Sept. 13, 2013
DURHAM, N.C. — Senior Juliette Thévenin and sophomore Darian Dozier tallied 14 kills apiece, and sophomore setter Kellie McNeil recorded her second double-double of the season to help lead South Carolina to a 3-1 victory over Utah State by the scores of 16-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-19 on Friday in the Duke Invitational at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With the win, the Gamecocks improve to 4-3 on the season. Utah State drops to 5-3 with the loss.
South Carolina outhit Utah State .174 to .145 and held a 57-45 advantage in kills. Dozier, whose kill total is a career high, led the way, hitting .407 for the match. She also recorded four blocks and four digs. McNeil finished the day with 46 assists, 11 digs, five kills and three blocks. In her first collegiate action, freshman Jacqy Angermiller hit .368 to record eight kills and was a force at the net with four blocks. Sophomore Sarah Blomgren and freshman KoKo Atoa-Williams added seven and six kills, respectively, while junior libero Michaela Christiaansen tallied a match-high 20 digs.
Junior outside hitter Rachel Orr led the Aggies with 13 kills, while Elle Brainard and Kaitlyn VanHoff added 11 apiece. Utah State setter Erica Moscoso dished out 40 assists, and Tumua Etimani and Ashlan Rogers finished with 18 digs each.
The Gamecocks fell behind in the first set, trailing 7-2 early on. Carolina went on a 6-3 run to trim Utah State’s lead to two points, but the Aggies went on to outhit the Gamecocks .379 to .062 to win the set 25-16.
South Carolina shook off the rough start and came out strong in the second set, building an 11-5 lead behind four blocks, including two block assists and a solo block by Blomgren and a pair of block assists from Angermiller. The Aggies answered with an 11-5 run capped by a Kaitlyn Vanhoff kill to tie the match at 16-16. After two more ties, the Gamecocks took the lead for good at 19-18 on a kill by Dozier. Angermiller finished off the set with a kill to give South Carolina a 25-22 win to even the match.
Utah State had control of the third set early, building a 12-6 lead behind four kills by Orr. The Aggies pushed their lead to 15-8 before South Carolina began chipping away. The Gamecocks went on a 5-0 run behind a pair of kills by Thévenin to pull to within 15-13. After the Aggies went back in front by four at 17-13 on a kill by Etimani, South Carolina went on a 6-2 run to tie the match at 19-19 capped by an Atoa-Williams kill. A VanHoff kills pushed the Aggies back in front, 20-19, but the Gamecocks closed out the set on a 6-0 run to win 25-20.
The fourth set went back and forth early, with the Gamecocks holding an 8-7 lead. However, South Carolina took control, as a kill by Atoa-Williams sparked a 5-1 run to give her squad a 13-8 advantage. The Gamecocks extended their lead to nine points at 24-15 later in the frame before the Aggies went on a 4-0 run to pull to within five. But Dozier clinched the match for South Carolina with her 14th kill.
The Gamecocks return to action later today in a match with Liberty. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
