Gamecock Duo Earn SEC Weekly Honors
Moorman and Robinson are the first volleyball teammates to be honored in the same week in program history
COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the first time in program history, two players from the Gamecock volleyball team earned SEC weekly awards in the same week, as Mikayla Robinson and McKenzie Moorman were recognized by the conference office Monday afternoon. Robinson earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week laurels and Moorman was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week, after the duo spearheaded the team’s two wins over the weekend.
This is the third weekly award of Robinson’s career, but first for offensive player of the week. South Carolina’s last SEC honor for offense came from Juliette Thévenin in 2013. Moorman earned her Freshman of the Week honor just 24 hours removed from her first collegiate start; she is the first Gamecock since Mikayla Shields in 2016 to earn freshman of the week honors.
Coupled with Claire Edwards’ Defensive Player of the Week recognition on Sept. 9, South Carolina has three different honorees in a single season for the first time since joining the conference in 1992.
Robinson had a dominant weekend as an attacker, hitting .559 and leading the team in kills over two home sweeps. Against Tennessee Friday, Robinson finished with 11 kills without an error on 17 swings, also adding four blocks in a sweep of the Volunteers. It was her third match this season with 12 or more attacks and a hitting percentage over .600. She followed that performance with 11 more kills and a pair of blocks in a 3-0 win over Alabama on Sunday.
The West Dundee, Ill. native put away 10 kills in the second and third sets alone, and hit .471 in the match. Robinson continues to enjoy a breakout SEC season; the middle hitter is averaging 2.61 kills per set with a .377 hitting percentage and a SEC-best 1.42 blocks per set so far in conference play.
Moorman had a memorable weekend, coming off the bench to spark the team to a sweep of Tennessee on Friday night and turning around to make her first start and stun Alabama with 12 kills and a .706 hitting percentage on Sunday afternoon. Against the Volunteers, Moorman played the final two sets and finished with five kills and two blocks. Her performance earned her the start on the left pin on Sunday, and she delivered with an errorless performance on the attack and added three blocks as well.
Moorman’s .706 hitting percentage (12 kills, zero errors, 17 attacks) against the Tide is the highest by any Gamecock with double-figure kills since Mikayla Robinson’s .846 percentage against Mercer on Aug. 25, 2017. Overall, it’s the third-highest hitting percentage (min. 15 attacks) in the program’s rally-scoring era. She has seen a growing role since the team’s Oct. 16 match at Florida, when she came in for a set. In her six sets over the last three matches, Moorman has 20 kills (3.33/set), seven blocks (1.17/set) and is hitting an eye-popping .543.
The team caps its three-game homestand Friday night against LSU. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and it will be the team’s Alumnae Appreciation Night. Tickets are still available for the match.
