April 2, 2012

by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina volleyball team continued its winning ways during the Wake Forest Spring Invitational, sweeping two sets each from Elon, High Point and Gardner-Webb during the spring event.

The Gamecocks dropped the Phoenix 25-16 and 25-18 behind Megan Kent’s .417 hitting percentage. Paige Wheeler added three aces, while Juliette Thévenin had 11 digs and two solo blocks. Against High Point, Thévenin led the way with nine kills, while Taylor Bruns added seven digs. Cara Howley had three solo blocks as well in the 28-26 and 25-21 wins. In the first four sets, the Gamecocks committed zero reception errors.

The hosts Wake Forest put the only blemish on South Carolina’s record in the event, taking the sets 26-24 and 25-17. Wheeler had nine digs, while Thévenin and Kent added six and five kills, respectively. The Gamecocks bounced back with a 25-18, 25-16 sweep of Gardner-Webb, led by Thévenin’s .643 hitting percentage on nine kills. Christina Vereb had five kills and three solo blocks. Howley added three aces, and Wheeler posted eight digs.

“My challenge to the team this past Saturday was to play at a high level against every opponent we faced,” said Gamecock head coach Scott Swanson. “I think we realized that we have some work to do with regards to our consistency, mental focus and intensity in matches. Although we played well enough to come out of the tournament 6-2, we now know that we still have a lot of work to do to reach our initial challenge of playing at a high level for a longer period of time.”

South Carolina heads back north to Duke for their Spring Invitational at Brodie Gymnasium, where the Gamecocks will take on UNC Greensboro, Maryland, UNC Wilmington and the host Blue Devils on Saturday.

Duke Spring Invitational Schedule
10:00 a.m. – UNC Greensboro
11:00 a.m. – Maryland
2:15 p.m. – UNC Wilmington
3:15 p.m. – Duke