Gamecocks Fall in Five to LSU

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina dropped its fourth game in a row Wednesday night, losing in heartbreaking fashion to LSU (8-11, 4-6 SEC) in five sets. The Gamecocks (11-7, 3-5 SEC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but saw their passing get exposed by the Tiger serve game and hit just .059 in the final three sets. Three Carolina attackers reached double-figure kills, led by Kyla Manning’s 16.
 
SET ONE: The opening game would be a battle that featured 14 ties and nine lead changes, but the Gamecocks were able to gut out a 25-23 win. Neither side would enjoy strong offensive numbers, with LSU hitting just .062 and the Gamecocks .220. The Tigers stayed close thanks to its serve game, racking up four aces with just one error while South Carolina had three errors to just one ace. The Gamecocks used a 4-0 run early to take a 15-12 lead and were able to extend that out to a 21-17 lead before LSU countered with a 5-0 burst that suddenly gave the visitors a chance to take the opener. Manning carried the team to the finish line, though, with three kills among the final four points in the set. 
 
SET TWO: LSU took a big early lead, but South Carolina’s best offensive set of the night would be more than enough to turn the tide in what ended as a 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead for the Gamecocks. Riley Whitesides and Ellie Ruprich combined for 10 of the team’s 18 kills and the offense out-hit the Tigers .424 to .214 overall. LSU’s 10-4 lead early was eroded by a 7-1 run behind the serve of Morgan Carter, with Whitesides accounting for three kills in that span. The serve game appeared to put LSU back in the driver’s seat late, as back-to-back aces gave the Tigers a 20-18 lead, but a pair of Whitesides kills sparked a 7-1 run to close out the game.
 
SET THREE: South Carolina’s offense took a turn in the third, scoring only 16 points in a 25-16 loss to keep LSU in the match. The Gamecocks hit .062 with 10 kills while allowing the Tigers to put together their best set to that point with a .393 mark and 14 kills. The team was able to again battle back from an early LSU advantage to tie the set back up at 10-10, but then lost 13 of the next 17 points.
 
SET FOUR: The fourth would be a similar scenario, South Carolina was out-hit .429 to .097 and gave up an 18-8 kill advantage to the Tigers as LSU won 25-18 to force a fifth set. LSU again took a quick lead, using an 8-0 run to lead off the set, and the Gamecocks were unable to get the firepower to answer back.
 
SET FIVE: LSU’s net defense ensured the visiting side’s comeback would be completed; the Tigers had a game-high five blocks in the fifth set to win it 15-12 and close the match. The Gamecocks were never able to find sure footing, but were able to tie the score seven times and were even able to take a quick 8-7 lead before yielding three unanswered points to LSU. South Carolina tied it up one last time at 10-10 but gave up four of the next five points and were not able to threaten again.
 
QUOTABLE
Head coach Tom Mendoza on helping the team bounce back from its losing streak
We’re going to try to find ways to help our players, it’s our job as coaches to keep helping them keep getting better as players regardless of whether we’re prepping for a match or not. It’s also, the team’s decision to make to bring consistent energy and focus and perform to the level that we’re capable of and be aggressive. I think that was, for me, that was the most disappointing thing about tonight. Not necessarily the loss but I thought our third set was probably one of the more passive sets we played. 
 
You’re up 2-0 at home with a chance to get an important win and we tipped a lot of balls in a really passive way. Again, part of that was our first and second contacts putting our hitters in good situations, part of that was needing to have the courage in those situations to just go and trust your abilities and hope that you’re going to make good things happen and if not that your teammates are going to pick you up. Instead, we were passing up opportunities a little too much and LSU was taking advantage of that. 
 
UP NEXT
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.