Ruprich Earns SEC Freshman of the Week Honors
The Michigan native totaled 16 kills and 19 blocks over two weekend road matches
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball’s Ellie Ruprich collected Freshman of the Week honors from the Southeastern Conference Monday afternoon. Over two matches at Georgia, the Beverly Hills, Mich. native led the team with 19 total blocks and added 16 kills over the team’s seven sets against the Bulldogs. She is the sixth Gamecock in program history to earn Freshman of the Week honors and continues the team’s momentum after it collected five weekly awards in 2019 – the most in a single season in program history.
“Ellie has been working really hard to be prepared to compete at this level and there’s still a lot of room for her to continue getting better,” head coach Tom Mendoza said. “We challenged her to be impactful and not blend into the match so I’m really happy for her that she was able to get off to such a great start.”
Ruprich kicked off her collegiate career with a solid weekend both as a blocker and attacker for South Carolina in a split weekend on the road at Georgia. In her debut match, Ruprich had a hand in nine of the team’s 14 total blocks over three sets in a sweep of the Bulldogs, also adding six kills with just one attacking error. The nine blocks ties her with Belita Salters (vs. Auburn, 10/21/2007) for most total blocks in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
She then achieved an impressive milestone early in her career on Sunday, bagging her first collegiate double-double behind 10 kills and 10 total blocks (three solo) in just four sets. It was the highest block total for a four-set match since 2016 for South Carolina and Ruprich is now one of just six Gamecocks to reach double-digit blocks in a match of any length dating back to 2008. For the series in Georgia, Ruprich’s 19 total blocks currently rank her fifth among SEC teams and leads all individuals, despite South Carolina playing just seven total sets. Her offensive numbers were equally strong over the two matches, as her .438 hitting percentage on 32 swings led the team and her 16 kills (2.29 per set) were fourth highest.
South Carolina (1-1) has a bye week coming up, then will open the home portion of the fall schedule with a midweek doubleheader against Auburn Oct. 28-29. Wednesday’s game will air nationally on SEC Network at 8 p.m. and Thursday will be on the SEC Network+ with a 4:30 p.m. first serve.
