Nov. 25, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Carolina Gamecocks wrap up the regular season with the biggest match of the season for the squad as they host 14th-ranked Florida on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility.
The Gamecocks enter the match with a 21-8 overall and a 12-7 SEC record, good for fourth in the league. The Gators comes to Columbia with a 23-3 overall mark and a 17-2 league record. Florida needs a win to assure at least a share of the SEC title for the 18th consecutive year, while a South Carolina triumph would help out the team’s resume just before the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee begins meeting.
Belita Salters, Finally a Bride
Redshirt senior Belita Salters has been playing at an extremely high level in 2008, ranking 11th in the country in hitting percentage and 201st in kills per set. Some of her weekend totals have been outstanding, and finally the SEC has recognized that. Salters won her first SEC Player of the Week award on Nov. 24 after compiling a .611 hitting percentage in the Gamecocks’ sweeps of Alabama and Mississippi State. The Scranton, S.C., native averaged 4.17 kills per set and now ranks second on the single-match charts with her .789 (15-0-19) hitting percentage against the Bulldogs.
Some of her earlier weekend totals were outstanding, but she did not win. on these top three attempts. She earned MVP honors at the Art Carmichael Classic with her .463 hitting percentage on the weekend, but Georgia’s Maria Taylor averaged a double-double, had the only 30-kill match by an SEC player this season and helped her team to three wins at the Duke Invitational to take home the honors. Salters then led the team in kills at both Mississippi and Arkansas, hitting .418 in the process, but Florida’s Kelly Murphy grabbed both the offensive and freshman awards after her triple-double against the Razorbacks and 4.00 kills per set. Finally, Salters hit .591 in the home victories against Ole Miss and Arkansas, including a .857 performance against the Hogs, while leading the team in kills with 29, but the league office voted for Tennessee’s Farren Powe instead. Powe hit .593 on the weekend, but with just 18 kills, while helping extend Tennessee’s winning streak to seven matches at the time.
Belita Salters Continues Record Book Assault
Redshirt senior Belita Salters has done a lot during her time in Columbia. She already stands in the top 10 all-time in hitting percentage, solo blocks, block assists, total blocks and blocks per set. The PDF version of the notes contains a chart of all the career lists she appears on, including the numbers of the people ahead of her. Last season, Salters recorded 33 solo blocks and 128 total, averaging 1.21 blocks a game, which stood 10th in the Southeastern Conference in 2007.
Record-Type Performances
The middle blockers for South Carolina have turned in some stellar performances over the past two seasons, with redshirt senior Belita Salters writing her name in the single-match record books twice early in 2008. She hit a career-best .543 (21-2-35) in the five-set victory over UNLV, the third-highest average for a Gamecock in a five-set match. She followed that with a .536 (17-2-28) mark in the victory at Rhode Island in the Art Carmichael Classic, which stands fourth on the five-set match charts. Salters just missed making the three-set hitting percentage charts against Arkansas, falling one attempt shy with her .857 clip qualifying for the list (which would have stood second).
After watching Salters put her name in the record book twice, sophomore middle blocker Megan Laughlin decided to get in on the action. Her .652 (15-0-23) against the College of Charleston ranked as the fifth-best output in a three-set match in history, replacing Lori Rowe’s .636 versus Southern Miss on Oct. 15, 1983. But that mark got bumped off the list when Laughlin hit .733 (11-0-15) in the sweep of South Carolina State. That tied Laughlin for second on that chart with Rowe’s Nov. 12, 1983, performance against East Carolina.
That was not the only mark made on Oct. 23 against South Carolina State. In the first meeting between the volleyball teams of the two schools, the Gamecocks set a new program record with a .587 hitting percentage, topping the .561 mark set against Liberty on Sept. 1, 2000. The Garnet and Black came back to set a program-best in SEC play, and the third-best output overall, with a .536 hitting percentage on Senior Day (Nov. 23) against Mississippi State.
Also against the SEC Western Division’s Bulldogs, Belita Salters took over sole possession of second place on the hitting-percentage rankings with a .789 (15-0-19) mark. That moves Laughlin and Rowe’s tie at .733 down to third, ahead of Rowe’s .706 against Chattanooga in that magical 1983 season.
Is It That Simple?
The Gamecocks enter the weekend with a 21-8 record, and the match-by-match stats tell us one thing. If South Carolina out-hits its opponent, it wins. The Garnet and Black are 21-0 when they out-hit the opposition. In the team’s eight losses, they were out-hit when they compiled percentages of .085 (at Arizona State), .168 (at Mississippi), .200 (Kentucky), .186 (at Florida), .180 (at Georgia), .197 (at LSU), .027 (at Kentucky) and .187 (at Tennessee). Their worst performance in a win was at Arkansas, when the squad hit .182. The Gamecocks are also 19-0 when they have fewer hitting errors and 18-1 when they have more assists and more kills than the other side.
Digs and Serve Reception Key to Gamecocks’ Start
When South Carolina’s season ended last November, the coaching staff immediately made a goal to improve the team’s defense, particularly digs and serve receptions. It seems that hard work has paid off. The Gamecocks currently ranks second in the SEC and stand 88th nationally with 15.30 digs per set. That’s just 1.8 digs off the squad’s pace from last season when each game contained five more points.
Something that might be missed, however, is the fact the team’s serve reception has also improved. Last year, South Carolina made 1.3 errors per set and successfully received a serve 94.5 percent of the time. The 2008 percentage stands just under that mark at 94.2 percent, while the squad now gives up 1.0 aces per set. In fact, the squad’s opponents have just 109 aces on the season while making 196 service errors in the process. The Gamecocks’ serving game has cut down on the errors, making 27 more errors than their 130 aces this season.
South Carolina in the SEC Stats
The Gamecocks stand out in the Southeastern Conference statistical rankings that come out each Monday. This week’s edition shows the Garnet and Black leading the SEC in kills per set at 13.81, hitting percentage at .262 and assists per set at 12.76. The squad also ranks second in digs per set, just thousands of a point behind Tennessee with 15.30.
Junior Bridget Denson-Dorman leads the league in the individual assists category, while redshirt senior Belita Salters tops the SEC in hitting percentage. She joins with fellow middle blocker Megan Laughlin as one of only two duos from the same squad, the other being Kentucky’s Queen Nzemwa and Lauren Rapp, with two athletes in the top 10 in hitting. Salters and junior Ivana Kujundzic are one of two pairs, along with Florida’s Kelly Murphy and Kristy Jaeckel, to stand in the top 10 in kills per set. Libero Sarah Cline ranks seventh on the individual digs-per-set chart. The full chart of South Carolina’s rankings is in the PDF version of the notes.
Gamecock Version of Triplets
The Indianapolis Colts were the most recent version of “triplets” in the NFL, while it’s believed that the Dallas Cowboys originated the term talking about the team’s top three players. For the Gamecocks, the triplets are senior Belita Salters, junior Ivana Kujundzic and sophomore Megan Laughlin. As shown below, Kujundzic has led the Gamecocks 16 of the 29 matches this season in kills, while Salters has topped the squad nine times and Laughlin five. What that chart doesn’t show you is the consistency of the top three. Kujundzic has ranked second in 11 of those 13 matches that she didn’t lead, while Salters finished second on eight occasions and Laughlin in seven. Others have stepped up when needed, as Meredith Moorhead and Annie Thomas have each ranked second in kills once. Moorhead has even led the squad once this season, at No. 8 Florida. And freshman Teresa Stenlund did her best Laughlin or Salters impression during her one start, providing a great second option on offense in the win over LSU. Sophomore Hannah Lawing has also gotten in on the act, tying Salters for first in the home sweep of Arkansas and ranking second against Alabama in the 3-0 home triumph.
Road Tougher in Southeastern Conference
While playing in other team’s gyms is tough, it gets even tougher in the Southeastern Conference. Last year, the home team won 64 percent of their matches in league play, while the Gamecocks won just two matches on the road. In fact, from 2003-07, South Carolina won just nine road matches out of 43 tries. The last winning road record in SEC play came in 2002, when the squad went 7-1. The Gamecocks will finish 2008 with a 4-6 SEC road record.
Just Some Love, That’s All We Want
The Carolina Gamecocks have put themselves in impressive company, winning eight matches over teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Eleven ranked teams have won more, while two other ranked squads have matched that total. Three unranked teams, all of which missed last year’s tourney, have won eight, including South Carolina. The others are Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M.
Gamecocks Persevere Through Injuries
The Gamecocks have been dealing with injuries to key members of the squad this season, with all but two offensive members of the starting rotation missing a match in 2008. Sophomore Megan Laughlin missed three SEC matches due to a leg injury, while classmate Annie Thomas has sat out most of a 10-match stretch after a lower leg injury. Junior Meredith Moorhead has missed four matches now, including three of the last four, and could miss more with different injuries. Even redshirt senior Belita Salters has looked on from the sidelines for one match for an ailment. Despite the injuries, South Carolina has an 21-8 record and has assured itself of its best record since the 2002 NCAA Tournament team.
Stepping Up in the Absences
While Annie Thomas was out for the better part of a month, South Carolina has seen another outside hitter step up in her absence. Sophomore Hannah Lawing, who played on the back row during the first part of the year, filled the void in the third hitter spot. She improved her kills-per-set average from 0.27 to 2.27 while hitting a little better than Thomas (.175 to .166) in the 14 matches up front. Junior Meredith Moorhead improved as well while healthy, hitting nearly 70 points better and making 0.3 kills more per frame. Thomas returned on the Kentucky and Tennessee trip, averaging just 1.10 kills per set at the right-side position. Overall, the Gamecocks’ record with Thomas is 14-4, while it’s 7-4 without the Harvard, Ill., native.
Individual Notables in Win/Loss Comparison
Some Gamecocks have been better about keeping an even keel through wins and losses. The most notable is Belita Salters. While her hitting percentage is down .215 points (.471-.256) from wins to losses, her kills per set are close, from 3.31 in triumphs to 2.84 in defeats. Libero Sarah Cline currently has performed better in wins than losses, however minutely, making 3.81 digs per set in defeats compared to 3.94 in victories. The only person to perform better in losses than wins has been Meredith Moorhead, who has a 2.00 kills-per-frame mark in losses while making just 1.51 kills per game in wins. Moorhead also hits 67 points better in losses than wins.
A Pair of Streaks End, One Survives
Two Gamecocks saw their consecutive sets-played streak come to an end during the opening weekend of SEC play. Middle blockers Belita Salters and Megan Laughlin both missed home LSU match due to different injuries, ending streaks of 141 and 140 straight sets played, respectively, for the pair. The longest current streak is held by Ivana Kujundzic, who has played in 198 straight sets, dating back to the Boston College match in 2007.
Some Like It Better at Home
It’s not all that uncommon for teams to play better at home. Some Gamecocks, though, have a stark difference in statistics from home and away. Ivana Kujundzic has been much better at the Volleyball Competition Facility, averaging 4.30 kills per set on a .334 hitting percentage. Compare that to her 3.16 kills-per-set mark and .203 hitting percentage away from Columbia. Her defense, however, has been better away from home, making 3.17 digs per frame on the road compared to 2.40 at home. Belita Salters also seems to be a homebody, hitting .517 at home compared to .328 on the road. Meredith Moorhead hits .317 on the South Carolina campus and .177 elsewhere. As a team, the Gamecocks hit .125 higher at home (.337-.212) and make over two kills a set more than they have in 16 matches away from Columbia.
Hey, It’s an Improvement
The change from 30- to 25-point sets (or is it games?) has made comparing statistics from year to year more difficult. Averages are all down across the board, but there has been a noticable decline in one stat that cost the Gamecocks a year ago. That’s in the handling errors category. Last year, South Carolina made 108 ball handling errors in 106 games, not an average (1.02 per frame) that leads to much success. But this year, the Gamecocks have made just 25 in 100 sets, meaning they average less than one per match. That is one (small) reason for the turnaround.
Hitting Percentage Swings
South Carolina has been suffering through a low period in hitting efficiency during the past few seasons. After hitting .279 in 2002, the second-best mark in program history, the squad has not gotten within 35 points of that over the past half decade, peaking at .230 in 2005 before falling below .220 the past two seasons. This year’s team has changed that trend so far. The squad is hitting .262 on the season, tops in the SEC. Last season’s .216 hitting percentage ranked fifth in the league.
Back on Track (Finally)
After suffering through five-consecutive losing seasons, South Carolina has clinched a winning one in 2008. The win over South Carolina State on Oct. 23 put the Gamecocks over the .500 threshold for the year. This will be the first winning season since 2002. Now the squad hopes to accomplish something else that 2002 team did: earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament. It’s not like the team has been that far away from the break-even point, finishing just three games or less under .500 in each of the past four seasons.
Kujundzic Takes Home Weekly Awards
Junior outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic picked up the Gamecocks’ first SEC award of the season, claiming the Offensive Player of the Week certificate on Monday, Sept. 15. Kujundzic also earned the CVU.com National Player of the Week award, the first national award for a Gamecock volleyball player since Sept. 16, 2006. The Subotica, Serbia, native averaged 4.36 kills and 3.09 digs per set with a .355 hitting percentage during the Carolina Challenge. She nearly single-handedly won the fifth set against archrival Clemson, recording six kills, including four that staved off match point or set up Carolina for the win.
All-Tournament Accolades
Redshirt senior Belita Salters and junior Ivana Kujundzic got the season started off right, as both earned all-tournament honors at the ASU Sheraton Classic. Salters averaged 3.08 kills per set during the weekend, while Kujundzic compiled averages of 3.00 kills and 2.43 digs per frame in the 2-1 weekend for South Carolina.
Both Salters and Kujundzic earned spots on the Art Carmichael Classic All-Tournament Team the following weekend, with Salters claiming the MVP award. The redshirt senior hit .463 in the three matches with 2.82 kills and 0.73 blocks per set. Kujundzic had 3.55 kills, 3.45 digs and 0.45 aces per set on the weekend. Sophomore Annie Thomas joined the duo on the team with her 2.36 kills per set and .328 hitting percentage at Rhode Island.
Four Gamecocks won awards for the Carolina Challenge, with Kujundzic taking MVP honors and junior Sarah Cline claiming the Most Outstanding Libero award. Junior setter Bridget Denson-Dorman joined Salters on the all-tourney team as well.
Winning Streak Snapped
The Gamecocks put together just the sixth winning streak of 10 or more matches in history. The 10-match skein that ended against Mississippi equals the longest streaks in 1978 and 2000. Just three streaks lasted longer in Gamecock lore: an 11-game run in 2002, which is the last year the Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament, and two different streaks in 1983. That squad had a 12-match string to start the season and a 14-match streak near the end of the year. That final skein was snapped by Florida State in the Metro Conference Tournament Championship, keeping the Gamecocks out of the field of 28 for the 1983 NCAA Tournament.
Gamecocks Show Skills in Non-conference
Comparing the stats from each weekend is one bit of evidence about how much hard work during practice pays off for a team. The Gamecocks increased their offense in each weekend tournament, starting at 12.4 kills and 11.1 assists per set at Arizona State, moving to 13.5 kills and 11.4 assists in the Art Carmichael Classic before breaking out for 15.8 kills and 14.8 assists in the Carolina Challenge. The Garnet and Black’s hitting percentage also climbed each week, starting at .197 before shooting to .308 and .324. The defense has been steady, never dropping below 15.7 digs per frame during the non-conference weekends.
Garnet Bring Back Majority of Production
South Carolina should be able to pick up where they left off in 2007. In most major statistical categories, the squad returns 85 percent of the production from last season. The highest percentage back comes in assists and digs, as 94 percent of last year’s totals are back. The squad also has 85 percent of its aces back, including nine of the 10 players that registered at least one. Eighty-six percent of the kills return, including the top four in kills last season. The only category that “suffered” a loss is blocks, as a mere 74 percent (and the squad’s top two blockers) are back for 2008.
Series History Against Florida
Few teams in the SEC have had even limited success against Florida, but South Carolina is one. The Gamecocks have taken seven contests in the 46 meetings, and just four other conference squads can match that number of wins over the league’s dominate program. However, Carolina is just 2-24 against the Gators since joining the SEC, picking up wins in 1994 and 2006, both at home. That triumph on Sept. 17, 2006 was the program’s eighth win all-time against a ranked foe, as Florida stood sixth in the national poll at that time.
Scouting the Gators
Florida (23-3, 17-2 SEC) has beeen dominate over its foes in 2008, especially in the kills category. The Gators average almost three kills more per set than their foes. They also have leads in every other category, but that is narrower in aces (1.52-1.12) and blocks (2.19-2.04). Freshman Kelly Murphy has been a standout as a rookie, leading the team in kills (3.26), assists (5.61) and hitting percentage (.361) while standing second in digs (1.76) and service aces (0.23). Redshirt freshman Kristy Jaeckel has been solid as well, averaging 3.11 kills per set. Four other Gators average over a kill per set. Senior Kelsey Bowers leads the squad with 0.96 blocks per frame. Junior libero Elyse Cusack ranks second in the league with 4.66 digs per set. Cindy Bathelt makes 5.56 assists and 1.37 digs per game. Of note, the Gators have lost two SEC matches for the first time since 1990, prior to the addition of South Carolina and Arkansas to the league.
