Sept. 12, 2014
BUIES CREEK, N.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team opened the Campbell Invitational on Friday with a sweep of Campbell by the scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-16 at Gore Arena.
With the win, the Gamecocks improve to 5-2 on the season. Campbell drops to 3-6 on the year.
South Carolina out-hit the Camels .296-.078 on the night and also held the advantage in kills (48-28), assists (44-28) and digs (60-48), while Campbell finished with a 6-5 edge in blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil paced the Gamecocks with 15 kills and nine digs, while sophomore KoKo Atoa-Williams finished with a double-double, recording 10 kills and 11 digs. Junior right side Sarah Blomgren and junior middle blocker Darian Dozier contributed eight kills apiece, hitting .467 and .412, respectively. Dozier also had a team-high four blocks. Junior setter Kellie McNeil dished out 36 assists and collected five digs, while senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen had a season-high 20 digs.
Katelyn Layden finished with 12 kills and six digs to lead the Camels. Setter Summer Schuitema distributed 22 assists, while Mary Crema finished with a team-high 11 digs.
South Carolina trailed the Camels 16-13 in the first set before outscoring them 12-7 down the stretch to win the set. The Gamecocks had their strongest effort offensively in the second set, hitting .407 and holding Campbell to a .083 hitting percentage as they trailed just once at 2-1 on their way to a 25-16 win. After Campbell pulled to within 17-14 in the third set, the Gamecocks closed out the set in strong fashion, outscoring the Camels 8-2 to win the match.
Match Changer
Trailing 16-13 in the first set, the Gamecocks avoided falling behind by a set as they went on a 12-7 run to win 25-23. Taylr McNeil led the charge with six kills during the run.
Key Stat
Blomgren and Dozier finished with eight kills apiece, hitting .467 and .412, respectively, and had just one attack error each on a total of 32 attack attempts.
Notables
• Christiaansen recorded a season-high 20 digs.
• Atoa-Williams produced her third double-double of the season, finishing with 10 kills and 11 digs.
• The Gamecocks out-hit Campbell .296-.078 for the match, including a .407 hitting percentage in the second set.
• Carolina’s .296 hitting percentage is a season-best.
Tweet of the Match
Watching @GamecockVBcoach and @GamecockVolley online, crush those camels!!! #Gamecocks
— Gamecock Sand VB (@GamecockSandVB) September 13, 2014
Quotable
South Carolina head coach Scott Swanson
“I thought we started off really strong. For whatever reason we let up and made that first game very interesting. I was glad we got our composure back and came back and won that. After that we were pretty much in control. They were a tough team. They only missed one serve in the whole match. They put the pressure on us from the service line. (Katelyn Laden), their right side attacker had a really good night, but we defended everyone else really well. Overall I’m really happy with the win and how we bounced back from our lapse in game one.”
Up Next
The Gamecocks will wrap up play at the Campbell Invitational with two matches on Saturday. Carolina will face Elon at 10 a.m. and North Florida at 4:30 p.m. at Gore Arena.
