Gamecocks Drop Five-Set Battle at Ole Miss

OXFORD, MISS. – South Carolina came out on the wrong side of a fierce match at Ole Miss Friday night, losing in five sets to the Rebels (16-5, 5-5 SEC). The Gamecocks have a 12-9 overall record now and 4-7 mark in conference play. The team had a number of standout individual efforts, including 21 kills from Kyla Manning and a career-high 12 blocks by Ellie Ruprich.
 
SET ONE: A slow start on the road didn’t phase the Gamecocks in the opening game, as South Carolina erased a fast start from Ole Miss and won the opener, 25-22. The Rebels ran off a 9-2 start to the match, using six kills in that span to overpower Carolina. The Gamecocks responded with an efficient offense and strong net defense to get back in the game, finishing with just three total errors and a .314 team hitting percentage. Ole Miss’ offense fell back to earth after a big start, the Rebels had nine total attack errors with South Carolina getting five blocks. Ellie Ruprich was pivotal at the net, totaling four blocks (two solo) that also included the set-clinching point for the team.
 
South Carolina didn’t have a single game-changing run to get back into contention, but kept consistent pressure and was able to catch a break late. Down 18-15, a 4-0 run helped the team take its first lead of the set, and even after a pair of Ole Miss points put the home side back in front the Gamecocks kept pressing. A kill from Claire Wilson followed by two solo stuffs from Ruprich sparked the team late, with a pair of unforced errors by Ole Miss helping push the Gamecocks across the finish line.
 
SET TWO: Ole Miss was able to pull even with a 26-24 win in the second, denying South Carolina a set point opportunity at 24-23 with three unanswered points. Kyla Manning accounted for half of the team’s 14 kills, but the offense was dwarfed by an Ole Miss attack that enjoyed a .368 to .220 advantage in hitting percentage for the set. South Carolina led early, pushing ahead by six at 16-10 before Ole Miss started to work back into contention thanks to its offense. Out of that 16-10 score, the Rebels used five kills and three unforced errors from South Carolina to tie the set back up at 21. A kill from Mikayla Robinson gave the team a 24-23 advantage late, but three consecutive kills from Ole Miss ended it.
 
SET THREE: After a strong showing from its offense, Ole Miss’ defense was its strength in a third set where the home side won 25-18 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. The Rebels used four blocks in a 7-1 run that blew the set wide open and pushed them out to a 20-11 lead and the Gamecocks would get no closer than five points the rest of the way. South Carolina’s offense ended up with just nine total kills and a .030 hitting percentage thanks to six blocks by the Rebels, who had their offense finish with its worst production of the night to that point (12 kills, .167 hitting percentage).
 
SET FOUR: The offense quickly responded in the fourth for Carolina, matching the entire set three total for kills within its first 15 points. The Gamecocks claimed a 15-10 lead at the TV timeout thanks to a .400 hitting percentage and nine kills, but also getting a big lift from the back line of the defense. The team reached 10 digs before scoring their 15^th point, slowing down a Rebel offense that was red-hot in the third. With their backs against the wall, the Gamecocks turned to Robinson to lead the comeback effort. The veteran middle totaled five kills in the set, anchoring an offense that had a match-high 16 kills and hit .342. South Carolina led from wire-to-wire, finishing on a 4-0 run to win 25-17 and send the match to a final game.
 
SET FIVE: Unforced errors put the Gamecocks on the defensive early in the set, three of Ole Miss’ first four points came from errors by Carolina and the Rebels claimed a 4-1 advantage from the jump. South Carolina answered back and were able to trim the deficit to 6-5, but three unanswered points pushed the home side back ahead comfortably. The Gamecocks used a pair of kills from Manning and a kill from Robinson to spark a 3-0 run that tied the set at 13, but the Rebels closed out the night with back-to-back kills for a 15-13 final score. 
 
NOTABLE

• With her five solo blocks in the match, Ellie Ruprich passed 20 solo blocks for the season. She is just the fifth Gamecock in the rally-scoring era with 20, joining Mikayla Robinson in 2018 and 2019 and Belita Salters and Megan Laughlin in 2007.
• In the career record book, Ruprich’s new total of 37 solo blocks already puts the sophomore ninth in the rally-scoring era.
• Ruprich finished the night with 12 total blocks. The last Gamecock to reach double-digit blocks was also Ruprich, who accomplished the feat in her second career game last season at Georgia (10/18). Her total Friday is a career high and her five solo blocks are tied for the most in a five-set match in the rally-scoring era.
• Kyla Manning finished with the team lead in kills, with a season-high 21, it is her 14^th time in 21 games leading the offense on the attack.
• Robinson’s 14 kills marks her ninth match with double-digit kills so far this season.
• Morgan Carter returned to the court and gave the defense a boost off the bench. The freshman entered in the fourth set at the libero and finished the match with a team-high 15 digs in just the two sets of action.
• Claire Wilson reached 50 assists in the match, she is the first Gamecock setter since Aug. 31, 2019 (Courtney Koehler, 55 vs. Cleveland St.) to reach the mark.

UP NEXT
The two teams play again at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 30. The rematch can also be watched on the SEC Network+.