Whitesides Named SEC Freshman of the Week
It is the second weekly honor of the year for the Greenville native
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball earned its third weekly honor of the spring and fifth overall this season from the Southeastern Conference, with Riley Whitesides earning the Freshman of the Week award on Monday afternoon. The Greenville, S.C. native previously earned Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 17, joining classmate Ellie Ruprich as the first Gamecocks in program history to earn the award twice in their debut seasons.
With the honor, South Carolina matched a record for most weekly honors in a single season, accomplished just last season by the 2019 squad.
Whitesides helped South Carolina snap a three-game losing streak with a big win over No. 25 Missouri on Saturday, the outside hitter hit .316 with 18 kills in the team’s 3-1 upset of the Tigers. Overall in the series split with Missouri, Whitesides led the Gamecocks with 28 total kills over the seven sets. Through the team’s 16 SEC games to date this year, Whitesides’ 179 total kills is the second-most in conference matches by a Gamecock freshman in the last decade, tied with Mikayla Shields, and she shares the SEC lead for total kills by a freshman with Arkansas’ Taylor Head. Her 179 kills is currently tied for the seventh-most by a freshman in the NCAA’s Division I.
Standing at 10-6 overall for the season, South Carolina hosts its final two home games of the 2020-21 season next weekend, welcoming in Ole Miss for games on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Sunday, Feb. 7. Both games have a 2 p.m. start and will air on the SEC Network+.
