Nov. 18, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team will face Tennessee on the road in a midweek matchup on Wednesday.

First serve between the Gamecocks (15-12, 5-9 SEC) and Lady Vols (8-21, 1-14) is set for 6 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena. The match will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

MATCH INFORMATION
Wednesday: at Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPNU) |
On Twitter: @GamecockVolley
Match Notes

South Carolina at a Glance
• The Gamecocks are 15-12 on the season and 5-9 in SEC play.
• Carolina lost its last five matches, including three straight in the fifth set. The Gamecocks are 3-5 in five-set matches this season.
• The Gamecocks play three of their final four matches on the road.
• The Gamecocks have used 14 different starting lineups this season.
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier has started every match, while senior Mikaela Christiaansen has been libero all 27 matches.

A Look Back at Last Weekend
• South Carolina lost both of its matches in five sets last weekend, losing at Arkansas on Friday before returning home to fall to Auburn on Senior Day Sunday.
• At Arkansas, the Razorbacks outhit the Gamecocks .215-.160 and held the advantage in kills (70-49), digs (75-61) and blocks (8-6).
• Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil paced Carolina with 11 kills at Arkansas, while senior Caroline Cann played in her first career SEC match and finished with a career-high seven kills and three digs.
• On Sunday vs. Auburn, the Tigers outhit Carolina .278-.202 and held the advantage in kills (75-57), digs (71-67), while Caroline out-blocked Auburn 11-8.
• Sophomore KoKo Atoa-Williams recorded her team-leading ninth double-double of the season against the Tigers, matching her career-high with 18 kills and tallying 10 digs.
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier finished with five total blocks against Auburn to set the school total blocks record for a single season in the rally scoring era with 129.

Gamecocks in the SEC Stats
• South Carolina leads the SEC in blocks per set (2.44) and total blocks (261).
• Carolina is fourth in the SEC opponent hitting percentage (.196).
• The Gamecocks rank third in the conference in digs per set (14.65).
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is third in the SEC in blocks per set (1.24). She also ranks third in the conference in total blocks (129).
• Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil ranks ninth in the conference in kills per set (3.18) and is second among freshmen.
• Junior setter Kellie McNeil ranks fifth in the SEC in aces per set (0.29).
• Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen is third in the SEC in digs per set (4.27) and second in total digs (457).

Road Match Notes
• Carolina is 4-5 in road matches this season.
• The Gamecocks have lost their last five road matches.
• Opponents are outhitting the Gamecocks .196-.182 on the road. Carolina is out-blocking its opponents 74-61.
• Carolina is averaging 11.36 kills per set on the road, while opponents are averaging 13.91.
• Under head coach Scott Swanson, the Gamecocks are 13-31 on the road.

A Win this Weekend Would…
• Guarantee Carolina just its third winning season since going 22-7 to make the NCAA Tournament in 2002. The Gamecocks went 21-9 in 2008 and 18-14 in 2012.
• Be head coach Scott Swanson’s 60th career win at South Carolina. He is currently 59-61 in four years with the Gamecocks. The 59 wins are the fourth most in school history.
• Be the Gamecocks’ sixth SEC win, matching the 2012 team’s six conference wins for the most since going 12-8 in 2008.
• Be Carolina’s fifth road win, which would be its most during head coach Scott Swanson’s tenure and the most since the Gamecocks won five in 2009.

In the last 10 matches…
• The Gamecocks have a 2-8 record.
• Carolina has been outhit .253-.181.
• The Gamecocks have out-blocked opponents 88-79.
• Carolina has played in four five-set matches and lost all four.
• Junior Sarah Blomgren has been the Gamecocks’ most efficient attacker, hitting .273 while averaging 2.15 kills per set.
• Junior setter Kellie McNeil has the second most blocks on the team with 32, averaging 0.76 per set, and has recorded three double-doubles.

On this Date
• The Gamecocks are looking to secure their first win of record in a match played on Nov. 19. Carolina is 0-7 all-time in matches played on Nov. 19.

Climbing the Single-Season and Career Records Lists
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier ranks eighth all-time in block assists at South Carolina with 286. She is 10 block assists away from moving into sole possession of seventh on the all-time list.
• Dozier has moved to first on the single-season rally scoring era list for total blocks with 129, breaking Belita Salters (2007) record of 128.
• With 119 block assists this season, Dozier has set the rally scoring era record for block assists in a season.
• Dozier’s blocks per set average of 1.24 currently ranks third all-time in a single season in the rally scoring era. The record is 1.38 held by Belita Salters (2005).
• Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen is on pace to post a top-five digs per set average for a single season in the rally scoring era. Her current average of 4.27 ranks fourth ahead of the next closest average of 3.91 by Paige Wheeler (2012).
• Christiaansen’s digs total of 457 ranks fourth all-time for a single season in the rally scoring era in school history.
• Christiaansen’s career digs per set average of 3.92 currently ranks third all-time at South Carolina. Fernanda LaLaires (1996-97) holds the record (4.03), while Kori Ermigarat (1994-95) is second with an average of 3.95.

Scouting Tennessee
• Tennessee enters the match with an 8-21 overall record and a 1-14 mark in SEC play.
• The Lady Vols have lost nine of their last 10 matches, including six straight.
• Tennessee is 3-8 at home this season.
• Seventeen of Tennessee’s 29 matches have been three-set decisions. Only two of the Lady Vols’ matches have gone to five sets.
• Tennessee has been outhit .226-.173 and out-blocked 233-215.5 this season.
• Freshman outside hitter Kendra Turner has been Tennessee’s top option offensively, averaging 2.75 kills per set.
• Sophomore outside hitter Jamie Lea is also averaging more than two kills per set (2.53).
• Sophomore setter Lexi Dempsey ranks ninth in the SEC in assists per set (8.06).
• Freshman middle blocker Iesha Bryant is eighth in the SEC in blocks per set (1.03).
• Bridgette Villano (3.01) and Megan Hatcher (2.98) ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, in the SEC in digs per set.

Series History vs. Tennessee
• Wednesday’s matchup will be the 63rd all-time between South Carolina and Tennessee.
• The Lady Vols lead the all-time series 36-26.
• The Gamecocks are 1-9 in their last 10 matches vs. Tennessee.
• South Carolina is 10-19 all-time in matches played at Tennessee.
• Tennessee has won nine of the last 10 matchups in Knoxville.
• Carolina won last season’s meeting in Knoxville 3-1 (9/29/13) and is looking to win consecutive matches in Knoxville for the first time since winning 3-2 on Nov. 17, 2001 and 3-0 on Nov. 8, 2002.
• Under head coach Scott Swanson, the Gamecocks are 1-5 vs. Tennessee.

Last Time vs. Tennessee – Oct. 25, 2013
• The Gamecocks fell in three sets to Tennessee by the scores of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-17 at the Carolina Volleyball Center.
• Tennessee outhit Carolina .318-.072 on the afternoon.
• Sarah Blomgren paced the Gamecocks with 10 kills.
• Raina Hembry led the Lady Vols with 10 kills while hitting .667.

Block Party
• Blocking has been a key to the Gamecocks’ success this season as they rank first in the SEC in blocks per set (2.44).
• Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is third in the SEC in blocks per set (1.24).
• South Carolina recorded 17 blocks vs. Eastern Kentucky, its most since recording 20 vs. St. Johns on Sept. 8, 2006.
• Sophomore middle blocker Jacqy Angermiller tallied a career-high 11 blocks (all block assists) vs. Eastern Kentucky, which is tied for the second most block assists in a five-set match in school history and the fourth most total blocks in a five-set match.
• Carolina has out-blocked its opponents in 19 of 27 matches. The Gamecocks are 12-7 in those matches.
• The Gamecocks have out-blocked opponents 156-101 in wins and 105-95 in losses.

Winning the Hitting Battle
• When outhitting opponents, the Gamecocks are 11-0 on the season.
• Carolina is outhitting opponents .249-.154 in wins and is being outhit .243-.153 in losses.
• In conference matches, the Gamecocks are being outhit .239-.196.
• The Gamecocks have held opponents to a below a .150 hitting percentage 10 times in 27 matches.
• Carolina has won four matches when being outhit, vs. Georgia Tech (.258-.269), vs. Ole Miss (.184-.189), vs. Auburn (.211-.221) and vs. Missouri (.358-.370).