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Beach Volleyball

Beach Volleyball Earns Preseason Attention

ATLANTA— Georgia State beach volleyball opens spring 2023 dual match competition this week slotted at No. 8 nationally in the 2023 AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the association last Tuesday. In addition to the national recognition, the Sandy Panthers will enter the inaugural season of Sun Belt Conference beach volleyball having garnered the No. 1 overall ranking in the conference's preseason coaches poll. 

Coaches from each of the eight SBC beach volleyball member and affiliate programs voted on the preseason conference poll last week with GSU receiving the highest number of first place votes (7). 


2023 Sun Belt Beach Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Georgia State - 63 (7) 
2. Coastal Carolina – 54
3. UNCW – 39
4. College of Charleston – 34
5. Southern Miss – 33 (1) 
6. Stephen F. Austin – 28
7. ULM – 19
8. Mercer – 18
 
(Parenthesis) indicate first-place votes


In conjunction with the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA), the Sun Belt Conference will co-host a conference championship on April 27-29 at John Hunt Sand Volleyball Complex in Huntsville, Ala. The winner of the conference title will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship in Gulf Shores.

19 of the Sandy Panthers' 33 regular season dual matches slated for 2023 will be facing AVCA preseason top-25 ranked opponents. These matchups feature outings against eight of the other nine top-10 ranked teams in the coaches poll, including No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 TCU and defending national champions No. 4 USC.

GSU will also do battle versus No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Grand Canyon and No. 7 LMU. The annual March to May in Gulf Shores from March 17-19 will see the Sandys face off against four consecutive preseason top-10 opponents to include LMU and LSU, as well as top-ranked UCLA and second-ranked Florida State.

GSU approaches the upcoming season following a 2022 campaign that saw the Sandy Panthers chart one of the most successful seasons for any team in Georgia State athletics history. The Sandy Panthers closed the 2022 season charting a program-high No. 7 ranking for the final AVCA beach poll after downing No. 2-seeded TCU in the second round of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores and advancing to the round of six.

The seventh place finish marked the highest final ranking for any GSU sports team in the athletic department's history, and the team's win over No. 2 TCU was the first time any team at GSU has charted a second-round victory at a NCAA National Tournament. The No. 10-seeded Sandy Panthers' upset over TCU in the second round also served as the largest upset in NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship history.

GSU gears up for competition this week as the team travels to Florida and opens 2023 dual match tournament play at the Jacksonville Invitational on Feb. 24-25. The Sandy Panthers' slate of outings at the two-day tournament will include matchups with tournament host Jacksonville and Charleston on Friday, followed by Palm Beach Atlantic and Tampa for the second day of competition on Saturday.

For the latest news and updates on Georgia State beach volleyball, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@GSUBeachVb) as the Sandy Panthers enter the 2023 campaign.










 







 
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