Nov. 27, 2013
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — In her final match in Garnet and Black, South Carolina senior outside hitter Juliette Thévenin recorded her 1,000th career dig on Wednesday at Texas A&M, but the Gamecocks were unable to come away with the win, as the Aggies won in three sets by the scores of 25-22, 25-6 and 25-18 at Reed Arena.
Thévenin, who tallied nine kills and 13 digs on the afternoon, becomes just the second Gamecock of record to have more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career, finishing her four years with 1,590 kills and 1,012 digs. Amy Iannoccari (1991-94) is the only other Gamecock to do so as she recorded 1,231 kills and 1,196 for her career. Thévenin leaves South Carolina in the top 10 in six career categories, ranking third in kills, second in kills per set (4.07), second in attacks (4,076), ninth in digs, fourth in points (1,744.5) and third in points per set (4.46).
The Gamecocks wrap up their season with a 12-19 overall record and a 3-15 mark in SEC play. Texas A&M improved to 18-11 on the season and 10-8 in league play.
Sophomore Sarah Blomgren added seven kills, three digs and two blocks for the Gamecocks, while sophomore Darian Dozier and freshman Jacqy Angermiller pitched in three kills and two blocks apiece. With the two block assists, Dozier matches South Carolina’s rally-scoring era single-season block assist record with 107. Sophomore Elizabeth Johnbull and freshmen Dessaa Legros and KoKo Atoa-Williams contributed two kills each. Freshman setter Helen Récaborde distributed 21 assists, while freshman libero Gabrielle Rubeis collected 14 digs.
South Carolina finished the matched tied with Texas A&M in digs (50-50), while the Aggies out-hit South Carolina .312-.054 and held the advantage in kills (45-28). Sophomore outside hitter Angela Lowak and senior outside hitter Ashley Vrana paced Texas A&M with 10 kills each, while senior setter Allie Sawatzky contributed a double-double with 29 assists, 10 digs and five kills. Freshman middle blocker Jazzmin Babers added four kills and four blocks.
South Carolina jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set, but the Aggies answered with an 8-2 run to take an 11-8 lead. After Texas A&M pushed its lead to 15-10, the Gamecocks made a furious comeback with an 8-2 run capped by a Thévenin kill to take an 18-17 lead. South Carolina led 20-19 late after a kill by Blomgren. However, the Aggies outscored the Gamecocks 6-2 down the stretch to win the set.
After the teams played to a 4-4 tie early in the second set, the Aggies took control, hitting .577 for the set on their way to a 25-6 victory.
The Aggies came out strong in the third set, building a 7-0 lead. However, South Carolina came storming back with a 5-0 run capped by a block by Dozier and Atoa-Williams. After Texas A&M pushed its lead back to seven at 17-10, the Gamecocks scored three straight points capped by an Angermiller kill to cut the Aggies’ lead to four. But that was as close as South Carolina was able to get the rest of the way, as Texas A&M went on to win 25-18 to clinch the match.
