Oct. 21, 2016
LEXINGTON, KY. – South Carolina volleyball wrapped up a three-match road swing Friday night, taking on No. 21 Kentucky in Lexington. The Wildcats earned the win in three sets, 25-11, 25-20, 31-29 to run their winning streak to 13 and improve to 16-4 overall (9-0 SEC) for 2016. The Gamecocks fall back to 14-6, 2-6 in conference play.
1st Set: Kentucky built a strong lead early off its service, going up 7-1 to force the Gamecocks into a timeout. The Wildcat front line defense bottled up the South Carolina attack, blocking down three balls within their first eight points of the game and held the Gamecocks to a negative hitting percentage to cruise to the 1-0 match lead, 25-11.
2nd Set: The Gamecocks got back on the right track for set number two, surpassing their kill total from the first set just eight swings into the frame and forced Kentucky into a timeout after running out to a 5-0 lead. Kentucky would chip away at the Carolina lead, but still trailed 15-11 at the mid-way point of the game.
Kentucky went on an 8-2 run from that point to take its first lead in the set, spurred on by its freshman Leah Edmond, who accounted for four kills and a block during the run and had seven kills total in the second set. South Carolina could not swing back the momentum after the run, and the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead into halftime, 25-20. Mikayla Shields had five kills in the set, and the Gamecocks as a team hit .342.
3rd Set: Needing a rally to play on, the Gamecocks played scrappy and brought out the block to negate an early Kentucky lead. With the home side ahead 10-7, South Carolina used a 7-1 run to pull ahead, and blocks from Shields, Jacqy Angermiller and Alicia Starr pushed Carolina’s advantage to 16-12. Kentucky turned to its net defense to keep close, and the set would be tied back up at 20, 22, 23 before an Edmond kill gave Kentucky match point.
The Gamecocks rallied again, getting kills from Koko Atoa-Williams and Shields to put them on set point serve, 25-24, but similar to the third set back in Columbia on Oct. 2, the game would extend far beyond 25 points. That would come to hurt the Gamecocks, who ran out of subs and were forced to keep defensive specialist Joely Cabrera in the front row. Carolina had set point at 25, 27 and 29, but could not close it out with the smaller defense up front. Kentucky went up 30-29 after a block, then a bad set clinched the sweep for the home side.
Stat of the Match
The Gamecocks weren’t able to contain Kentucky middle Kaz Brown, who finished the night with 17 kills on 20 swings (.800). Brown had just 11 kills and hit .227 in the first meeting between the two teams (on Oct. 2).
Notable
- Mikayla Shields finished the night with 12 kills and a .393 hitting percentage. She also matched a season high with five block assists.
- Jacqy Angermiller had 24 attacks, a new season high. Her previous best was 19 over five sets at Georgia Southern.
- Koko Atoa-Williams continued her strong defensive play from last Sunday’s match at LSU, totaling 13 digs against Kentucky, the most for her in a three-set match this season.
- Despite getting just three kills in the first set, the Gamecocks finished with 41 kills in the match, the fourth-most in any three setter this season and the most of any SEC three-set match.
Up Next
Without a Sunday match on the schedule, the Gamecocks now have a full week to prepare for their next match. The team returns to the CVC on Oct. 28 for a 7 p.m. match against LSU. The rematch with the Tigers will be Carolina’s annual Dig Pink match and also is the team’s Alumni Night.
