Volleyball Preps for Road Test at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, MISS. – South Carolina volleyball aims to get back on track with a one-game week ahead of it, traveling Wednesday to Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2 SEC) for a 7 p.m. ET first serve. The Gamecocks enter week four of conference play with an overall record of 11-5 and a 3-3 record against SEC opponents. The match against the Bulldogs will air on the SEC Network+.

TENNESSEE SERIES NOTABLES

• Ellie Ruprich‘s four solo blocks in Friday’s opener is a career high for the sophomore, and ties her with Mikayla Robinson‘s game against UCF on Sept. 3 of this season as the only two Gamecocks in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) with four solo blocks in a four-set match. It is the ninth time overall since 2001 that a Gamecock had four solo blocks in a match of any length. 
• Kyla Manning‘s 20 kills Friday are the most for a Gamecock so far this season. She was also the last member of the team to reach 20 kills entering the night, coming on Jan. 30 of last season in five sets at Alabama.
• Friday was the 63rd time under head coach Tom Mendoza that the Gamecocks finished a match with a higher hitting percentage than their opponents; this is just the fourth time out of those 63 games where South Carolina lost.
• The only category the team did not enjoy an advantage on Friday was behind the service line. Tennessee had six aces and just five errors on serve, compared to two aces and eight errors for South Carolina.
• Four South Carolina individuals reached double-digits for kills (Manning, Robinson, McCutcheon, Whitesides) on Friday and all four hit over .300 as well.
• Tennessee entered the series holding opponents to a .148 hitting percentage for the season, which ranked 17th-best in the country, but South Carolina finished with a .311 hitting percentage on Friday and .293 on Saturday.
• Riley Whitesides‘ 13 kills on Saturday is tied for a season high, last coming in the season opener against Washington State. The sophomore also hit .391 in the game, her best of the year, giving her three games in a row with 10 or more kills and a hitting percentage over .300.
• Tennessee hit .376 for the match on Saturday, the highest percentage given up by the Gamecocks this season and highest by any opponent since Kentucky hit .418 on Nov. 15, 2019. Only two opponents have even cracked .300 so far in 16 games, the other being Santa Clara. 
• Manning saw her 10-game streak of double-digit kills snapped Saturday, as she finished with eight kills with a .261 hitting percentage.
• With her 23.5 points scored in the two games, Robinson vaulted up to eighth in program history for career points scored, now with 1406.5. She surpassed Kim DeNeve (1986-89) Saturday. Robinson also moved into the program’s career kills top 10 list as well, passing Berna Dwyer (1999-02) to stand with 1,121 in her time as a Gamecock.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs are enjoying a breakout year, with their 12 wins already just one shy of matching the highest total in head coach Julie Darty Dennis’ three-plus seasons at the helm. Those 12 wins include key victories over Power 5 opponents Oklahoma, Indiana and conference wins over Florida and LSU. 

The rise has been powered by a strong improvement on offense that ranks in the top half of the SEC in hitting percentage and kills. Leading the offense are pins Gabby Waden and Lauren Myrick, who each are nearing 200 kills for the year through 17 games. Waden remains one of the most efficient and productive hitters in the SEC, averaging 3.41 kills per set while committing just 23 errors over 175 attacks. Joining Waden and Myrick is breakout hitter Shania Cromartie, who is averaging over three points per set in conference play after playing sparingly as a freshman in 2020-21. On defense, the team ranks last in the SEC in blocks but still holds opponents under .200 in hitting percentage thanks to a back-line crew that features five individuals with 100 digs or more, led by libero Lilly Gunter (4.10 per set).

TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…

• The offense has enjoyed a lot of diversity. Four different hitters have at least 30 kills during this stretch, led by 67 for Kyla Manning (3.94 per set).
• Riley Whitesides has been on a hot streak, with double-digit kills in three straight games leading into the Mississippi State match. Along with her kill total, she also hit over .300 in those three games, boosting a hitting percentage that was at .153 before this streak.
• Ellie Ruprich has buoyed the team’s blocking numbers, her 29 blocks over the last five games account for more than half of the team’s 46 total blocks.
• The team is enjoying a strong run in the serve game, averaging 1.76 per set in this stretch. Four different individuals have five or more aces through the last five games, led by Lauren McCutcheon‘s eight.

JUST GETTING WARMED UP
Sophomore Ellie Ruprich had a memorable debut for the Gamecocks in a marathon 2020-21 season. She led the team with 84 blocks – the fourth most of any freshman in the country – and also hit .287 with 113 kills in 22 games played. The Beverly Hills, Mich. native may have had a slow start to 2021, but is heating up as SEC play hits a fever pitch. Through six conference games, Ruprich has 35 total blocks (8 solo) and ranks fifth overall in the SEC  with 1.59 blocks per set. She also has increased her offensive numbers, hitting .317 in SEC play with 35 kills in the six games. 

ACES UP THEIR SLEEVES
The Gamecocks had 10 service aces in each of its games in the series at Missouri; the last time the team had back-to-back games with double-digit aces was Sept. 1 and Sept. 4 in 2018, against Houston Baptist and Charlotte, respectively. The team had not seen this happen against SEC opponents since 2002, when sets went to 30 points instead of 25. Over the last two seasons, the team has reached double-digit aces in SEC matches four times. For reference, South Carolina racked up 10 or more aces against conference foes four times in TOTAL from 2007-18.

GAMECOCKS MAKE STATEMENT IN WEEK ONE
Fresh off a weekend where it recorded the nation’s only two wins over top-25 opponents by an unranked team, South Carolina volleyball joined the national polls on Aug. 30. The Gamecocks came in at No. 24 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) ranks, the first time the team made the top-25 since 2002. South Carolina last came in ranked in the national top-25 on Dec. 2, 2002, earning the No. 24 spot in a season where it finished with a 23-7 record and made the second round of the NCAA tournament. The team did earn a spot in the AVCA’s top-15 poll in November of last season, but the poll accounted for only the four conferences competing that fall. 

Individually, Mikayla Robinson and Lauren McCutcheon were recognized by the SEC for the contributions through the weekend. Robinson earned the conference’s Offensive Player and overall Player of the Week honors, and McCutcheon was tapped as Freshman of the Week.

ROBINSON COLLECTS TWO MILESTONES IN WEEK ONE
Along with earning the seventh weekly SEC award of her career, Mikayla Robinson also collected two major career milestones over the course of the opening weekend. Against Washington State, she broke the program record for career blocks in the rally-scoring era (now with 436), surpassing Darian Dozier (2012-15). Against Rice, she also recorded her 1,000th career kill, making her the 16th member of the program to reach the milestone. She is one of just four Gamecocks in the program’s 49-season history to have both 1,000 kills and 400 blocks in a career, the last coming in 1997 by future South Carolina hall of fame middle Heather Larkin.

GAMECOCKS WELCOME FIVE FRESHMEN TO COLUMBIA
All five of South Carolina’s 2021 freshman class have earned playing time already this fall.

Oby Anadi is a 6-3 middle blocker from Slidell, La. – the first recruit from Louisiana in the program’s modern era. As a senior, she led her high school to the quarterfinals of the state tournament and totaled 357 kills, 120 blocks and 39 service aces.

Morgan Carter is a defensive specialist who played her senior year of high school at Plano West  in Texas and with Madfrog Volleyball Club. Before the move to Texas, she was a four year varsity letter winner and earned two state championships will attending high school in Tennessee. 

Lauren McCutcheon comes to the program from the upstate, starring at J.L. Mann Academy in Greenville. McCutcheon already owns an impressive volleyball resume, making the all-state and AVCA all-region teams five times and earning Gatorade Player of the Year honors for South Carolina. Outside of high school volleyball, McCutcheon represented the United States as a member of the Deaf Volleyball National Team, winning gold at the 2019 Pan American Deaf Games. 

Emmy Rollins is another in-state star coming to Columbia, joining the team from West Florence High School. She made the all-state team twice and AVCA all-region team four times, also making the 2020 Under Armour Honorable Mention All-America team.

A native of Nashville, Tenn., Claire Wilson gives the team an imposing presence it has not had in many years, bring a 6-3 frame to the setter position. In her four seasons playing varsity, making the all-region team for each of her first three seasons and earning her region’s Most Valuable Player award as a senior.

CARTER STEPS INTO UNIQUE POSITION
Since the introduction of the libero position to NCAA volleyball in 2002, South Carolina has turned to a freshman to carry the role. Morgan Carter earned the job in the summer and has held her own as the season reaches its midpoint. Along with leading the team in digs for 13 of the 16 games to date this season, Carter also ranks third on the team with 233 serve receptions and has a .948 reception percentage.

The last true freshman to be the team’s main libero for a season was Dinelia Concepcion in 2005, but even then the team rotated the role among multiple players.

“Morgan brings that great combination of skill and calm to the position,” head coach Tom Mendoza said when announcing her signing last November. “She’s going to translate well to the college game, her ability to make plays look easy is exciting because that means that as the game speeds up she’s going to be able to handle that. I see a lot of good young liberos that are diving all over the place and Morgan has that athleticism but she also has the ability to make plays look easy and we’re really excited about that. She can make an impact right away, but we’re also excited for her long-term potential.”

FASTEST TO 50
Head coach Tom Mendoza earned his 50th win at South Carolina on Feb. 27 against No. 25 Missouri. He is the fastest Gamecock coach to reach 50 wins (based on the available records), including a faster start than the two winningest coaches in program history – Kim Williams (226 wins) and Bonnie Kenny (171). Mendoza won No. 50 in his 78th game with the team, compared to 82 for Kenny and 86 for Williams. The quick success stems from the team’s quick turnaround in SEC play; South Carolina has double-digit conference wins in each of Mendoza’s three seasons, the only other time that has happened in Gamecock history was from 2000-02 in Coach Williams’ eighth, ninth and tenth seasons in Columbia. 

Mendoza reached another milestone at the start of year four at South Carolina, winning his 100th career match as a head coach thanks to the upset of No. 18 Washington State on Aug. 27. He has a 63-37 mark with the Gamecocks and previously went 47-18 in two seasons at High Point.

STATUS QUO IN THE CLASSROOM
While the 2020-21 schedule was far from normal on the court, the Gamecocks were business as usual when it came to academics. The group finished the semester with a combined 3.55 GPA in the fall and 3.44 GPA in the spring. South Carolina is going on 12 consecutive seasons on the AVCA’s Team Academic Award list and have put double-digit student-athletes on the SEC’s Fall Academic Honor Roll for six years in a row. This all comes on top of an ambitious course load that spans the world-renowned business school and sports science fields and into engineering and education.

MCCUTCHEON CONTINUES FAMILY LEGACY IN THE GARNET AND BLACK
Freshman Lauren McCutcheon will be the next generation of Gamecock from her family as she begins her first season at South Carolina. The Simpsonville, S.C. native is the daughter of Jason Pomar and Kendra Stout; Jason played baseball and football at South Carolina, while Kendra played softball at Carolina. Her mother ranks fourth in program history for games played (259) and led the Gamecocks to the SEC championship and Women’s College World Series in 1997. Her father pitched for the Gamecocks, making 87 appearances over four seasons – tied for sixth in program history – and played for the football team during the 1996 season. Lauren brings an equally impressive resume to the team, having won the 2020-21 Gatorade South Carolina Volleyball Player of the Year award while playing high school ball at J.L. Mann Academy.

She joins two other children of prominent Gamecocks on the current roster. Mikayla Robinson is the daughter of Marcus Robinson, a former wide receiver for the football team who was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 1997 draft and played professionally in the NFL. Kyla Manning is the daughter of Barry Manning, who played in 121 games for the Gamecock men’s basketball team from 1989-92.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Of the 11 individuals who have played in 10 or more games so far this season, nine are in either their first or second seasons with the program and seven are freshmen or sophomores. That stands in stark contrast to the veteran presence of Mikayla Robinson, who has used her bonus season of eligibilty due to COVID to amass 130 career games and 479 sets played. Currently, she ranks 3rd in sets played and 5th in games played in the program’s 49-year history. The next closest member of the team when it comes to experience is senior Lauren Bowers, who has 190 sets played in 69 games.

SERVING UP A CHALLENGE
With so much of the game decided behind the service line, the Gamecocks will turn to a productive trio to keep the pressure on the opposition this fall. Last season, South Carolina had three individuals record 20 or more aces over the course of the team’s 22 matches. Camilla Covas led the way with 27 in 74 sets, followed closely by Mallory Dixon (26 in 84 sets) and Kyla Manning (24 in 84 sets). They combined for 71 percent of the team’s ace total last season; the last time the Gamecocks had three or more individuals averaging 0.25 aces per set or more in a single season was in 2005.

Some new names have joined the team’s arsenal of servers for the 2021 season, helping lead the team to an average of 1.47 aces per set through the first 16 games. At the top is freshman Lauren McCutcheon, who ranks fourth in the SEC with 0.39 aces per set with 22 aces and just 13 errors on serve. Also stepping up is Riley Whitesides, who already has surpassed her freshman year total and has 13 aces, and freshman libero Morgan Carter. Like her classmate McCutcheon, Carter has been effective (12 aces) but also efficient, committing only 16 errors so far this season. 

SERVICE (RECEPTION) WITH A SMILE
Despite a lineup that featured four new starters and a new libero, South Carolina still saw some promising numbers in the serve reception game in the 2020-21 season. As a team, the Gamecocks allowed 1.24 aces per set to their opponents in 2020-21, compared to 1.51 in 2019 and 1.34 in 2018. The team returns its top four passers from last season, a group that accounted for over 90 percent of the team’s total serve receptions. Highlighting the quartet is Kyla Manning, who was aced just five times total in 343 chances in 84 sets played. 

So far this season, the Gamecock passers have allowed 70 aces to opponents through 57 sets played (1.23 average) despite adding two freshmen to the passing rotation. Morgan Carter has a .948 reception percentage over 233 chances as a first-year libero, and fellow freshman Lauren McCutcheon has a .950 percentage in 298 receptions. Manning’s numbers have remained solid, her .966 reception percentage leads all passers and her 297 total receptions ranks second on the team.The serve game has been crucial and a major point of emphasis in coach Tom Mendoza‘s three seasons as head coach; the Gamecocks are just 17-27 when allowing more aces to opponents.

WILLIAMS JOINS 2021 HALL OF FAME CLASS
On Aug. 20, it was announced that ten new members have been elected to the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, including former volleyball head coach Kim Williams. Williams coached from 1993-2004 and helped put the program back on the map. She took her teams to the NCAA Tournament on six occasions while winning a school-record 236 matches. She posted a .630 winning percentage and recorded eight 20-win seasons. Highlighting her win total is a program-record 104 wins against SEC opponents; for comparison, the program overall has 218 wins in SEC play since joining the conference back in 1991. She was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 1997 and mentored 16 All-SEC team members, many of them collecting multiple honors. 

Since the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame was created in 1967, 197 members have been selected by the University of South Carolina Association of Lettermen. Williams and the nine other individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Thursday, October 14. The volleyball program already has four former players enshrined in the hall of fame – all four (Ashley Edlund, Heather Larkin, Cally Plummer and Shonda Cole) played for Williams during their time in Columbia.

SOPHOMORE CLASS READY FOR NEXT STEP in 2021
Despite a debut season filled with personal and global adversity, the 2020 freshmen class proved to be a key group in the team’s success all season long. Riley Whitesides and Ellie Ruprich started in the season opener and were mainstays in the lineup all year; Whitesides finished second on the team with 261 kills while playing in every single set over the 22 conference matches, earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times over the course of the season. Her 261 kills in SEC play is the most by a Gamecock freshman in a single conference season during the modern scoring era. Ruprich dominated at the net, leading the team with 84 blocks. That ranks third on South Carolina’s single-season conference-only record book and is the fourth-highest total by a Gamecock freshman in the rally-scoring era.

Not to be overshadowed, Caitlin Crawford and Kiune Fletcher saw their roles evolve as the season went on. Crawford came in as a serving specialist and ended with six aces and 30 digs while playing in 19 of the team’s 22 matches. Fletcher joined the team late after finding difficulty traveling from her home country of Trinidad and Tobago during the COVID-19 pandemic. After playing in just eight sets in the fall, she ended up seeing the court in nine spring matches.

Already this season, Whitesides ranks third on the team in kills and already set a new personal best in service aces (with 13). Ruprich is leading the team again in blocks, currently with 61, and is hitting .289 with 1.45 kills per set. Fletcher has worked her way into the rotation as a blocking specialist with a vastly improved offensive game, and Crawford continues to be a go-to serving option, playing in 12 of the 16 matches with 55 serve attempts and five aces.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES…

• Serving tough is a key factor in team victories; the Gamecocks are averaging 1.70 aces per set in their 11 wins. Three different individuals have double-digit aces in wins: Lauren McCutcheon (18), Riley Whitesides (12) and Morgan Carter (12).
• In the team’s six losses, opponents have not only been effective on serve, but efficient, with 32 aces (1.88 per set) but also just 36 total errors.
• The efficiency of Mikayla Robinson is a direct link to the team’s success; in the 11 wins, she is hitting .406 with 2.60 kills per set. In losses, those numbers drop to .229 and 2.00, respectively.
• On defense, Morgan Carter‘s success relates closely with the team’s success. The freshman libero averages 3.85 digs per set and has a .977 serve reception percentage in wins, but only 2.82 digs per set in losses with a .867 success rate in serve reception.
• The team averages 5.05 unforced errors (ball handling, blocking, serving, unblocked attack errors) per set in wins, 5.82 in losses. For comparison, opponents average 6.33 in Gamecock wins but that number plummets all the way down to 2.17 in Gamecock losses.

ALUMNA EARNS NATIONAL TEAM MEDAL
Fresh off a successful pro season in the Athletes Unlimited league, Taylor Bruns (2009-12) earned a call-up to the United States national team for the Pan American Cup (Sept. 13-19). The tournament put Team USA against Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The team made the medal round and defeated Canada on Sept. 19 to earn a bronze medal. Since graduating in 2013 with her degree in education, Bruns made a living playing professionally in Finland, Belgium, Sweden and Germany before joining Athletes Unlimited for its premiere season last summer. She ranks seventh in program history for career assists with 2,858.

MENDOZA’S TRENDING TOPICS
In Head Coach Tom Mendoza’s tenure with the team…

• Consistency is conference play has been key. The team is 36-28 in SEC play dating back to 2018, a win percentage of .563. Prior to Mendoza’s arrival, the Gamecocks did not have a winning record in conference play from 2009-2017. The last time the program had a winning SEC record in three consecutive seasons was 2000-2002.
• Home is where the heart is. The Gamecocks are 36-12 at the Carolina VB Center in Mendoza’s three-plus seasons. The team had lost five or more home matches for nine consecutive seasons before 2018.
• September has been the team’s best month, combining for a 25-5 mark. The highlight came in 2018 with a perfect 9-0 record in September, the first Gamecock squad since 1983 to do so.
• South Carolina steps up big on Sundays, with a combined 16-6 record on that day of the week.
• Start fast! The Gamecocks are 53-6 when winning the first set.
• In five-set matches, the team holds an 16-6 record. In the three years prior, the Gamecocks were just 7-8 in five-setters.
• The offense has out-hit opponents 63 times and have lost just fourtimes when recording a higher hitting percentage.
• Aces have been a key to victory; under Mendoza the Gamecocks are 47-8 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces.
• Finding success away from home is trending up. Under Mendoza, the Gamecocks are 27-23 in road or neutral matches. In the five seasons prior to that, they were 30-46 (.395). In 2019 the team’s combined record away from home was 10-9, the first time being over .500 away from home in back-to-back seasons since 2001-02.

ALL TIME RECORDS

• South Carolina holds an 860-665 (.564) all-time record, dating back to 1973. The team’s 800th win came on Aug. 25, 2018 against Clemson.
• The Gamecocks joined the SEC for volleyball in 1991, and have an all-time conference record of 219-288 (.432) in the 31st season as a member. The 200th SEC win came on Nov. 8, 2019 at Mississippi State.
• The team has a 17-14 overall record in the opening game of SEC play.
• In matches in the Carolina Volleyball Center, Carolina is 226-123 (.649) overall and 117-105 (.530) in SEC matches. The CVC’s 200th win came on Nov. 16, 2018 against Ole Miss.
• Tom Mendoza became the program’s 13th head coach on Jan. 3, 2018. This is his fifth season overall as a head coach, with a career record of 110-55 and a record of 63-37 at South Carolina. He has led his respective teams to the NCAA tournament in four of his five total years as a head coach.