Sept. 19, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team opened the Carolina Classic with a sweep of Norfolk State on Friday morning, defeating the Spartans by the scores of 25-19, 25-12 and 25-22 at the Carolina Volleyball Center.
The Gamecocks move to 8-2 on the season with their fifth-straight win. Norfolk State drops to 0-10.
Carolina out-hit the Spartans .308-.135 and finished with more blocks (6-4) and digs (44-40), while Norfolk State held a 39-36 edge in kills.
Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil paced the Gamecocks with 12 kills, hitting .400 on 30 attack attempts without an error. Sophomore outside hitter KoKo Atoa-Williams added nine kills and nine digs, while sophomore middle blocker Katlyn McDaniel finished with a career-high seven kills and three blocks. Freshman setter Allie Monserez distributed 29 assists and added six digs and a pair of blocks, while senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen finished with 12 digs. Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier led the way at the net with six blocks. Sophomore Jordan Wilson-Talmadge chipped in a career-high seven digs.
Junior outside hitter Jessica Johnson recorded 18 kills to lead the Spartans, while Dominique Parker finished with eight. Setter Darcy Moore dished out 35 assists and had seven digs, while Adrian Ramos collected a match-high 13 digs.
After trailing 5-4 late in the first set, the Gamecocks scored four straight points to take an 8-5 lead and never trailed the remainder of the match. Carolina hit a match-best .364 in the first set, with Taylr McNeil leading the way with five kills. The Gamecocks were just as efficient in the second set, hitting .345 with just two attack errors. Atoa-Williams led the attack with four kills, while Dozier had two of her six blocks. Norfolk State made things interesting in the third set, pulling to within 24-22, but McDaniel delivered her seventh kill to close out the match for the Gamecocks.
Match Changer
After trailing 3-1 early in the first set, the Gamecocks used a 7-2 run to take an 8-5 lead on their way to hitting .364 to win the set 25-19. Carolina did not trail the rest of the match after going on the 7-2 run.
Key Stat
The Gamecocks hit .308 for the match with just eight attack errors, including only two in each of the first two sets.
Notable
• The win is South Carolina’s fifth straight.
• Taylr McNeil hit .400, finishing with 12 kills and no attack errors on 30 attempts.
• McDaniel had a career-high seven kills.
• Wilson-Talmadge finished with a career-high seven digs.
Tweet of the Match
.@GamecockVolley gets their first win of the weekend with a 3-0 victory over Norfolk State. #ForeverToThee pic.twitter.com/xHvmc5xWZ3
— Austin Solheim (@ajsolheim) September 19, 2014
Up Next
South Carolina will take on Eastern Kentucky tonight at 7 in the Carolina Classic at the Carolina Volleyball Center.
