COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) announced its preseason all-conference team on Wednesday afternoon, as voted on by the league’s coaches. Two members of the Gamecock beach volleyball program made the 10-woman team – Simone Priebe and Kaeli Crews. South Carolina’s 10th season as a program kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 25 with a two-day tournament hosted by Florida State. The Gamecocks enter the spring ranked 19th nationally in the American Volleyball Association (AVCA) top-20 poll.
Priebe previously spent four seasons with Pepperdine’s beach program, totaling 66 career wins and a total winning percentage of .712. The graduate student from Austin, Texas had a career year in 2022, going 26-7 in the number two pairing and made the All-West Coast Conference first team and earned Top Flight honors from the AVCA. She lost just 18 sets total over her 33 starts as a senior, also providing the clinching team point in four wins for the Waves.
Crews enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, posting an overall record of 24-8, playing at the No. 2, 3, 4, and 5 spots. Her 24 wins are tied for the eighth most in a single season in program history. The senior from Winter Garden, Fla. teamed with Hannah Mackenhausen for a 19-5 record as a pair, the fourth highest single-season win percentage ever by a Gamecock pair. Of those 24 wins, eight came versus ranked opponents including wins over No. 11 FAU, No. 15 Pepperdine, and No. 19 Georgia State.
On the 2023 schedule this spring, the Gamecocks face eight of the 16 teams that made up the 2022 NCAA tournament field and 12 matches against teams that finished last season ranked in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) Top-20 poll of the year. In the AVCA’s preseason poll, released on Feb. 14, South Carolina extended its streak as a ranked team with the No. 19 spot. Nine future opponents joined the Gamecocks on the preseason poll, highlighted by a week one field that includes No. 13 Cal Poly, No. 16 FIU, No. 20 Washington and the tournament host, No. 2 Florida State.
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