Gamecocks Drop Road Match to Oklahoma in Four Sets

NORMAN, Okla. – The South Carolina volleyball team (6-9, 0-5) fell 3-1 to Oklahoma (12-3, 4-1) on Friday night in the McCasland Field House. It was an evenly played match for the Gamecocks who had four or more different players put up numbers in kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks.

1st SET: Oklahoma opened the match with a 4-0 run before a service error put South Carolina on the board. The Gamecocks capitalized on Sooner miscues early, including two aces and an out ball, to stay within striking distance. Kills from Emily Beeker and Ava Leahy helped close the gap to 10-7, and back-to-back blocks from Beeker and Elise Marchal brought South Carolina within one at 14-13. A kill from Nia Hall tied the set at 17-17, sparking a 3-0 scoring run capped by Alayna Johnson’s 18th ace of the season to give the Gamecocks their first lead of the night at 18-17 and force an Oklahoma timeout. The Sooners responded with a 3-0 run of their own to reclaim the advantage at 20-18. Beeker kept the Gamecocks close with key kills late, and a kill from Johnson tied things at 23-23 to force another Sooner timeout, but Oklahoma took the final two points to claim the opening set 25-23.

2nd SET: The second set started as a back-and-forth battle, with both teams trading points and neither leading by more than one early on. An Oklahoma attack error gave South Carolina a brief 7-5 lead, but the Sooners quickly closed the gap after a Gamecock service error. A block from Laiya Ebo and Beeker, followed by kill from Hall helped the Gamecocks take the edge again, but Oklahoma continued to answer and eventually tied the score at 12-all. A 4-0 Sooner run, highlighted by back-to-back blocks, pushed Oklahoma in front 14-12 and forced a South Carolina timeout. The Sooners held onto a narrow lead before another 3-0 run extended their advantage to 19-15, prompting a second timeout from the Gamecocks. Hall delivered her sixth kill of the night to keep South Carolina in reach, but Oklahoma maintained control down the stretch and took the set 25-19.

3rd SET: The Gamecocks came out strong in the third, using Sarah Jordan’s first ace of the season to tie things at 3-3. Aces and Oklahoma errors kept the score tight until Victoria Harris gave South Carolina its first lead of the set with another ace. A 4-0 run featuring two blocks from Ebo and Johnson gave the Gamecocks their largest lead of the night at 10-6 and forced an Oklahoma timeout. The Sooners cut the deficit to one before South Carolina responded with a dominant 4-0 stretch powered by four straight kills, three of them from Hall, to extend the lead to 14-9. After a Sooner push made it 14-12, the Gamecocks regrouped and used a combination of Oklahoma errors and strong front-row play to go up 18-14. Another 3-0 surge featuring kills from Johnson and Beeker and a block from Beeker and Marchal widened the gap to 21-16, and the Gamecocks closed the frame on a 7-0 run capped by a Johnson kill to win 25-16 and force a fourth set.

4th SET: Oklahoma started the fourth with a 5-3 advantage before South Carolina fought back to even things at 6-6. The teams went back and forth until a successful Sooner challenge at 9-9 sparked momentum in Oklahoma’s favor. A 6-0 run pushed the Sooners ahead 17-9, prompting two Gamecock timeouts during the stretch. South Carolina broke the run with a Sooner service error, followed by a Beeker and Ebo block to cut the deficit to 17-11. The Gamecocks showed late energy, stringing together a 3-0 run to make it 22-16 and another block from Ebo to narrow the gap to 23-18, forcing an Oklahoma timeout. However, the Sooners reached match point at 24-18 after a service error. A Johnson kill kept the Gamecocks alive momentarily, but Oklahoma sealed the set 25-19 to win the match 3-1.

Notables 

• Six different players had an ace led by Victoria Hill with two total to combine for seven
• Five different players had two or more blocks to combine for 12 which ties the second highest amount this season
• Two players, Nia Hall (13) and Alayna Johnson (10), hit in double digit kills
• Emily Beeker had the teams highest hitting percentage of .400 with eight kills

Up Next: The Gamecocks round out the road trip on Sunday, Oct. 12 at Arkansas for a 4:00 p.m. (ET) match.