Women's Volleyball . November 7, 2024

Volleyball Kicks Off Road Swing at Arkansas and Missouri

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – South Carolina (13-7, 4-5 SEC) begins a pivotal five-game stretch of road games with a trip out west, facing Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 8 before heading up to Columbia for a Sunday evening matchup with the SEC-leading Missouri Tigers. Friday night in Fayetteville will be on the SEC Network+ and Sunday will be a national broadcast with Sam Ravech and Nicole Branagh on the call.

SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters Friday at 15-7 and 5-5 in SEC play, coming off of a five-set comeback over Auburn that ended a five-game losing streak. The Razorbacks did not run and hide after graduating major contributors Jill Gillen, Maggie Cartwright and Taylor Head from last season’s Sweet 16 team, instead reloading with young arms Aniya Madkin and Romani Thurman. Madkin leads the team with 3.85 kills per set and spearheaded the comeback over Auburn with 25 kills on Sunday. Thurman is right behind her with 3.19 kills per set on a .246 hitting percentage. Defensively, senior Courtney Jackson leads the Razorbacks in digs per set (4.52), ranking her second in the SEC, and the team leading the conference for digs (averaging 16.71 per set). Senior middle Zoi Evans’ 1.22 blocks per set leads the team and ranks 6th in the SEC.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Missouri Tigers are entering the weeked at 17-5, after an upset win against No. 9 Texas last week and a Wednesday four-set win over Georgia that ran its SEC win streak to eight games. The Tigers have yet to lose at home this fall and are tied with Kentucky for the top spot in the SEC standings. The team has had a shot in the arm from graduate transfer Mychael Vernon, who came from Oregon State and enters the weekend averaging 4.29 kills per set. Vernon has been a boost for returning standouts Jordan Lliff and Janet deMarrais, who both went over 300 kills in 2023. Iliff also leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in aces per set, averaging 0.68. The team is second overall in the SEC and ninth nationally for hitting percentage (.295), and leads the conference in kills per set (14.63), good for third in the NCAA. Behind the service line, the Tigers rank 18th nationally and second in the conference for aces per set (1.94). Defensively, junior libero Maya Sands holds first for the conference in digs per set this season (4.62), but the Tigers rank last in the SEC for blocks, averaging just 1.56 per set.

WEEK TEN NOTABLES

Kentucky entered Friday as one of the best serving teams in the nation, and proved that point emphatically. The Wildcats enjoyed a 12-1 advantage in service aces while committing just three more errors behind the line. The last Gamecock opponent with that many aces in a game was Georgia ( 17, 2023) in a four-set match.
Ellie Ruprich hit .333 with four kills and five blocks against the Wildcats.
The offense was held to just 29 kills over the three sets, the lowest single-game total since Oct. 29, 2023 at LSU (25), a span of 26 games.
After Kentucky dominated behind the service line in a Friday win over the Gamecocks, Sunday would see the script flipped. South Carolina enjoyed a 5-1 advantage in aces, but even more importantly, committed seven fewer errors behind the line. Tennessee entered the day averaging 1.68 aces per set, fifth-most in the SEC, but ended with just one.
Ellie Ruprich surpassed Mikayla Robinson for the rally-scoring era record for career blocks in set one against Tennessee, recording her 497th, and joined Gamecock greats Stephanie Pflughaupt (1986-89) and Lori Rowe (1983-86) in the 500-blocks club on the set-winning point at 29-27 in set two.
The Gamecock defense was able to hold Tennessee pin Nina Cajic to just 10 kills and an .097 hitting percentage over 31 swings; Cajic entered Sunday ranked fifth in the SEC for kills per set, at 4.35.
As a team, Tennessee entered the weekend with a .289 hitting percentage, third-highest in the SEC. South Carolina held it to just a .131 percentage on Sunday
Along with 12 kills, Riley Whitesides added in a pair of service aces in the win Sunday. She now has 95 for her career, tying her with Megan Laughlin (2007-10) for fourth-most in the rally scoring era. With 24 kills over the two games last weekend, Whitesides moved past two South Carolina Hall of Fame members on the career kills list. She passed Heather Larkin (1994-97) and Cally Plummer (1998-02) to move up to fifth in program history, now with 1,316.
While the Kentucky loss dropped the Gamecocks to 0-4 on Fridays during SEC play, the team is conversely 4-0 on Sundays in conference action.

RUPRICH REACHES ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE
Graduate student Ellie Ruprich joined one of the most exclusive clubs in program history on Sunday, Nov. 3, reaching 500 career blocks after recording four in the three-set win over Tennessee. The Beverly Hills, Michigan native passed Mikayla Robinson (496 blocks from 2017-21) for the rally-scoring era record in career blocks in set one against the Lady Vols, then reached 500 with a set-clinching stuff in a 29-27 victory in set two.

The last Gamecock to reach 500 blocks was Stephanie Pflughaupt (1986-89) during the 1988 season. She and Lori Rowe (641 blocks from 1983-86) were the only two members of the 500-blocks club prior to Ruprich. Currently, across all three divisions in NCAA volleyball, Ruprich is one of only 13 women who have reached 500 total blocks. Among Power Four conference athletes, she is one of six, joining CC Crawford (Wisconsin), Phoebe Awoleye (Minnesota), Raven Colvin (Purdue), Taylor Trammell (Penn St.), and Leyla Blackwell (Nebraska).

Diving further into the numbers, Ruprich ranks second among all current Division I athletes in solo blocks, with 116. She has either led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 62 of her 125 career games played and has five or more blocks in 44 games.

TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…

Riley Whitesides leads the offense with 74 kills in the five games (4.35/set), shouldering a heavy workload on the left pin. Her 196 total attacks are 64 more than anyone else on the team and accounts for 36 percent of the team’s total attacks.
The team’s middle have been efficient AND productive in this stretch. Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich together are averaging 2.89 kills per set with a combined hitting percentage of .346
Opponents hold a 29-24 advantage in service aces over these last five games, thanks in large part to huge disparities in the losses to Ole Miss and Kentucky. The Gamecocks allowed 19 aces in the two losses (six sets) while allowing just 10 in the 11 sets of the three wins (Oklahoma, Auburn and Tennessee).
Opponents have had success at the net defensively, out-blocking the Gamecocks 52-38 overall and averaging over three blocks per set, with notable disparities against Ole Miss (12-6) and Auburn (15.5-7).

PIPE IT UP!
One of the biggest developments in the team’s offense this season has been the effectiveness of the back-row attack from Riley Whitesides and Alayna Johnson. With the offense moving almost exclusively to a single-setter offense under Sarah Jordan, the addition of a back-row option in mostly two-hitter rotations has helped the Gamecocks after two seasons that were the lowest for hitting percentage under head coach Tom Mendoza.

In a post on Oct. 22 by Chad Gordon, a club coach and volleyball analytics blogger with VolleyDork.com, Whitesides was recognized as one of the most effective back-row attackers in the nation. Through 17 games, 26 percent of Whitesides’ total attacks were out of the back row. She had a kill percentage of 43.6 on those swings and an error rate of just 4.8 percent, the lowest of any of the 19 other women ranked.

It’s a compliment to the growth the fifth-year pin has enjoyed this fall. She is averaging well over a full kill per set more than her previous season high (4.38 vs. 3.11 in 2020-21), hitting more efficiently than her previous season high (.248 vs. .219 in 2020-21) and is taking over 11 swings per set, compared to her previous season high of 8.30 during the 2022 campaign.

WELL RECEIVED
The team’s serve reception defense has been a bright spot for the season, coming into this week ranked second in the SEC for fewest service aces allowed. The team is benefitting from a consistent trio of passers and each have performed admirably. Left side pins Riley Whitesides (397 receptions) and Alayna Johnson (444) combine to account for over 67 percent of the team’s total receptions to date, with the two being aced 43 times in 841 total serves. For her career, Whitesides has the most serve receptions in the program’s rally-scoring era – currently with 2,562 – and has a career reception percentage of .950. Freshman libero Victoria Harris (266) accounts for the next-closest total this fall, has allowed nine aces through the first 20 games.

The passing efficiency has been a boon to the offense and improves on an uncharacteristic 2023 season. The Gamecocks allowed 1.58 aces per set to opponents last fall, by far the most allowed in head coach Tom Mendoza’s tenure (since 2018). Heading into the weekend, the aces per set allowed average is down to 1.12.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES

The service line has made all the difference this season, the team is 12-3 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces but are 0-4 when being out-aced. It isn’t just about aces, playing mistake-free behind the line is also key. Opponents have 48 aces and 53 errors in seven Gamecock losses, but just 29 aces and 135 errors in 13 Gamecock wins.
A diverse offense has proven key. In seven losses, the trio of Alayna Johnson, Tireh Smith and Oby Anadi combine for 5.79 kills per set and a .154 hitting percentage. In 13 wins, that number jumps to 7.48 kills and a .313 hitting percentage.
While the output of Riley Whitesides has remained steady in wins (4.57 kills per set) and losses (4.04/set), her efficiency is noticeable. In 12 wins, she hits .296 but drops down to .168 in losses.
A strong start has been key, the team is 12-0 when winning the first set but is just 1-7 when losing it. Before overcoming a first-set loss to beat Oklahoma on Oct. 20, the Gamecocks had lost 18 games in a row when dropping set one.
Opponents are doubling up the Gamecocks in blocks across the seven losses, with 92 total blocks compared to just 47 for South Carolina.
With the team’s blocking numbers down from year’s passed, the back line of the defense has been more important than ever. When finishing with more digs, the Gamecocks are 8-1.

SMITH EMBRACES HER OPPORTUNITY
While it is year three on campus, Tireh Smith is still a relative newcomer to the Gamecock lineup. The Charleston native took a redshirt in her freshman year, then suffered an injury to her hand in the 2023 preseason. She finally made her debut on Oct. 15 last season, playing in two sets at Texas A&M. All told, she appeared in 16 sets over eight games in 2023. After a full spring semester of training, Smith made her case for expanded role in 2024. In week one at Duke, she supplanted incumbent right side Campbell Paris on the right pin and has played in all but three of the team’s 63 sets so far this fall. So far, Smith has eight or more kills in nine games and has hit .250 or higher in seven of those games.

Her impact has been felt most in SEC play. Smith had a career night on the attack at Georgia on Oct. 11, finishing with a career-high 18 kills while hitting .314. Eleven of her kills came in the pivotal third and fourth sets to help the team rally back. It was the highest single-game kill total by a Gamecock right side hitter since Kiune Fletcher on Nov. 12, 2023 (18 games). She had another big day on Oct. 13 at #19 Florida, posting eight kills, hitting .412 and adding six blocks. She now is averaging 2.35 kills per set with a .261 hitting percentage through the team’s first nine SEC matches.

BE YOUR BEST BY BEATING YOUR BEST
For as big of a jump as Riley Whitesides has enjoyed this fall, a handful of her teammates have also racked up a number of new personal bests with seven games remaining on the schedule. Junior Alayna Johnson surpassed her career high for kills in a season during the Oklahoma win on Oct. 20, needing seven fewer games to reach her 2023 total of 166. She also has doubled up her service ace total from 2023 (10) to 2024 (21) and passed her single-season dig high on Oct. 11 at Georgia in 10 fewer games than she needed in 2023.

Two second-year contributors have also been key. Tireh Smith went from nine kills over eight games in 2023 to 137 so far this fall. Liz McElveen expanded her role from a serving sub as a freshman in 2023 to a back-row defensive specialist this season, she currently ranks third on the team in service aces and fourth in digs.

MENDOZA REACHES 100
The win over No. 19 Florida on Oct. 13 was head coach Tom Mendoza’s 100th at the helm of South Carolina. He is the fourth coach in program history to reach the century mark, joining Kim Williams (226 wins from 1993-04), Bonnie Kenny (171, 1984-92) and Scott Swanson (101, 2011-17). Of the 12 coaches in the program’s 51-year history, Mendoza ranks second in conference wins, fourth in road wins and first in wins over ranked opponents.

KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE
The victory over No. 19 Florida on Sunday, Oct. 13 marked the seventh season in a row where South Carolina defeated a ranked opponent, extending the longest streak since joining the SEC in 1991. The Gamecocks have 10 wins over ranked opponents since head coach Tom Mendoza was hired in 2018. The program had just nine ranked wins total in the 27 seasons prior to his arrival (1991-2017). Prior to the win in Gainesville, the Gamecocks had not won a true road match against a nationally ranked opponent since Sept. 14, 2003 (#14 Notre Dame, 3-1). The team had never swept a ranked opponent in a true road match in the SEC era (since 1991) before Oct. 13.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Few teams in the country can match the career production of Carolina’s middle blockers Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich. The two entered 2024 with over 700 combined blocks. Last fall, they became the first pair of Gamecocks to record 100+ total blocks in back-to-back seasons since 1995 (Heather Larkin and DeeDee Fortman) and 1996 (Larkin and Lori Drost). Going back to the earliest available statistics (1983), the program had never seen the same two individuals surpass 100 blocks in successive seasons.

SETTING THE SCENE
The team carries three setters on the roster for 2024, bringing back junior Kimmie Thompson and sophomore Sydney Floyd and adding in Towson transfer Sarah Jordan, but the team did lose Claire Wilson to a medical retirement. Jordan had success and experience running both a single-setter and two-setter offense during her career at Towson, totaling 1,500 assists, 400 digs and 45 service aces in 56 games played with the Tigers.

Entering the week, Jordan is averaging 9.73 assists per set, ranking 9th in the SEC. The Gamecocks were looking to improve the offense’s connection after back-to-back seasons flirting with a .200 team hitting percentage – the lowest two so far under head coach Tom Mendoza. Entering the weekend, the team has a .239 hitting percentage.

A VICTORIOUS RETURN
She might have played high school volleyball just down the road from the Carolina Volleyball Center, but freshman Victoria Harris has taken the long way to collegiate volleyball. A standout libero at Cardinal Newman School, about 10 miles to the northeast of downtown Columbia, Harris had to overcome two serious injuries to make it to the next phase of her volleyball career. In September 2022, she fractured her hip during a game after a teammate landed on her. She recovered in time to play the following season, but endured another setback when she tore her ACL in August of 2023. She had surgery on her knee in October, then worked towards graduating early from high school and enrolling at South Carolina for the spring semester.

She was finally cleared for full action at the end of July and immediately jumped into an important role for the Gamecocks. Entering the week, Harris has started every game as the team’s libero and averages 4.01 digs per set, fifth-most in the SEC, with a .966 serve reception percentage over 266 total receptions. Her 23 digs in the week one matchup at Duke led the defense and is the most by a Gamecock freshman since Taylr McNeil in 2014 (23 vs. Furman). Harris joins current senior Morgan Carter as the only Gamecocks to play libero as true freshmen since the position was first introduced in college volleyball in 2002.

ANADI PEAKING ON OFFENSE
Senior middle Oby Anadi made herself known as a blocker over her first two seasons in the lineup but was still working her way into the team’s offensive game plan. The 2023 season proved that growth, as she set career highs on offense AND defense. Anadi finished with 146 kills over 27 matches in 2023, after totaling 119 kills over her first two seasons (41 matches). On defense, she had a personal-best 129 total blocks last fall and became the first Gamecock since Belita Salters in 2007 to have a hand in 50 percent or more of the team’s total blocks. Anadi’s 313 total blocks currently ranks sixth-most in the rally scoring era.

Anadi finished the team’s seven-game September home stand with 11 kills and a .714 hitting percentage against East Carolina on Sept. 17. The senior has 10+ kills in three of those seven home games and hit .700 or higher in four of the seven. To put it in perspective, she had three games with double-digit kills through the first three seasons of her career entering 2024 (68 matches). For the season, she is hitting .381 with 126 total kills, fourth-most on the team. In the 14 matches where she has 10 or more total attacks, she has hit .400 or better eight times.

WHITESIDES CARRIES 2023 MOMENTUM INTO 2024
The loss of senior Riley Whitesides to injury late last season came at an inopportune time for the Gamecocks, as the veteran pin was in the midst of one of the best stretches of her career in October 2023. The Greenville native averaged 12.87 kills, 9.25 digs and a service ace per game in eight October matches last fall. On top of that, Whitesides averaged 3.36 kills per set in the team’s six games against ranked opponents when she was healthy. The injury forced her out of two games completely, and even after she was cleared to play she was limited to a back-row-only role in the final three games of the season, where she was unable to be part of the offense. A healthy Whitesides enjoyed a breakout season with the beach volleyball team in the spring semester, moving up to the top pairing by the end of the season and finishing with a 20-15 overall record.

In 2024, she has reached heights rarely seen by a Gamecock pin in the modern scoring era. Entering Friday, Whitesides is hitting .248 and averaging 4.38 kills per set, both are career-high paces and the 4.38 kills per set would rank her third in the program’s rally scoring era if the season ended today. Against Auburn on Oct. 27, her 16 kills led all hitters and set a single-season personal best in the category. Her previous single-season high was 268 in 2022, but she needed 101 sets and 27 games to get there.

GETTING THE SAND OUT OF THEIR SHOES
The indoor team has three indoor-to-beach crossover athletes on the roster this fall, with each Gamecock bringing a different background. The three crossovers are the most under head coach Tom Mendoza and are the most on a roster since the 2014 season. Leading the way is Riley Whitesides, who moved from an indoor-only role to beach as her spring sport during the 2022-23 school year and broke out last season on the sand. She moved up to the top court by the end of the season and finished with a 20-15 overall record.

Jolie Cranford moves from a beach-only career to an indoor role, staying true to her roots. Cranford, a native of Colorado, played indoor exclusively until late in her high school career when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed her athletic pursuits outdoors. Now two seasons into her beach career, she enters 2023-24 as the team’s winningest player on the active roster, holding a career mark of 41-21 through two seasons.

The final crossover athlete is Maggie Elliott. Originally committed to Florida State as both an indoor and beach athlete, the Charleston native opted to stay in-state for her collegiate career. As an indoor volleyball athlete, she played for her mother, Adria, and led her high school team in kills for all four years on the varsity roster.

HIGHS AND LOWS AT THE NET
A typical strong point for the Gamecocks, the team’s blocking defense has had a slower start than usual in 2024. Only three players, starting middles Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich and right side Tireh Smith, are over 25 total blocks through the team’s 17 games to date. As a team, South Carolina has fallen back to 11th in the SEC for blocks per set and 161st nationally.

South Carolina finished fourth in the SEC with an average of 2.46 blocks per set last fall. For as good as the Gamecock block was, however, opponents were better. South Carolina opponents averaged 2.75 blocks per set when facing the Gamecocks, far and away the most in the SEC. The team allowed 10 or more blocks in 16 of its 27 games overall and nine of 18 conference games. The 2.75 blocks per set against them is the the highest single-season average for Gamecock opponents in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).

That number remains high in 2024, currently South Carolina has been blocked more overall (196 total blocks) and per set (2.84) than any other SEC school. Five of the nine SEC opponents faced by the Gamecocks so far this fall have gone for double-digit blocks, compared to just two double-digit block games for Carolina.

STATUS QUO IN THE CLASSROOM
The program improved its streak to 15 seasons in a row earning the AVCA’s Team Academic Award, announced on July 17. The Gamecocks have put 10 or more individuals on the SEC’s Fall Academic Honor Roll for eight seasons in a row and placed 16 members on either the Fall or First-Year Academic Honor Rolls in the 2023-24 school year. This comes despite an ambitious list of majors that spans the world-renowned business school, sports science fields and education.

MENDOZA’S TRENDING TOPICS
In Head Coach Tom Mendoza’s tenure with the team…

Home is where the heart is. The Gamecocks are 66-29 (.695) at the Carolina Volleyball Center in Mendoza’s seven seasons.
September is the team’s best month, combining for a 41-18 mark. The highlight came in 2018 with a perfect 9-0 record in September, the first Gamecock squad since 1983 to do so.
The team is 85-13 when winning the first set, 18-69 when losing it.
In five-set matches, the team holds an 24-15 record. In the three years prior to his arrival, the Gamecocks were just 7-8 in five-setters.
The offense finished with a higher hitting percentage than its opponents 102 times and have lost just nine of those matches.
Aces have been a key to victory; under Mendoza the Gamecocks are 79-19 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces.
If the back line is locked in, the odds swing heavily in South Carolina’s favor; the team has a 56-12 record when finishing with more digs in a match since Mendoza arrived in 2018.

ALL TIME RECORDS

South Carolina holds an 890-707 (.557) all-time record, dating back to it’s first season as a varsity sport in 1974. The team’s 800th win came on Aug. 25, 2018 against Clemson.
The Gamecocks joined the SEC for volleyball in 1991, and have an all-time conference record of 238-328 (.420) in the 31st season as a member. The 200th SEC win came on Nov. 8, 2019 at Mississippi St.
Dating back to 1983, the team has a 37-5 record in its home opener and a 24-18 record in its road opener.
The team has a 17-17 overall record in the opening game of SEC play.
In matches in the Carolina Volleyball Center, opened in 1996, Carolina is 256-140 (.645) overall and 131-120 (.525) in SEC matches. The CVC’s 250th win came on Sept. 10, 2024 against the College of Charleston.
Tom Mendoza was introduced as the program’s 13th head coach on Jan. 3, 2018. This is his ninth season overall as a head coach, with a career record of 150-103 and a record of 103-85 at South Carolina. He has led his teams to the NCAA tournament in five of his eight years as a head coach and is just the fourth coach in South Carolina’s history to reach 100 career wins.