Gamecocks Sweep Winthrop in Thursday Night Match

ROCK HILL, S.C. – South Carolina swept Winthrop Thursday night on the road, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21. The Gamecocks improve to 7-2 for the season. Lauren McCutcheon and Kyla Manning both reached double figures for kills and digs and the defense limited the Eagles to a .137 hitting percentage for the night.
 
SET ONE: South Carolina executed its offense efficiently in the opening set, out-hitting Winthrop to .286 to .083 and taking the game by a score of 25-18. The Eagle offense was high-error, committing eight despite the Gamecocks recording just one block on defense. Mikayla Robinson and Kyla Manning led the team with four kills each, with Robinson needing just five swings to reach her total.
 
SET TWO: The Gamecocks led wire-to-wire in the second set, recording another 25-18 score for the 2-0 set lead. The offense enjoyed its bet set of the match, totaling 16 kills while hitting .304. South Carolina’s defense remained strong, piling up 22 digs to force Winthrop to take 48 swings to get to its 13 kills in the set. Manning and Lauren McCutcheon led the way with five kills each and committed just one error between them. McCutcheon also added seven digs in the set.
 
SET THREE: It took a marathon to settle the final frame, as the two teams combined for over 100 attacks and 54 digs before the Gamecocks came away with a 25-21 score to clinch the sweep. Winthrop managed to carry a modest lead early in the game, 11-9, but a 3-0 run behind the serve of Janna Schlageter flipped the scoreboard for the rest of the way in South Carolina’s favor. Kills would be hard to come by, with the Gamecocks finishing with only 11 but McCutcheon remained efficient with four more kills and hitting .308 in the set.
 
NOTABLE

• The last time South Carolina had three individuals with double-doubles was against Auburn on Oct. 29 of last season.
• The team’s 61 total digs is the second-highest total of the season for a match of any length. Four different Gamecocks reached double figures for digs, led by 15 for Morgan Carter.
• South Carolina’s offense committed just nine attacking errors in the match, compared to 21 for Winthrop. There were only five blocks total by the two teams Thursday night.

UP NEXT
The team returns home for a Saturday match against High Point at 4 p.m. which will mark the final non-conference match of the fall. The Panthers entered the week at 6-4 and have a pair of matches against Furman and Kennesaw State before coming to the Carolina Volleyball Center on Saturday.