HUNTSVILLE, ALA. – The fall exhibition season for South Carolina beach volleyball comes to a close with the AVCA Collegiate Pairs Championship, hosted at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala. from Nov. 3-5. The Gamecocks have two of the 64 pairs in the field, sending Skylar Allen and Jolie Cranford, and Allison Coens and Rebeca Olariu.
Competition begins Friday morning at 10 a.m. CT with pool play, with teams advancing on to brackets after three matches. Allen and Cranford, the No. 27 overall pair, are the second seed in a pool that includes Florida State, Long Beach and Jacksonville. Coens and Olariu are the No. 53 pair in the tournament and will be the fourth seed in a pool of pairs from FIU, LMU and UNCW.
Last weekend, at the AVCA National Qualifier tournament – also held in Huntsville – Allen and Cranford finished third out of 26 pairs to earn South Carolina a second bid to the national championship. The two went 5-1, with the only loss coming to the eventual tournament winners from LSU. This will be the first appearance in the national tournament for Cranford, Coens and Olariu, Allen went last year and placed 11th overall with partner Simone Priebe.
For continued updates on the team, follow @GamecockBeachVB on Twitter/X and Instagram.