Volleyball Celebrates Senior Class in Friday Season Finale

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball closes the 2021 regular season at home Friday night, hosting Arkansas (18-10, 9-8 SEC) for a 7 p.m. match. The Gamecocks will honor their five-woman senior class prior to the match, recognizing Lauren Bowers, Mallory Dixon, Kyla Manning, Mikayla Robinson and Courtney Weber.

Fans can follow the action on the SEC Network+, or take advantage of the Family Fun Friday deal where the purchase of one adult ticket comes with a free ticket for kids 17 and younger.

SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters Friday’s finale on the hunt for another key win to bolster its postseason tournament resume. The Razorbacks are 18-10 with a RPI of 46, coming close with a five-set loss to Florida and back-to-back 3-2 losses to Kentucky so far in the conference season. The offense leans heavily on Jillian Gillen, who accounts for almost a third of the team’s total attacks and ranks 13th nationally with 12.02 attacks per set. She leads the team with 4.09 kills per set, an average that sits second overall in the SEC. Also in the top-10 in the SEC for kills is sophomore Taylor Head, who averages just under 10 attacks per set and ranks 7th in the SEC with 3.58 kills per set. Combined, the pair are responsible for 57 percent of the team’s total swings through 28 games. 

On defense, Arkansas ranks towards the bottom of the conference with 1.96 blocks per set, but enjoy one of the best transition defenses with a back line that averages 15.24 digs per set. Five different Razorback defenders have 200 or more digs, led by libero Courtney Jackson’s 361. Aiding the defense is the SEC’s best serve game, which averages 1.58 aces per set while being aced just 101 times in 107 sets so far this season.

ROBINSON TO MISS REMAINDER OF 2021 SEASON
Senior Mikayla Robinson will miss the remainder of the 2021 season with an injury suffered Oct. 30 at Ole Miss, head coach Tom Mendoza announced on Monday, Nov. 1. The injury marks an end to a prolific, record-setting career, with Robinson serving as a focal point in one of the most successful periods in South Carolina’s 49-year history.

The list of personal accolades is long for Robinson, who followed in her father Marcus’ footsteps to become a standout student-athlete in Columbia. The middle blocker stands as one of just four women in program history to eclipse 1,000 kills and 400 total blocks, and in the modern-scoring era (since 2001) she is also in the top-10 in eight different career statistical categories. Most notably among them, she is number one for career blocks (496), games played (136) and is one of two Gamecocks ever to play in 500 sets for a career.

That production on offense and defense helped power a complete turnaround for the Gamecocks, who went from a 12-18 record in her freshman season to NCAA tournament appearances and first-round wins in 2018 and 2019. No other group in program history has posted back-to-back seasons with 20 or more wins overall along with a postseason tournament win.

QUOTABLE: TOM MENDOZA
On Mikayla Robinson’s injury
We are all heartbroken for Robby. Seeing her grow from a shy kid into a mature leader has been a joy to watch and she should be incredibly proud of her legacy in this program. She is one of the most impactful people to wear a South Carolina volleyball uniform and I am very grateful for the opportunity to coach her.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Of the nine individuals who have played in at least 20 games this season, eight are in either their first or second seasons with the program. That stands in stark contrast to veteran Mikayla Robinson, who used her bonus season of eligibilty due to COVID to amass 136 career games and 500 sets played. She ranks 2nd in sets played and 3rd in games played in the program’s 49-year history. With her absence now due to injury, the next closest member of the team when it comes to experience is senior Lauren Bowers, who has 198 sets played in 72 games.

TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…

• The team has managed to earn a pair of wins despite opponents enjoying sizable margins in kills per set (15.00 to 11.41), hitting percentage (.329 to .197) and digs per set (14.76 to 11.06). It has not helped that four of the last five games have come against the top two teams in the SEC (Kentucky and Florida).
• The combination of Kyla Manning and Riley Whitesides have accounted for over half of the team’s total kills (106 of 194).
• The team has been strong in serve reception, allowing just 20 aces to opponents (1.18 per set). Lauren McCutcheon has weathered the storm more than any other Gamecock, recording 164 serve receptions in this span (9.65 per set). Despite that heavy load, the freshman has committed only seven reception errors.

IT JUST MEANS MORE PRODUCTION
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 SEC games played. The Beverly Hills, Mich. native may have had a slow start to 2021, but is heating up as SEC play reaches its final week. In 17 conference games, Ruprich has 77 total blocks, including a single-season program record of 19 solo blocks that surpassed Mikayla Robinson’s 2019 record of 18. She also has increased her offensive numbers, hitting .280 in SEC play with 88 kills. 

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 five times, including three this season alone after reaching 10 in three sets at Auburn on Nov. 10. 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
After taking down the No. 18- and No. 23-ranked teams in the country in the opening weekend of the season, South Carolina volleyball came in at No. 24 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) ranks on Aug. 30, 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 counted only the four conferences competing that fall.

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.

Individually, Kyla Manning was named as one of just seven women on the CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 team on Nov. 18. The graduate student is pursuing her masters degree in Biomedical Sciences and currently carries a postgraduate GPA of 3.77. She is the fourth Gamecock in program history to make the all-district team two or more times; the last to do it was Sarah Cline (2007, 2008 and 2009 honoree). Manning is now in the running to make CoSIDA’s Academic All-America team, something only three other Gamecocks have accomplished: Lori Rowe (1986) Katie Gerst (1994) and Cline (2009).

ROBINSON COLLECTS TWO MAJOR MILESTONES
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 of the season. 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.

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 as the postseason approaches, the nine non-conference teams have an impressive combined record of 174-81 (.682) with four teams over 20 wins and just two with a record under .500.

Four non-conference opponents are currently in the top 50 of the RPI rankings. South Carolina has a 4-1 record against the non-conference teams currently ranked in the RPI top-50.

CARTER STEPS INTO UNIQUE ROLE
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 19 of the 25 games she has played in to date this season, Carter also ranks third on the team with 365 serve receptions and has a .940 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. 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 66-45 mark with the Gamecocks and previously went 47-18 in two seasons at High Point.

MCCUTCHEON CONTINUES CAROLINA FAMILY LEGACY
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.

SERVING UP A CHALLENGE
With so much of the game decided behind the service line, the Gamecocks 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 1.29 aces per set. At the top is freshman Lauren McCutcheon, who averages 0.28 aces per set with 27 aces and just 21 errors on serve. Also stepping up is Riley Whitesides, who already has surpassed her freshman year total and has 16 aces, and freshman libero Morgan Carter. Like her classmate McCutcheon, Carter has been effective (16 aces) but also efficient, committing only 22 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 in 2020-21. 

So far this season, the Gamecock passers have allowed 119 aces to opponents through 97 sets played (1.23 average) despite adding two freshmen to the passing rotation. Morgan Carter has a .940 reception percentage over 365 chances as a first-year libero, and fellow freshman Lauren McCutcheon has a .951 percentage over a team-high 593 receptions. Manning’s numbers remain solid, her .965 reception percentage leads all passers and her 488 total receptions ranks second. 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 18-33 when allowing more aces to opponents.

WILLIAMS JOINS 2021 HALL OF FAME CLASS
Former volleyball head coach Kim Williams was inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 14. 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.

This fall, Whitesides ranks second on the team in kills and set a new personal best in service aces (with 16). Ruprich is leading the team again in blocks, currently with 103, and is hitting .263 with 1.40 kills per set. Kiune Fletcher has worked her way into the rotation as a blocking specialist with a vastly improved offensive game over her 56 sets played, and Caitlin Crawford continues to be a go-to serving option, playing in 13 matches with 60 serve attempts and five aces.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES…

• Serving tough is a key factor in team victories; the Gamecocks are averaging 1.65 aces per set in their 14 wins, compared to 0.92 for opponents. Five different individuals have double-digit aces in wins: Lauren McCutcheon (19), Morgan Carter (14), Mallory Dixon (14), Riley Whitesides (13) and Kyla Manning (11).
• In losses, the serving numbers almost completely flip. Opponents have not only been effective on serve, but efficient, with 72 aces (1.57 per set) and 95 total errors. South Carolina has only 41 aces in losses (0.89 per set) with 85 errors.
• McCutcheon’s offense contributes heavily in the team’s success. The freshman pin hits .307 with 2.20 kills per set in 14 wins but just .199 with 2.15 kills in losses.
• The efficiency of Mikayla Robinson was a direct link to the team’s success; in the 12 wins she was active, she hit .405 with 2.63 kills per set. In losses, those numbers dropped to .302 and 2.20, respectively.
• On defense, Morgan Carter‘s success relates closely with the team’s success. The freshman libero averages 3.44 digs per set and has a .978 serve reception percentage in wins, but only 3.03 digs per set in losses with a .901 success rate in serve reception.
• The team averages just 11.09 digs per set in losses, allowing opponents to hit .309 with over three kills per set more than the Gamecocks.

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 still 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 39-36 in SEC play dating back to 2018. 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 38-15 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 17-7 record on that day of the week.
• Start fast! The Gamecocks are 55-8 when winning the first set but are 11-35 when losing it.
• In five-set matches, the team holds an 17-7 record. In the three years prior, the Gamecocks were just 7-8 in five-setters.
• The offense has out-hit opponents 66 times and have lost just six times when recording a higher hitting percentage.
• Aces have been a key to victory; under Mendoza the Gamecocks are 49-11 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces.
• Finding success away from home is trending up. Under Mendoza, the Gamecocks are 28-28 in road or neutral matches. In the five seasons prior to that, they were 30-46 (.395). 

ALL TIME RECORDS

• South Carolina holds an 863-673 (.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 222-296 (.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 228-126 (.649) overall and 119-108 (.530) in SEC matches. The CVC’s 200th win came on Nov. 16, 2018 against Ole Miss.
• Tom Mendoza was introduced as the program’s 13th head coach on Jan. 3, 2018. This is his sixth season overall as a head coach, with a career record of 113-63 and a record of 66-45 at South Carolina. He has led his teams to the NCAA tournament in four of his six years as a head coach.