USC Aiken Fall Athletic Teams Set to Commence Preseason

Special Move-In Day Video (Quotes from all fall coaches)

AIKEN, S.C. – The 2011-12 athletic year at USC Aiken is officially underway as of Friday, Aug. 12 with volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and cross country reporting for preseason practice and conditioning.

The fall athletic teams at USC Aiken reported to campus on Friday to get situated and get everything settled before beginning their rigorous preseason practice schedules on Saturday. The fall athletic teams also took part in an athletic student-athlete orientation on Friday afternoon.

All of USC Aiken’s four fall athletic teams will open their 2011 seasons the opening two days of September.

The USC Aiken women’s soccer team will be the first team to play as they will commence their season on the road in Hartsville, S.C. against Coker at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1. Following the Coker match, USC Aiken will stay in the Palmetto state for a 1 p.m. contest against Newberry in Newberry, S.C. on Sunday, Sept. 1. The Pacers will welcome Brevard to the “Pacer Pit” for their first home game of the year at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

The Pacer volleyball team will open the 2011 season by participating in the first of two regular season tournaments at Armstrong Atlantic State in Savannah, Ga. The Pacers will have four matches in the event that will take place on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3. USC Aiken will open its 2011 season on Friday, Sept. 2 at 12 p.m. against Alabama-Huntsville. Later that day at 4:30 p.m., USC Aiken will square off with Lincoln Memorial. On Saturday, Sept. 3, USC Aiken will face off against Catawba at 12:30 p.m. The Pacers will close out the tournament with a 4 p.m. match against Lenoir-Rhyne. The Pacers will host the annual USC Aiken Volleyball Invitational at the Convocation Center on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10. The tournament will feature 12 of the best volleyball teams in NCAA Division II in USC Aiken, Augusta State, Armstrong Atlantic State, Flagler, Anderson, Newberry, Pfeiffer, Wheeling Jesuit, Lynn, Coker, Florida Tech and Barton.

USC Aiken’s men’s soccer team will begin its 2011 regular season in Morrow, Ga. in a tournament on the campus of Clayton State. USC Aiken will have two games in the tournament, beginning with its season opener against Conference Carolinas foe Pfeiffer at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2. USC Aiken will close the event against regional power Anderson at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3. Just two days after the Clayton State Tournament, USC Aiken will open play at the “Pacer Pit” with the first of a season-high three consecutive home matches. On Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 5, USC Aiken will play host to Palm Beach Atlantic at 6 p.m.

The USC Aiken cross country team will commence its 2011 season on Friday, Sept. 2 at the 5K Gamecock Invitational at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Pacers concluded the 2010 Gamecock Invitational second among all Division II teams. USC Aiken will host the Second Annual Bridgestone-Pacer Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17. The Bridgestone-Pacer Invitational will serve as the pre-conference race for the 2011 Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championship, and it will feature both men’s and women’s participants. The 6K women’s portion of the meet is slated to begin at 9:45 a.m.

USC Aiken’s golf team is not necessarily a fall athletic program as the Pacers compete in tournaments in the fall and spring, but USC Aiken’s 2011 fall golf campaign will begin with the eighth annual Kiawah Island Invitational. The tournament will be contested on Monday, Sept. 5 and Tuesday, Sept. 6. The Kiawah Island Invitational will take place at the 6,875-yard, par 72 Cougar Point Golf Course in Kiawah Island, S.C. Designed by Gary Player, the course was rated at “4.5 stars” by Golf Digest.