Skip to main content
South Carolina

Gamecock Olympic Sports Report: August 25 to September 1

Griffin Goodwynby: Griffin Goodwyn09/02/25griffin_goodwyn
Nov 25, 2023; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks mascot Cocky performs on the side lines in the second half against the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. (David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
South Carolina Gamecocks mascot Cocky performs on the side lines in the second half against the Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. (David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)

South Carolina’s Olympic sports programs had a little bit of everything going for them this past week.

Rivalry matchups and coaching debuts. The successful defense of a championship. A slew of preseason accolades — and more.

Let’s break it all down.

Join GamecockCentral now for $1 your first week and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic – included with your membership.

In-state rivalry action commences with three Palmetto Series matchups

The 2025-26 Palmetto Series returned in a big way last week, with regular-season contests between South Carolina and Clemson across three different sports. The Gamecocks, unfortunately, will begin the annual competition facing a deficit.

Determining the winner of the Palmetto Series each year is simple. A point is awarded for each win (or series win) in a sport, in addition to a few South Carolina Education Lottery promotions; the school with the most points wins. Heading into this week, South Carolina is already down 2-0.

One of those defeats came on the soccer pitch this past Tuesday, when the Gamecock men’s soccer team fell 4-1 on the road to No. 6 Clemson.

Another came on the volleyball court on Sunday. The final game of the program’s season-opening Gamecock Classic tournament pitted South Carolina against the Tigers, and the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle. Even though the Gamecocks came back from a 2-1 overall match deficit to force a fifth set, they ultimately lost that final set 15-11.

South Carolina’s only non-defeat came in women’s soccer. Ranked No. 12 in the country at the time, it settled for a 0-0 tie against Clemson on Thursday.

The Gamecocks’ and the Tigers’ cross country teams are now next in line to face off for a Palmetto Series point, which will be awarded if either squad finishes higher than the other in both the Adidas XC Challenge (Sept. 19) and the Crimson Classic (Oct. 17).

A new era begins on the volleyball court

While South Carolina’s final volleyball match of the weekend didn’t end well, the other two fared much better.

Sarah Rumely Noble’s tenure as South Carolina’s head coach got off to a flying start. The Gamecocks swept visitors ETSU in a three-set match on Friday, with South Carolina winning 25-18 in the first two sets and 25-22 in the third.

Newcomers Ava Leahy (a transfer from Appalachian State, where Rumely Noble previously coached) and Victoria Hill (a true freshman) solidified the result with a game-ending block.

Campbell met the same fate on Saturday. In the first two sets, the Fighting Camels brought things down to the wire against the Gamecocks. But South Carolina was much more dominant in the third, and final, set, winning 25-16.

A tale of two non-Clemson soccer matches

The Gamecocks’ two soccer teams took on teams other than Clemson this past week. South Carolina’s men’s team played against USC Upstate on Friday; the women’s team played Georgia State on Sunday.

Both games had different results.

The Gamecocks had a large advantage in shots and corner kicks over the Spartans on Friday. South Carolina finished the match with 23 shots and 13 corner kicks to USC Upstate’s 18 and two, respectively. 18 of the Gamecocks’ shots and eight of their corner kicks came in the second half.

Those offensive efforts, however, didn’t prove to be enough. A 77th-minute goal — scored 42 seconds after South Carolina’s senior midfielder Ethan Ballek found the back of the net — gave the Spartans a 2-1 road win.

Sunday’s match was a much more dominant affair for the Gamecocks. Over the course of 90 minutes, South Carolina’s women’s team outshot the Panthers 30-3. 17 of the Gamecocks’ shots were on target, and enough of them found the back of the net for South Carolina to win 3-0.

One of those goals aided in senior Taylor Bloom’s candidacy to be the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week.

Cross country begins campaign with first-place finish

The Gamecocks’ cross country team had its first meet of the 2025 season on Friday, when it traveled to Boone, North Carolina, to take on Georgia and Appalachian State in the Covered Bridge Open 5K.

For the second time in as many campaigns, the Gamecocks recorded an overall team victory.

A South Carolina student-athlete finished first in the race, as well. Teresa Cherotich, who landed on both the All-SEC Second Team and the SEC All-Freshman team last season, won with a time of 16:52.8.

Preseason rankings abound in tennis and golf — for both men’s and women’s teams

Four more Gamecock sports teams are set to begin play over the next four seasons — men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s tennis and women’s tennis. All four head into their respective campaigns with preseason rankings and accolades for individual student-athletes.

South Carolina’s men’s golf team will begin the 2025-26 season ranked No. 20 in the country by Golfweek and No. 27 by NBC Golf. Frankie Harris, who competed in the 2025 U.S. Open, was named a Preseason All-American by both outlets.

On the women’s side, the Gamecocks are ranked No. 11 by NBC Golf and No. 14 by Golfweek. South Carolina possesses one of the sport’s top individual talents in Eila Galitsky, a quarterfinalist in this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur who was also named a Preseason All-American by both outlets, in addition to landing on the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List.

A number of Gamecock tennis players will also head into the fall with national rankings.

Two South Carolina men’s players are ranked in both singles and doubles — Sean Daryabeigi (No. 56 in singles, and No. 74 in doubles with Max Stenzer), and Lucas Andrade da Silva (No. 64 in singles, and No. 40 in doubles with Atakan Karahan). Paul Barbier Gazeu is also listed as college tennis’ No. 8 newcomer.

Kaitlyn Carnicella is the sole Gamecock women’s tennis player in the national rankings (No. 24 in singles, and No. 68 in doubles with Daniela Piani).

More schedule announcements

And last, but certainly not least, both the South Carolina women’s tennis and swimming and diving teams unveiled their upcoming schedules.

Gamecock women’s tennis will begin play on Sept. 12-14 at the Debbie Southern Classic, which will be hosted by Furman in Greenville. Gamecock swimming and diving, meanwhile, has its first meet — a dual meet against Georgia at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia — scheduled for Oct. 8.

The full fall women’s tennis schedule can be found here. The full swimming and diving schedule can be found here.

Gamecocks in action this week

  • Tuesday, Sept. 2: Men’s soccer vs. FIU (7 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Wednesday, Sept. 3: Volleyball at Coastal Carolina (6 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Thursday, Sept. 4: Women’s soccer at American (1 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Friday, Sept. 5: Men’s soccer vs. Charlotte (7 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Saturday, Sept. 6: Volleyball vs. Florida State — neutral site (3 p.m., TV/streaming TBD)
  • Sunday, Sept. 7: Women’s soccer at Georgetown (1 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Sunday, Sept. 7: Volleyball at USF (1 p.m., ESPN+)
  • Sunday, Sept. 7: Men’s golf — Gopher Invitational, Rounds 1 and 2 (all day)

Visit The Insiders Forum, our exclusive Gamecocks-only, no-trolls message board!