Sept. 21, 2016
COLUMBIA, MO. – The South Carolina volleyball team opened the SEC season Wednesday night at Missouri (10-3, 1-0 SEC), and the Gamecocks (12-1, 0-1) saw their 12-match win streak ended in a 3-0 decision.
1st Set: The Gamecocks were tentative on the attack early in the first set, resorting to tips a rolls and Missouri built an early lead it would never give back. South Carolina hit .026 as a team in the set, with a pair of kills from Mikayla Shields and Koko Atoa-Williams accounting for half the team’s output in the game.
2nd Set: A pair of early blocks gave Carolina the lead to start off the second set, but the Tigers used a 9-2 run to take back the lead at 12-9 and carried it through the media timeout at 15-11. The Gamecocks weren’t able to string together a run to cut back into the lead, and Missouri pulled away for the 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
3rd Set: The offense found its swing to start the third, but Missouri was countered with tough service to grab the early lead. The Tigers had four aces in their first 12 points of the set, three from Melanie Crow, and used a 5-1 run behind her serve to get early distance on Carolina, 12-7. While South Carolina had a vastly improved hitting percentage in the third, Missouri would be even better. The Tigers got kills on 11 of their first 12 swings in the game (.917) and did not commit a single attack error in the set. The home side pushed its lead up to ten, 23-13, and closed out the match 25-16.
Stat of the Match
Missouri hit .367 for the match, committing just nine errors total. It was the highest hitting percentage for an opponent since Florida on Oct. 30, 2015. The previous high for an opponent this season was .255, shared by Furman and Clemson.
Notable
- Dessaa Legros and Koko Atoa-Williams each finished with two solo blocks, tying career highs for both seniors.
- Missouri natives Alicia Starr and Emma Lock each saw time in Wednesday’s match. Starr had four kills and an ace, Lock played on the back row defense.
- Missouri finished with eight service aces, the most by a Gamecock opponent since UT-Martin had nine on Aug. 27.
Up Next
The Gamecocks have an entire week to prepare for their conference home opener, as the team welcomes in Tennessee on Sept. 28 for another nationally televised affair. First serve against the Volunteers is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET, airing live on ESPNU.
