Volleyball Drops Rematch with No. 5 Kentucky

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina dropped its rematch with No. 5 Kentucky Friday night in straight sets. The Gamecocks (13-11, 5-9 SEC) got another solid night from Riley Whitesides (eight kills, .500 hitting percentage), but Kentucky (17-4, 10-1 SEC) finished with a .312 to .122 advantage in hitting percentage and totaled 45 kills in the three sets to avenge Carolina’s victory Thursday night.
 
SET ONE: Kentucky grabbed the momentum right away in the opening game and racked up six total blocks to roll to a 25-16 win. The Gamecocks hit just .036 with nine kills thanks to the Wildcat net defense, Lauren McCutcheon accounted for three of those kills to lead the team. Kentucky separated itself late with an 8-1 run that extended its lead to 20-12, five of those eight points came off errors by South Carolina.
 
SET TWO: The Gamecocks rallied strong for an incredibly tight second set that featured 14 ties and 11 lead changes, but Kentucky used a 4-0 run to end the set and won 25-23 for the 2-0 advantage. Whitesides came alive for the offense, converting six swings into a team-high five kills, but the Wildcats found the key run when it mattered most, using a pair of kills and two Gamecock errors to flip the 23-21 Carolina lead into a victory for the visitors.
 
SET THREE: South Carolina could find no daylight in the third, allowing a 15-2 run at the start of the set to fall behind 16-4 and could not get back within single digits in a 25-11 loss to close the match. Whitesides and Kyla Manning each had a pair of kills, but the offense hit just .036 with six kills overall.
 
UP NEXT
With four games left in the regular season, the Gamecocks will embark on a three-game road stretch that starts with a mid-week match at Auburn on Wednesday, Nov. 10. It will be a late night on the SEC Network, with a 9 p.m. ET first serve scheduled. The team will have its bye week following that, with 10 days before it heads to Florida for a two-game series Nov. 20-21.