Volleyball Hosts Alabama in Weekend Series

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball wraps up a three-game home stand this weekend, hosting Alabama on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The team is aiming to break up a four-game losing streak, its longest of the year, and improve on an 11-7 overall record and 3-5 mark in SEC play. Saturday’s opener against Alabama (9-10, 1-6 SEC) has a 3 p.m. first serve and Sunday’s finale with the Tide has a noon first serve. Sunday against Alabama will be on the SEC Network, Saturday is on the SEC Network+.

Fans can wear their Halloween costume to the match (please, no masks or weapons will be allowed in) and it will be a camper reunion day on Sunday. Any participant of a team camp going back to 2019 can receive free admission to the match and accompanying adults can get a ticket for $3.

LSU MATCH NOTABLES

• This is the first loss by the home team in the last six games in the series between the two teams.
• South Carolina’s current four-game losing streak is tied for the longest in head coach Tom Mendoza‘s four seasons leading the program.
• Wednesday night was the first time in eight years that the Gamecocks lost a match after winning the first two sets. It last happened on Sept. 7, 2013 against Winthrop. The Gamecocks were 9-1 this season when winning the opening set of a match.
• LSU’s 15 total blocks is tied with Georgia (9/22) for the most by a Gamecock opponent this season.
• The Tigers entered the match ranked last in the country for aces per set, but ended the night with 10 aces – the second-most for a Gamecock opponent this season.
• Mallory Dixon surpassed 1,000 career assists at South Carolina after finishing with 22 in the match against LSU. Dixon is the 10th member of the program to reach 1,000 assists in the rally scoring era.
• Mikayla Robinson continued to move up the all-time kills list for South Carolina; her seven kills on Wednesday night moved her past Ivana Kujundzic (2006-09) for ninth place in program history for a career (now with 1,138).
• Kyla Manning‘s 52 attacks are a season high for any Gamecock and gives her back-to-back games with 50 or more swings. She led the offense with 16 kills and now has seven games with 15 or more kills. Of those seven instances, four have come in the last five matches.
• Lauren McCutcheon filled the box score, leaving no zeroes with 12 kills, three blocks, 10 digs, a service ace and an assist. The freshman took a season-high 39 swings as well, eight more than her previous high for the fall.
• Thanks to a six-kill second set, Riley Whitesides finished with 10 kills. The sophomore has double-digit kills in four of her last five matches.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
Alabama picked up its first SEC win of the season on Oct. 13, defeating Missouri on the road in five sets. The Tide have struggled to find efficiency on offense so far in 2021, hitting dead last in the SEC with a mark of .179 as a team. Help is on the way, though, as Abby Marjama returned after a three-game absence and played in the win at Missouri and had eight kills in the loss at Florida on Wednesday night. Despite her time away, the senior pin still ranks second on the team in points and leads the SEC in aces per set, owning a dominant serve that ranks her 31st in the country with 31 total aces and just 20 errors. Another key contributor Alabama is looking to get back in the lineup is libero Dru Kuck. She left the lineup on Sept. 25 but still has almost 100 more digs than any other member of the team and ranks third in the SEC with 4.74 digs per set.

In its seven conference matches so far the team has five hitters with 40 or more kills, led by junior Kennedy Muckelroy’s 68, but four of the five are hitting under .160. On defense, the back line has been strong, averaging 14.14 digs per set and just 28 receiving errors in 28 sets of SEC play. The net defense has struggled, though, averaging just 1.21 blocks per set while allowing opponents to hit .264 in the seven conference games.

TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…

• In two of the last four games, South Carolina finished with a higher hitting percentage than its opponent but still lost. Including this stretch, the team has out-hit the opposition 64 times under coach Tom Mendoza and has lost only five times.
• The offense has enjoyed a lot of diversity. Four different hitters have at least 40 kills during this stretch, led by 78 for Kyla Manning (3.90 per set), who has 15 or more kills in four of the last five games.
• Riley Whitesides has been incredibly efficient, hitting .327 with 10 or more kills in this stretch.
• The team’s blocking numbers have been spread around, with four individuals in double figures over the last five games. Mikayla Robinson leads the way with 21 total blocks (five solo).
• The team is losing the serve game, giving up more aces to opponents while also committing more errors behind the line.
• Opponents are hitting .280 thanks to a slump from the team’s back-line defense. The group is averaging just 11.45 digs per set to pull down the team’s season average to 12.53, which ranks last in the SEC and 309th in the country.

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 eight conference games, Ruprich has 39 total blocks (8 solo). She also has increased her offensive numbers, hitting .327 in SEC play with 45 kills in the eight 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.

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.

TRACKING THE NON-CONFERENCE FIELD
South Carolina put together a challenging schedule of non-conference opponents to start off the 2021 season, with a group that featured five teams that made the 2020-21 NCAA tournament and two others that made the 2019 tournament. Now in the heart of conference play, the nine non-conference teams have a combined record of 110-57 (.659) and five of them are currently in the top 50 of the RPI rankings. 

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 15 of the 18 games to date this season, Carter also ranks third on the team with 299 serve receptions and has a .936 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 63-39 mark with the Gamecocks and previously went 47-18 in two seasons at High Point.

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 132 career games and 488 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 196 sets played in 71 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 seventh in the SEC with 0.35 aces per set with 23 aces and just 17 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 18 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 82 aces to opponents through 66 sets played (1.24 average) despite adding two freshmen to the passing rotation. Morgan Carter has a .936 reception percentage over 299 chances as a first-year libero, and fellow freshman Lauren McCutcheon has a .948 percentage in 330 receptions. Manning’s numbers have remained solid, her .969 reception percentage leads all passers and her 354 total receptions also leads 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 17-28 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. 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 TAKING 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 65, and is hitting .276 with 1.40 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, the serving number almost completely flips. Opponents have not only been effective on serve, but efficient, with 44 aces (1.69 per set) but also just 61 total errors. South Carolina has only 26 aces in the six losses (1.00 per set) with 55 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 .292 and 1.96, 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 3.04 digs per set in losses with a .881 success rate in serve reception.
• The team averages just 11.38 digs per set in losses, allowing opponents to hit .291 with over two kills per set more than the Gamecock offense.

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 36-30 in SEC play dating back to 2018, a win percentage of .545. 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 36-13 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 53-7 when winning the first set.
• In five-set matches, the team holds an 16-7 record. In the three years prior, the Gamecocks were just 7-8 in five-setters.
• The offense has out-hit opponents 64 times and have lost just five times when recording a higher hitting percentage.
• Aces have been a key to victory; under Mendoza the Gamecocks are 47-9 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces.
• Finding success away from home is trending up. Under Mendoza, the Gamecocks are 27-24 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 860-667 (.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 219-290 (.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 226-124 (.649) overall and 117-106 (.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 110-57 and a record of 63-39 at South Carolina. He has led his respective teams to the NCAA tournament in four of his five total years as a head coach.