COLUMBIA, S.C. – College of Charleston beach volleyball fell in a pair of Saturday evening matches to close their 2023 regular season from the Wheeler Beach Volleyball Complex. The Cougars dropped a tight 3-2 match to Coastal Carolina then fell 4-1 to No. 16 South Carolina in the finale.
 
Quick Sets
Final (Match One): Coastal Carolina 3, Charleston 2
Final (Match Two): No. 16 South Carolina 4, Charleston 1
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Record: Charleston (19-10, 6-4 Sun Belt)
 
How It Happened

• Charleston and Coastal Carolina traded the first four points of the match with the Chanticleers taking courts five and three and Charleston winning on one and four.
• Coastal Carolina would take the final point and the match to even the season series 2-2.
• No. 16 South Carolina got Charleston's best shot up and down the lineup in the finale but took the first four decisions for a 4-1 final.
• Sofie Vogel and Tynley Smeltzer overcame a 1-0 deficit to take a three-set win on court four and finish 2-0 on the day.

 
Coastal Carolina 3, Charleston 2

1. Gabi Bailey/Kyra Thompson (CofC) vs. Martine Kragholm/Sarah Riedell (CCU) 21-15, 21-19
2. Sarlota Svobodova/Madie Lichty (CCU) def. Ella Reames/Maria Zweig (CofC) 21-10, 21-17
3. Raychel Ehlers/Madison Allred (CCU) def. Kora Hansen/Emma Falk (CofC) 23-21, 18-21, 15-11
4. Sofie Vogel/Tynley Smeltzer (CofC) def. Elena Sanchez/Emma Gonzalez (CCU) 21-17, 21-14
5. Emma Kunaus/Ellie Hanford (CCU) def. Mikaela Dougherty/Alli Grant Avery (CofC) 21-11, 21-9

 
No. 16 South Carolina 4, Charleston 1

1. Skylar Allen/Simone Priebe (SC) def. Gabi Bailey/Kyra Thompson (CofC) 21-18, 19-21, 15-9
2. Allison Coens/Lauren Wilcock (SC) def. Ella Reames/Maria Zweig (CofC) 21-14, 21-16
3. Kaeli Crews/Hannah Mackenhausen (SC) def. Emma Falk/Kora Hansen (CofC) 21-7, 21-14
4. Tynley Smeltzer/Sofie Vogel (CofC) def. Hailey Cabeceiras/Presley Wright (SC) 19-21, 21-17, 15-11
5. Lizzie Thompson/Peyton Gray (SC) def. Alli Grant Avery/Elizabeth Curry (CofC) 21-19, 21-15

 
Notes

• Charleston ends the 2023 regular season 6-4 in the Sun Belt and 19-10 overall.
• With their two wins Saturday, Vogel and Smeltzer became the fourth Charleston tandem with at least 15 wins on the season joining Kyra Thompson and Gabi Bailey, Emma Falk and Kora Hansen, and Ella Reames and Maria Zweig.

 
Up Next
The Cougars get two weeks off before the inaugural Sun Belt Beach Volleyball Tournament in Huntsville, Ala. where the NCAA Tournament auto-bid will be up for grabs.