Sept. 26, 2010
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
| Coach Somera |
| Highlights |
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Behind the best outing in Juliette Thévenin’s young career, South Carolina (3-10) stormed past The Citadel (5-12) in four sets, 25-20, 25-18, 24-26, 25-11, in front of 646 fans at the Volleyball Competition Facility on Sunday afternoon.
Thévenin led the Gamecocks with 21 kills while adding 11 digs and four aces. Senior Megan Laughlin added 13 kills, hitting .435 in the process. Setters Jordan Bradosky and Taylor Bruns both scored double-doubles, as the sophomore Bruns had 27 assists and a career-best 14 digs. Bradosky had 25 assists and 10 digs while leading the team with six aces, a new personal best. Junior middle blocker Teresa Stenlund had six blocks to go with seven kills. Senior libero Hannah Lawing added 21 digs.
Kaona Mercer paced The Citadel with 11 kills, while Rachael Farrell led the squad with 13 digs, one of four Bulldogs to get double digits. Jessica Maas just missed a double-double with nine kill and 10 digs and adding three aces. Erin Bucherl posted 18 assists and 11 digs.
Bruns led the Gamecocks to a 25-20 win in the first with four kills, five digs and two block assists. The Gamecocks ran out to a 10-1 lead before the Bulldogs made a pair of comeback attempts, answering with a four-point run immediately to make it 10-5. The next four-point stand from The Citadel came on the Gamecocks’ set point, but freshman Frankie Vain finished off the set at 25-20.
The Gamecocks relied on outside hitters Thévenin and Laughlin in the second set, with both hitting over .600 without an attacking error. South Carolina pulled away late with a six-point string on Thévenin’s serve. The freshman had a pair of back-row kills during the stand, while Laughlin added two herself. The senior ended the frame at 25-18 with a kill, her fifth of the second. Thévenin had seven to go with four digs, while Lawing had 10 of her digs in the frame as well. The Gamecocks hit .378 in the set.
The Citadel took a 13-8 lead in the third set on a six-point run that included two of Maas’ aces. The Gamecocks stormed back, as Bradosky had three-straight aces to get the Gamecocks within one at 17-16. South Carolina tied it at 21-21 on a kill by sophomore Christina Glover. The Bulldogs got the set point first thanks to a Maas kill, but the Gamecocks tied it up at 24-24 after a Bulldog attack error and a kill from redshirt sophomore Olivia Ryder. But a Carolina blocking error gave the Bulldogs a chance to claim the set, and Mercer brought that about with her fifth kill of the frame.
South Carolina came out on fire in the fourth, taking a 13-1 lead behind five aces combined between Bradosky and Thévenin, the final 10 points of the run coming on Thévenin’s serve. The Gamecocks did not let up, posting both a four-point skein and a five-point run to close out the set. Bradosky ended the set as she began it, landing an ace. South Carolina held the Bulldogs to a .045 hitting percentage in the set while posting a .345 mark as a team. Thévenin had six kills to go with her four aces in the set.
The Gamecocks had a 13-3 lead in aces among its statistical wins. The teams tied with seven blocks.
South Carolina hosts Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 1 for its Dig Pink match. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility.
