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Volleyball Caps Perfect Weekend With Sweep of Colgate
Women's Volleyball  . 

Volleyball Caps Perfect Weekend With Sweep of Colgate

The defense held the Raiders to a .031 attack percentage in the match

COLLEGE PARK, MD. – South Carolina volleyball ran its win streak to five matches after a 3-0 sweep of Colgate (3-6) Sunday afternoon. The win improves the Gamecocks’ record to 9-1 for the season and clinched the overall title at the Maryland Invite. 
 
SET 1: The Gamecocks would not trail in the opening game, but had to fend off a late rally from the Raiders to get the 27-25 win. The Carolina defense would be the key in a game where both teams hit under .150, as Courtney Koehler and Mikayla Robinson teamed up for a pair of blocks and Claire Edwards and Brittany McLean added another to limit Colgate to a .116 attack rate. On the offensive side, three different hitter contributed two or more kills for the Gamecocks, led by three on just six swings from Mikayla Shields and four kills from McLean. The Raiders denied four straight set points late and tied the set up at 24, but back-to-back kills from Robinson and Shields would clinch the win.
 
SET 2: Colgate responded with a big run early in the second, quickly erasing a 12-7 lead for Carolina and pulling ahead 18-15 to force a timeout from the Gamecocks. Out of the break, the Garnet and Black went on a 6-0 run behind the serve of Aubrey Ezell to take the lead back for good in a 25-20 win. Ezell had two aces in the key stretch, and the Gamecock defense held the Raiders to a negative hitting percentage to turn the tide and get the key 2-0 lead. Offensively, Edwards and Shields each pitched in four kills, and Courtney Furlong came off the bench with three kills on three swings.
 
SET 3: South Carolina’s offense was rolling in the third, out-hitting Colgate .345 to -.043 to close the match with a convincing 25-12 decision. Furlong had the hot arm in the set, putting away four kills to lead the efficient offense. Shields also had four kills, putting her at a team-high 11 for the afternoon, and recorded a pair of service aces in the third as well.
 
NOTABLE

  • Along with her two service aces, Ezell led the team with 17 digs for the match. Over the three weekend matches, the senior libero averaged 4.45 digs per set.
  • The team’s starting middles, Edwards and Robinson, combined to average 4.54 kills and 2.18 blocks per set over the weekend.
  • Furlong’s seven kills are a season high, and her .545 hitting percentage is the highest since Nov. 6, 2016 against Georgia.
  • The Gamecocks were only aced by Colgate twice Saturday, its lowest amount of reception errors since their win over ETSU on Aug. 24. Conversely, Carolina now has at least six service aces in all but one of its 10 matches this season.

UP NEXT: One more weekend remains in the nonconference schedule, the Gamecocks will rest up before heading back to the mid-Atlantic for a tournament in Richmond, Virginia next weekend. South Carolina will play Toledo on Friday, Sept. 14, then takes on Virginia and host VCU on Saturday.