Shields and Robinson Earn Postseason Conference Honors
Nov. 22, 2017
SHIELDS, ROBINSON HONORED BY SEC
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southeastern Conference announced its annual postseason awards on Wednesday morning. Sophomore Mikayla Shields was voted in to the 18-woman All-SEC team, and Mikayla Robinson earned a spot on the seven-woman All-Freshman team. South Carolina had not put a player on the all-conference team since 2013, but have had an all-freshman honoree for three-straight seasons.
Shields is the first Gamecock in program history to make an All-SEC team the year after earning All-Freshmen honors. The right side hitter from Orlando, Fla. Shields followed up a record-breaking freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign in 2017. She has increased her kills per set from 3.25 to 3.69, and already doubled her entire 2016 total for digs and ranks second on the team with a 2.44 average per set. Through 28 matches, she has 10 double-doubles, 10th in the SEC.
Shields has also reached some impressive career milestones in year two. On Nov. 8 against Missouri, she set a career high with 29 kills, and on Nov. 12 she broke 700 career kills. She is just the third sophomore in the program’s 45-year history to make it to 700 kills in just her first two seasons. The others were all-time kills leader Lori Rowe (in 1984), and current associate head coach Shonda Cole (in 2004). Shields now owns the freshman and sophomore record for kills in a season, and already ranks in the top ten for most career kills in the rally-scoring era. She is the first Gamecock to earn all-conference honors since Juliette Thévenin in 2013.
The Gamecocks knew they had a gem with the arrival of Mikayla Robinson this summer, and the freshman middle has developed into one of the top young blockers in the conference. She leads all SEC freshmen with 1.01 blocks per set. On a team level, her 108 total blocks are 39 more than any other Gamecock this season, and broke Megan Laughlin’s 2007 record for total blocks by a freshman. Also, her 16 solo blocks already ranks fifth in the rally-scoring era for a single season. She hasn’t just been strong defensively, as her 2.29 kills per set rank second on the team and she leads the team with a .318 hitting percentage.
The South Carolina volleyball team bookends the Thanksgiving holiday with a pair of matches to close out the 2017 regular season. The Gamecocks travel to Ole Miss Wednesday night for a 7:30 ET first serve, then wrap up the year with Senior Night Friday against Mississippi State at 7 p.m. The team will honor seniors Abreia Epps and Courtney McKeag prior to the start of the match.
