Gamecocks Lose at Mississippi State, 3-1

STARKVILLE, MISS. – Mississippi State (13-5, 4-2 SEC) snapped a five-game losing streak to South Carolina (11-6, 3-4 SEC) with a four-set win on Wednesday night in its home gym. The Gamecocks got off to a slow start and were on the wrong end of two deuce-set scores, falling 25-23, 26-24, 18-25, 25-22. Three Gamecocks were in double figures for kills, led by Kyla Manning’s 16.
 
SET ONE: The Bulldogs jumped out to a big lead early, as South Carolina recorded just one kill and committed three errors on its first 12 swings to fall behind 11-3. Lauren McCutcheon helped wake the team up, getting a pair of kills and two big blocks that were part of a stretch that cut that deficit down to 15-11. 
 
Mississippi State’s offense was red-hot in the set, hitting .405 with a 19-11 advantage in kills, but wasn’t able to build big runs due to a slew of service errors. Missed serves accounted for five of South Carolina’s first 13 points in the set, and following a 4-1 burst from the Gamecocks it would soon be just a 21-20 lead for the home side. State was able to side out and get set point at 24-21, eventually closing out the win at 25-23.  
 
SET TWO: Both offenses would be firing early, each hitting over .400 with just one total error in the first 25 combined points. Mississippi State broke away from a 10-10 tie with a 5-2 run leading into the media timeout and followed a similar script to the end of the first, keeping the Gamecocks from making any serious runs. 
 
South Carolina got within one three times, at 15-14, 18-17 and 21-20, finally breaking through with a game-tying kill from Mikayla Robinson to make it 21-all and cap off a 3-0 run. After tie scores at 22 and 23, a Bulldog attack error gave the Gamecocks the first set point opportunity at 24-23 but it would be denied. A Carolina attack error gave State its first set chance and it would close it for a 26-24 score and a 2-0 lead.
 
SET THREE: The offensive rhythm that South Carolina was able to foster in the second set carried over to the third, as a red-hot attack pushed the team into the lead early and kept it there. Holding a 15-14 lead at the TV timeout, the Gamecocks scored the next five points out of the break for their largest lead of the night and cruised to the 25-18 win. The team finished with a .500 hitting percentage, committing just one attack error in total over 24 swings. The Bulldogs were plagued by errors in the game, with four more service errors and six more errors on the attack.
 
SET FOUR: Needing one more game to push the match to its limit, both sides were fighting early and often for an advantage. Neither side would hold a lead larger than two points until the final tally, with the Bulldogs taking it 25-22. The Gamecocks were first to 20, using a big block from McCutcheon and a kill from Kiune Fletcher to make it a 20-18 advantage, but State countered with a 3-0 run that gave it back the lead. 
 
A McCutcheon kill and MSU error put South Carolina ahead 22-21, but the Bulldogs scored the last four points to finish the match off. Unforced errors haunted the Gamecocks in the fourth, with four unforced attacking errors in just the last 10 points scored by the Bulldogs and seven overall, leading to a team hitting percentage of just .081. Those seven errors match the team’s total from the first three sets combined.
 
NOTABLE

• South Carolina had an 11-3 advantage in blocks and 4-2 advantage in service aces for the match, but allowed 14 more kills to the Bulldog offense.
• Wednesday night was Kyla Manning’s sixth game of the year with 15 or more kills. The senior led the team with 16.
• Mikayla Robinson reached double-digit kills for the seventh time this season, she also finished with a .471 hitting percentage.
• Freshman setter Claire Wilson took her first collegiate serves and recorded an ace that added to her two kills, four digs and 13 assists. 

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will have their longest break of the season to date coming up, with a full seven days before their next match. It will be a busy week once they’re back in action, though, with a stretch of three games in five days. The schedule starts with a home game against LSU on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. After that, Carolina will remain home for a Saturday/Sunday series against Alabama. The opener with the Crimson Tide will be at 3 p.m. with the rematch on Sunday at 12 p.m.