Gamecocks Earn Road Win at Missouri

COLUMBIA, MO. – Another strong night behind the service line helped South Carolina claim a 3-1 win over Missouri (3-13, 0-3 SEC) Friday night. The Gamecocks recorded 10 aces and limited the Tigers to a .194 team hitting percentage to win their third game in a row in the series. Kyla Manning led all hitters with 18 kills, Lauren McCutcheon totaled four aces, 14 digs and eight kills. The team is now 11-3 for the season and 3-1 in SEC play.
 
SET ONE: While its offense got a slow start, South Carolina carried over a strong serving performance in the Thursday opener, acing the Tigers four times in a 25-18 win to begin the match. Missouri used a 4-0 run to grab a 7-5 lead early, but Manning’s serve sparked a stretch where the team score 10 of the next 12 points going into the television timeout and the Gamecocks cruised from there. Manning led the team with five kills. Missouri totaled four blocks in the game to limit the Gamecocks to a .214 hitting percentage; not to be out-done, South Carolina stifled the Tiger offense and enjoyed a 13-6 advantage in kills for the set. 
 
SET TWO: For the first time in the series, Missouri was able to build and maintain a comfortable lead, using a 5-0 run early to grab an 11-7 advantage. The Tiger offense rallied from a sluggish start and hit efficiently, with just one error committed on 37 swings. It was a battle of attrition for South Carolina, who had an impressive 19 kills in the set but also committed eight errors on the attack. Four consecutive kills from Riley Whitesides keyed a late rally that cut the deficit to one, 23-22, but Missouri was able to close out with a 25-23 decision.
 
SET THREE: The two teams traded themes from the second set to start the third, with South Carolina pushing ahead with an error-free start. Mikayla Robinson helped the Gamecocks get off to a good start, recording a pair of blocks and a kill in a five-point span that gave her side a 9-4 lead. South Carolina held a comfortable lead until a 5-1 Tiger run cut the lead down to 17-16. After a timeout, though, a pair of Riley Whitesides kills and an ace from Morgan Carter pushed the advantage back out to 21-16. 
 
Not finished yet, Missouri scored four unanswered points to get back within one before the Gamecocks unleashed a secret weapon off the bench. McKenzie Moorman entered for her first action with the team up 21-20, after siding out the Gamecocks fed the junior for three kills in a row on three swings to close out a 25-20 score and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
SET FOUR: McCutcheon was a one-woman run to get the team off on the right foot in the fourth. The freshman recorded three consecutive aces that fueled a 5-0 run that gave South Carolina a 10-4 lead. Missouri used three blocks and an ace in a 5-0 run to answer back, cutting the Gamecock advantage to 12-11. A kill from Moorman and block from Ruprich helped right the ship and made it 18-14, but the Tigers brought it back to one again with three unanswered points. Out of a Gamecock timeout, Camilla Covas’ serve helped set up a game-clinching 4-0 run that was helped by a pair of Manning kills, and Whitesides clinched the 25-21 win with her 11^th kill of the night.
 
NOTABLE

• Thanks to her team-high 18 kills, Kyla Manning now has 10 or more kills in nine consecutive matches. The 18 kills is tied for her season high.
• The Gamecocks had 10 aces in each of its games in the series; the last time the team had back-to-back games with double-digit aces was Sept. 1 and Sept. 4 in 2018, against Houston Baptist and Charlotte, respectively.
• McCutcheon now has two games this season with four or more aces, the first coming in a sweep of Clemson on Sept. 3.
• Morgan Carter had a solid night on the back line, leading all defenders with 19 digs. That matches the freshman liberos season high.
• The offense finished with 59 kills compared to 42 for Missouri, also enjoying a .279 to .194 advantage in hitting percentage.
• This is the third win in a row over Missouri, the longest for South Carolina in the all-time series. 

QUOTABLE
Head coach Tom Mendoza on the win
The first set we came out the way we needed to, we’re doing the right things, just lost a little bit of focus in the second set. We let them get out of some rotations that we had been holding them in, but overall I loved the way the team responded. I think it’s easy, especially on the road in the SEC, to lose our composure. I’m incredibly excited and very happy for a lot of contributions, especially from players that weren’t necessarily in the starting six or seven. 

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns home for two key matches, hosting No. 20 Tennessee on Friday, Oct. 8 and Saturday, Oct. 9. The opening game will be at 7 p.m. ET, with the rematch on Saturday set for a 5 p.m. first serve. Both games with the Volunteers will be on the SEC Network+.