to their first C-USA Championship and the team’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
- The team returns a number of key starters, including Ashleigh Adams (20 wins in 2023, 13 coming in the top two positions) and Julie Honzovicova (24 wins, nine at number one and 13 at number two). FAU’s strength in 2023 came from the middle of its lineup, with its number two position going 24-8 over and and the third and fourth pairings each going 22-10.
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS
- The Gamecocks lead the all-time series, 3-1 (since 2015)
- In the last meeting, South Carolina defeated Arizona State 4-1 (March 25, 2023)
- The Sun Devils are coming off an 11-13 record in 2023, including a 6-5 mark in Pac-12 play. There are 11 players returning, led by graduate student…