Oct. 20, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team will take a break from SEC play on Tuesday for an in-state matchup at Coastal Carolina.

First serve between the Gamecocks (13-6) and Chanticleers (15-5) is set for 6 p.m. at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C.

MATCH INFORMATION
Tuesday: at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m. | | Live Video
On Twitter: @GamecockVolley
Match Notes

South Carolina at a Glance
• The Gamecocks are 13-6 on the season and 3-4 in SEC play.
• Carolina is on a three-match losing streak.
• During the losing streak, the Gamecocks have been outhit .237-.127, out-blocked 29-23 and have given up 1.5 service aces per set.
• In its last 10 matches, South Carolina is 6-4.
• The Gamecocks have used seven different starting lineups this season.
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier, sophomore outside hitter KoKo Atoa-Williams and freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil have started every match, while senior Mikaela Christiaansen has been libero all 19 matches.

A Look Back at the Texas A&M Match
• The 20th-ranked Aggies prevented Carolina from picking up its first win against a ranked opponent since 2006, winning in five sets by the scores of 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12 and 15-13.
• It was the fifth five-set match for the Gamecocks this season. Carolina is 3-2 in five-set matches.
• The Gamecocks held a 12-9 advantage in blocks and a 54-52 edge in digs. The Aggies outhit the Gamecocks .253-.106, including three sets with a hitting percentage above .300.
• Texas A&M outhit Carolina .348-.053 in the fifth set.
• Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil paced Carolina with 13 kills, six digs and two blocks. Sophomore middle Jacqy Angermiller had seven kills and a match-high seven blocks.
• Middle blocker Shelby Sullivan led Texas A&M with 16 kills while hitting .480 and six blocks.

Gamecocks in the SEC and NCAA Stats
• South Carolina is first in the SEC and ranks 36th nationally in blocks per set (2.55).
• Carolina is second in the SEC and ranks 50th nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.169).
• Carolina ranks third in the conference in digs per set (14.76).
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is second in the SEC and ranks 27th in the nation in blocks per set (1.37). She is second in the SEC and 29th in the nation in total blocks (97).
• Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil ranks seventh in the conference in kills per set (3.45) and is second among freshmen. She is also seventh in the league in points per set (3.85).
• Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen is third in the SEC in digs per set (4.34).
• Sophomore KoKo Atoa-Williams has seven double-doubles, which is tied for the seventh most in the SEC.

Road Match Notes
• The Gamecocks are 4-1 in true road matches this season.
• Carolina has outhit opponents .218-.150 on the road.
• In road matches, freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil (3.56 kills per set), junior setter Kellie McNeil (9.17 assists per set), senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen (4.89 digs per set) and junior middle blocker Darian Dozier (1.28 blocks per set) have led the Gamecocks.
• Under head coach Scott Swanson, the Gamecocks are 13-27 on the road.

Climbing the Single-Season and Career Records Lists
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is 20 block assists away from breaking into the top 10 all-time at South Carolina with 256.
• Dozier is six block assists away from posting another number in the top five of the single season block assists list with 89. She tied the rally scoring era record last season with 107.
• Dozier also has a chance to break the rally scoring era blocks per set record for a single season. The record is 1.38 held by Belita Salters (2005). Dozier is currently averaging 1.37 blocks per set.
• Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen is on pace to post a top-five digs per set average for a single season in the rally scoring era. Her current average of 4.34 would rank fourth ahead of the next closest average of 3.91 by Paige Wheeler (2012).

Scouting Coastal Carolina
• Coastal Carolina enters Tuesday’s matchup with a 15-5 overall record.
• The Chanticleers have won seven of their last 10 matches.
• Prior to Saturday’s loss to Liberty, Coastal Carolina had won five straight matches.
• Coastal Carolina is 6-2 at home this season.
• The Chanticleers were picked to finish second in the Big South Preseason Poll after going 19-12 overall and 10-4 in Big South play last year.
• Coastal Carolina leads the Big South and ranks sixth nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.139).
• The Chanticleers rank second in the Big South in hitting percentage (.240), kills per set (13.24), blocks per set (2.26) and assists per set (12.21).
• Junior middle blocker Eszter Nagy leads the Big South and ranks 29th nationally in hitting percentage (.397). Nagy also leads the team in blocks per set (0.92).
• Freshman outside hitter Leah Hardeman is second in the Big South in kills per set (4.04).
• Senior setter Sam Skryd leads the team in assists per set (9.67).
• Senior defensive specialist Jenna Orner ranks 53rd nationally averaging 4.70 digs per set.

Series History vs. Coastal Carolina
• Tuesday’s meeting will be the 13th all-time between South Carolina and Coastal Carolina.
• The Gamecocks are 12-0 all-time vs. the Chanticleers.
• Carolina has swept the Chanticleers in 10 of the 12 meetings.
• In South Carolina’s last trip to Coastal Carolina, the Gamecocks won 3-0 by the scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 25-13.

Last Time vs. Coastal Carolina – Oct. 30, 2013
• The Gamecocks defeated the Chanticleers in five sets by the scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25 and 15-13.
• South Carolina finished with the advantage in kills (67-60), hitting percentage (.201-.193), digs (80-65) and blocks (15-9).
• Gamecock setter Kellie McNeil was one block shy of a tripe-double as she tallied 52 assists, 12 digs and nine blocks. Outside hitter Juliette Thévenin finished a double-double, recording 25 kills and 13 digs.
• Eszter Nagy paced Coastal Carolina with 17 kills while hitting .577.

Searching for a Triple-Double
• A Gamecock player has not recorded a triple-double since the 2005 season. Iris Santos was the last to do so, as she finished with 57 assists, 13 digs and 12 kills against Houston on Sept. 16, 2005.
• Junior setter Kellie McNeil has come close to ending the drought on three occasions, including last season’s match vs. Coastal Carolina (10/30/13) with 52 assists, 12 digs and nine blocks. She finished with 38 assists, 10 kills, nine digs and six blocks against Ole Miss this season (9/26). In last year’s match at Tennessee (9/29/13), she had 41 assists, 20 digs and seven blocks.

Block Party
• Blocking has been a key to the Gamecocks’ success this season as they rank first in the SEC and 36th nationally in blocks per set (2.55).
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is second in the SEC and ranks 27th in the nation in blocks per set (1.37), while sophomore middle Jacqy Angermiller ranks 15th in the league (0.95).
• South Carolina recorded 17 blocks vs. Eastern Kentucky, its most since recording 20 vs. St. Johns on Sept. 8, 2006.
• Angermiller tallied a career-high 11 blocks (all block assists) vs. Eastern Kentucky, which is tied for the second most block assists in a five-set match in school history and the fourth most total blocks in a five-set match.
• Carolina has out-blocked its opponents in 14 of 19 matches. The Gamecocks are 11-3 in those matches.
• The Gamecocks have out-blocked opponents 136-82 in wins.

Winning the Hitting Battle
• When outhitting opponents, the Gamecocks are 10-0 on the season.
• Carolina is outhitting opponents .238-.137 in wins and is being outhit .233-.146 in losses.
• In conference matches, the Gamecocks are being outhit .224-.176.
• The Gamecocks are outhitting opponents .218-.150 on the road.
• The Gamecocks have held opponents to a below a .150 hitting percentage 10 times in 19 matches.
• Carolina has won three matches when being outhit, vs. Georgia Tech (.258-.269), vs. Ole Miss (.184-.189) and vs. Auburn (.211-.221).

South Carolina Quick Hits
• South Carolina is in its fourth season with head coach Scott Swanson. Last year’s team went 12-19.
• The Gamecocks return 13 letter winners from a year ago, including four starters and the libero (Sarah Blomgren, Kellie McNeil, Darian Dozier, Jacqy Angermiller, Mikaela Christiaansen).
• With the departure of outside hitter Juliette Thévenin, the Gamecocks lost 33.8 percent of their production in kills. She ranked first in the SEC in both kills per set (4.57) and points per set (4.91).
• South Carolina returns middle blockers Jacqy Angermiller and Darian Dozier, who ranked seventh (1.08) and eighth (1.06), respectively, in the SEC in blocks per set.

Roster Breakdown
• South Carolina has three freshmen, seven sophomores, five juniors and two seniors on its roster.
• Nine states are represented on South Carolina’s roster. Four players are from South Carolina, two from Georgia, Texas, Florida, California and Minnesota and one from Nevada, Maryland and Arizona.

Sister Act
• The Gamecocks have two pairs of sisters involved with the program in 2014 in freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil and junior setter Kellie McNeil and junior middle blocker Darian Dozier and graduate assistant Kristen Dozier.
• Both Taylr and Kellie McNeil were the Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year coming out of high school.
• Kristen Dozier was a standout at Ohio State (2006-09) and went on to play professionally in Spain, Israel, Puerto Rico and Germany. She was also a member of the U.S. National Team in 2013.

Coming Home
• Former Gamecock great Shonda Cole joins the coaching staff this season as volunteer assistant.
• Cole played at South Carolina from 2003-06 and became the first Gamecock to earn All-America honors, earning a spot on the AVCA Honorable Mention All-America Team in 2006.
• She had a successful professional career, playing one season in Spain, six in Puerto Rico and a half season in France.
• Cole won a league championship with Pinkin de Corozal in 2010 and was named finals MVP after leading Indias de Mayaguez to the league title in 2013.

All-Time Records
• South Carolina holds a 750-574 (.566) record.
• The Gamecocks are 164-219 (.428) in SEC play.
• In matches played at the Carolina Volleyball Center, South Carolina is 163-87 (.652).