Gamecocks Roll Alabama in Road Sweep
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – South Carolina’s offensive barrage continued after a nine-day break, the Gamecocks followed up a record-setting performance in a win at LSU on Nov. 13 with another dominant night at Alabama on Friday. South Carolina (15-9, 6-7 SEC) swept the Crimson Tide (11-14, 3-11) thanks to a .418 team hitting percentage and 29 combined kills from pins Riley Whitesides and Campbell Paris.
1st SET: South Carolina gained the early advantage behind its blocking, scoring three of its first eight points of the game off denials. The Gamecocks pushed ahead slowly but surely, but were slowed by errors behind the service line, gifting Alabama a third of its first 15 points directly off missed serves. A missed attempt sparked a 5-0 run for the Tide that gave them a late 19-18 advantage, but Carolina answered back with a 3-0 run of its own to force an Alabama timeout. Campbell Paris scored on some critical swings late, two of her team-high five kills came after the team crossed the 20-point threshold and the Gamecocks finished off a 25-22 win.
2nd SET: The two teams jockeyed for position early and often in set two, there would be 11 ties and three lead changes before the first timeout. Alabama scored four of five points heading into that first break to take a 15-13 lead, then scored the next two points after the timeout for its largest lead of the match to date. South Carolina rallied back late, winning long rallies to tie the set at 21-all and 22-all, but Alabama kept answering each score and had two set point opportunities with a 24-22 advantage. The Gamecocks were able to side out from a Paris kill, then Sarah Jordan shocked Alabama with a service ace that floated to the back line untouched to tie the score at 24. Oby Anadi and Tireh Smith combined for a big block after that, and the fourth and final unanswered point for South Carolina came off a. Alabama attack that went long for a 26-24 margin.
3rd SET: The Gamecocks rolled the momentum from set two into a fast start in the third, scoring the first three points and leading 10-7 before the home side regained its bearing. Alabama answered back with a pair of runs to take a 15-13 lead into the first timeout of the third, but as the game got late the momentum again tilted back in South Carolina’s favor. A kill from Paris got the Gamecocks to 20 first, a 20-19 margin, and the match would be decided by a three-point stretch out of a 20-all score, helped by another Paris kills and Jordan’s third service ace of the night on the way to a 25-22 final score.
NOTABLE
- With junior Alayna Johnson missing her second match in a row, Campbell Paris and Brooke Doherty again combined to fill in for her row as a six-rotation attacker.
- Paris followed up a 15-kill performance at LSU on Nov. 13 with 16 kills and a career-high .625 hitting percentage on Friday night. It was the highest hitting percentage for a Gamecock with 15 or more kills since Nov. 1, 2019, when Mikayla Shields hit .640 vs. LSU. Paris’ kill total was two away from her career high, set over five sets at Georgia last fall.
- Sarah Jordan was also coming off a career night at LSU, the junior setter followed up her rally-scoring-era record of 66 assists last Wednesday with 39 over three sets against Alabama. The team’s last two matches have also been its two highest for hitting efficiency, going from .343 at LSU to .418 Friday night against the Tide.
- Riley Whitesides’ 13 kills moved her up to eighth-most in a single season for the rally-scoring era, with 366, passing Mikayla Shields’ 2018 season and Kyla Manning’s 2021 season.
- Jordan and Whitesides continue to battle for the team lead in double-doubles, each recording one Friday night. Jordan (39 assists, 10 digs) now has nine this season, Whitesides (13 kills, 11 digs) has six.
- Four of the five South Carolina hitters with four or more kills hit .500 or better on Friday, including a .545 percentage with eight kills for Tireh Smith and four kills apiece for middles Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich.
- Along with her clutch service ace to deny Alabama set point in the second, Sarah Jordan totaled three aces in the match. It is tied for the most by a Gamecock in SEC play.
- South Carolina entered the match ranked last in the SEC for blocks allowed to opponents, but were denied just once by Alabama on Friday night. It is a season-low for blocks against the Gamecocks and fewest overall since 16, 2021 at Winthrop.
UP NEXT: It will be just one game this week, South Carolina’s next games will be Nov. 22-24. The Gamecocks wrap up a five-game road stretch with a rematch with Tennessee on Sunday the 24th at 2 p.m. on the SEC Network. South Carolina swept the Lady Vols in the first meeting this season, back on Nov. 3, winning two deuce sets with double-digit kills from Riley Whitesides and Alayna Johnson. The team is just 2-5 in Knoxville over the last decade.
