Nov. 11, 2016
GAINESVILLE, FLA. – The South Carolina volleyball team dropped a three-set road match to No. 6 Florida Friday night, 13-25, 20-25, 15-25. The loss drops the Gamecocks to 17-8, 5-8 in the SEC, while Florida improves to 23-2, 13-1 SEC.
1st Set: The Gators built a quick lead on the back of their service, recording a pair of aces to take a 5-0 lead to begin the match. The Gamecocks were able to grab the reins back for a moment, using a 5-1 rally to cut the lead down to 10-8 before Florida pulled back ahead behind a number of unforced errors from South Carolina. In total, the Gamecocks allowed five aces and hit -.042 ââ’¬” despite the Gators getting zero blocks ââ’¬” to fall 25-13 in the opening game.
2nd Set: After totaling just two kills between them in the opening game, Dessaa Legros and Mikayla Shields rallied the offense with a strong performance in set two. Legros finished with four kills, Shields added three more and the visitors improved their attack efficiency to .257 in the game. Freshman Alicia Starr added some offensive parity with four kills out of the middle. Despite trailing for most of the early going, the Gamecocks fought back to an 18-all tie late thanks to a 5-1 run, but they allowed Florida to score the next six points to pull away for the 25-20 win and the 2-0 lead at halftime.
3rd Set: Florida was able to seal the win in the third set with a strong offensive showing, putting together its most efficient set of the night with a team hitting percentage of .432. The Gamecocks were scrapping on defense, but were not able to slow down Florida at the net. Legros paced the offense again in the third, finishing with five more kills ââ’¬” many coming off clever tips and tools.
Stat of the Match
The Gators out-aced the Gamecocks 8-0 for the night, and were able to keep South Carolina out of system on offense throughout the match. The last time the Gamecocks went a whole match without an ace was Oct. 15, 2014, coincidentally against Florida.
Notable
- Megan Kirkland’s 13 digs are tied for the most in a three-set match for Carolina this season.
- Koko Atoa-Williams was second on the team with 11 digs. It was her ninth match of the season with double digit digs. She had seven for the entire 2015 season.
- With her team-high 10 kills Friday, Dessaa Legros now has double digit kills in four of the last five matches.
Up Next
The Gamecocks return home to close out the weekend, hosting No. 21 Missouri Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. The match will offer a host of fun activities and deals for fans. It will be the program’s “daddy and daughter date day”, where for just $8, families can get two tickets to the match, a pre-game photo and a commemorative picture frame. Sunday will also be the MyCarolina Alumni Association Day, where fans with an alumni association card can get in to the match for just $1.
