Women's Volleyball . October 31, 2024

Volleyball to Host Twice Over Homecoming Weekend

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball puts a pin in a five-game home stand with two key matches over Homecoming Weekend, hosting No. 14 Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 1 and Tennessee on Sunday, Nov. 3. Friday night against the Wildcats will be the team’s annual Alumnae Night, with 18 former Gamecocks spanning all six decades of the program’s history planning to attend. Sunday’s match against Tennessee is Throwback Day, with retro team shirts for the first 150 students in attendance.

For fans attending home matches this week and all season long at the Carolina Volleyball Center (CVC), parking is available in the lot directly in front of Thirsty Fellow restaurant (behind 650 Lincoln Dorms). It is not advised that any parking occur in the lot facing Assembly Street as tickets could be issued. There is also a lot available off Park Street next to the Strom Thurmond Fitness Center as well as the Horizon Garage off Assembly Street.

The volleyball program now has a specific supporter group that is aimed at their most loyal fans. The funds generated through the Volleyball VIP Club will go directly to the program to support student-athletes. In addition to other benefits, membership includes free admission to all regular season home matches. Tickets can be purchased on-site or through THIS LINK.

Single-game tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth 17 and under, and $3 for groups of 15 or more (with pre-purchase). The physical address for the CVC is 1051 Blossom Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201. The student entrance will be the doors facing the Blossom and Assembly Street intersection, for general admission and VIP ticket holders, the entrance is off Park Street.

For continued updates on the team, follow Gamecockvolley on Twitter and GamecockVB on Instagram.

WELCOME HOME
The team hosts its annual Alumnae Night on Friday against Kentucky. All told, 18 former Gamecocks will return to the CVC, spanning all six decades. Three Letterman’s Association Hall of Fame members will attend (Ashley Edlund, Megan Hosp, Shonda Cole) along with seven All-SEC honorees (Edlund, Hosp, Cole, Cindy Robarge, Sam Alban, Mikayla Robinson and Kyla Manning) and at least one player from nine of the program’s 10 NCAA tournament teams.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky is vying for the top spot in the SEC again this season, entering the weekend with a 6-2 record in conference action and the No. 14 spot in the latest AVCA coaches top-25 poll. The team’s 12-7 overall record is a product of a challenging schedule; six of the seven losses have come against teams ranked in the top-10 nationally. The offense is led by reigning SEC and AVCA regional freshman of the year Brooklyn DeLeye, who ranks second in the SEC and 11th nationally with 4.58 kills per set. She carries a heavy work load, accounting for over a third of the team’s total attacks through 19 games. The team lost the other three hitters who surpassed 200 kills from 2023, two to transfer and one to graduation. Despite that, the team’s offense remains strong thanks to senior setter Emma Grome and one of the best serve-reception defenses in the country. Led by defensive specialist Eleanor Beavin and libero Molly Tuozzo, Kentucky has allowed the fewest aces of any SEC team, currently with 99 against them over 70 sets.

SCOUTING THE VOLUNTEERS
Tennessee has a new look since its last visit to Columbia, returning just two starters from 2023’s squad that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The biggest returner for the roster is sophomore Caroline Kerr, the setter made AVCA preseason player of the year watch list after earning a spot on the All-SEC team in 2023 following a breakout first year running the offense. Despite losing its top three contributors for kills, Tennessee still ranks third in the SEC for team hitting percentage this fall with a .289 mark. Like South Carolina, Tennessee turned to Towson University for a key transfer; where the Gamecocks pulled current starting setter Sarah Jordan, the Vols pulled in veteran pin Nina Cajic to fill the gap in production. She currently ranks 20th nationally for kills and recently broke the SEC modern-era record for kills in a match with 42 against Western Michigan on Sept. 19. Similar to DeLeye from Kentucky, Cajic is the team’s clear go-to option on offense, accounting for 35 percent of the team’s total swings. For as good as the offense has been, the achilles heel for Tennessee is its defense. Through eight conference matches, the team ranks last in the SEC for opponent hitting percentage, allowing a .284 mark.

WEEK NINE NOTABLES

The team honored its senior class prior to first serve against Auburn. The Gamecocks recognized their three four-year seniors, Oby Anadi, Morgan Carter and Claire Wilson, as well as fifth-year graduate students Ellie Ruprich and Riley Whitesides.
South Carolina surpassed its 2023 win total on Sunday, with nine games remaining on the schedule.
Auburn entered the week ranked first in the SEC for opponent hitting percentage, digs per set and blocks per set. The Tigers won the blocking battle, but the Gamecocks posted more digs and the offense hit over 70 percentage points higher than Auburn had allowed for its season average (.170 vs. .242).
The Gamecocks were out-hit by Auburn (.274 to .242) but prevailed. It is the first time since Sept. 25, 2022 against Florida that the team was outhit in a win. South Carolina was 0-26 when hitting for a lower percentage since that win over the Gators, before breaking through on Sunday. The team is 9-71 overall under head coach Tom Mendoza when hitting for a lower percentage in a match.
Riley Whitesides’s 16 kills led all hitters and set her a single-season personal best, now at 278 through 18 games. Her previous single-season high was 268 in 2022, but she needed 101 sets and 27 games to get there.
Alayna Johnson stepped up with big swings, finishing with 15 kills on 36 swings to go with eight digs and two service aces. It is her third game with 15+ kills this season, second in SEC play.
South Carolina had three individuals with multiple aces, Victoria Harris and Elizabeth McElveen tied Johnson for the team lead with two aces apiece.
Oby Anadi led the defense with four total blocks. She passed Belita Salters (2005-08) for third place in the rally-scoring era in career solo blocks, now with 66.

TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…

Riley Whitesides leads the offense with 86 kills in the five games (4.53/set), shouldering a heavy workload on the left pin. Her 217 total attacks are 85 more than anyone else on the team and accounts for 35 percent of the team’s total attacks.
Tireh Smith is on a hot streak, hitting .287 with 47 total kills over the last five games, highlighted by an 18-kill night at Georgia on Oct. 11.
The team’s serving game has improved, with a 30-26 advantage in service aces. Four different Gamecocks have five or more aces, led by seven from Alayna Johnson and Victoria Harris The team has been efficient behind the line as well, with 12 fewer service errors than its opponents.
Opponents have had success at the net defensively, out-blocking the Gamecocks 65.5-30 overall with notable disparities against Georgia (18-2), Ole Miss (12-6) and Auburn (15.5-7) in this stretch.

PIPE IT UP!
One of the biggest developments in the team’s offense this season has been the effectiveness of the back-row attack from Riley Whitesides and Alayna Johnson. With the offense moving almost exclusively to a single-setter offense under Sarah Jordan, the addition of a back-row option in mostly two-hitter rotations has helped the Gamecocks after two seasons that were the lowest for hitting percentage under head coach Tom Mendoza.

In a post on Oct. 22 by Chad Gordon, a club coach and volleyball analytics blogger with VolleyDork.com, Whitesides was recognized as one of the most effective back-row attackers in the nation. Through 17 games, 26 percent of Whitesides’ total attacks were out of the back row. She had a kill percentage of 43.6 on those swings and an error rate of just 4.8 percent, the lowest of any of the 19 other women ranked.

It’s a compliment to the growth the fifth-year pin has enjoyed this fall. She is averaging well over a full kill per set more than her previous season high (4.411 vs. 3.11 in 2020-21), hitting more efficiently than her previous season high (.250 vs. .219 in 2020-21) and is taking over 10 swings per set, compared to her previous season high of 8.30 during the 2022 campaign.

WELL RECEIVED
The team’s serve reception defense continued a steady climb in performance, allowing just one service ace to East Carolina and Clemson in the final week of the non-conference schedule. After Kansas recorded seven aces in the season opener, the Gamecocks allowed just 15 total aces in the ensuing seven-game win streak (24 sets).

The team is benefitting from a consistent trio of passers and each have performed admirably. Left side pins Riley Whitesides (358 receptions) and Alayna Johnson (391) combine to account for 66 percent of the team’s total receptions to date, with the two being aced just 35 times in 749 total serves. For her career, Whitesides has the most serve receptions in the program’s rally-scoring era – currently with 2,521 – and has a career reception percentage of .950. Freshman libero Victoria Harris (252) accounts for the next-closest total this fall, has allowed seven aces through the first 18 games.

The passing efficiency has been a boon to the offense and improves on an uncharacteristic 2023 season. The Gamecocks allowed 1.58 aces per set to opponents last fall, by far the most allowed in head coach Tom Mendoza’s tenure (since 2018). Heading into the weekend, the aces per set allowed average was down to 1.02, and the 64 total aces allowed is fewest in the SEC.

SMITH EMBRACES HER OPPORTUNITY
While it is year three on campus, Tireh Smith is still a relative newcomer to the Gamecock lineup. The Charleston native took a redshirt in her freshman year, then suffered an injury to her hand in the 2023 preseason. She finally made her debut on Oct. 15 last season, playing in two sets at Texas A&M. All told, she appeared in 16 sets over eight games in 2023. After a full spring semester of training, Smith made her case for expanded role in 2024. In week one at Duke, she supplanted incumbent right side Campbell Paris on the right pin and has played in all but three of the team’s 63 sets so far this fall. So far, Smith has eight or more kills in nine games and has hit .250 or higher in seven of those games.

Her impact has been felt most in the early days of SEC play. Smith had a career night on the attack at Georgia on Oct. 11, finishing with a career-high 18 kills while hitting .314. Eleven of her kills came in the pivotal third and fourth sets to help the team rally back. It was the highest single-game kill total by a Gamecock right side hitter since Kiune Fletcher on Nov. 12, 2023 (18 games). She had another big day on Oct. 13 at #19 Florida, posting eight kills, hitting .412 and adding six blocks. She now is averaging 2.56 kills per set with a .298 hitting percentage through the team’s first seven SEC matches.

BE YOUR BEST BY BEATING YOUR BEST
For as big of a jump as Riley Whitesides has enjoyed this fall, a handful of her teammates have also racked up a number of new personal bests with nine games remaining on the schedule. Junior Alayna Johnson surpassed her career high for kills in a season during the Oklahoma win on Oct. 20, needing seven fewer games to reach her 2023 total of 166. She also has doubled up her service ace total from 2023 (10) to 2024 (21) and passed her single-season dig high on Oct. 11 at Georgia in 10 fewer games than she needed in 2023.

Two second-year contributors have also been key. Tireh Smith went from nine kills over eight games in 2023 to 128 so far this fall. Liz McElveen expanded her role from a serving sub as a freshman in 2023 to a back-row defensive specialist this season, she currently ranks third on the team in service aces and fourth in digs.

MENDOZA REACHES 100
The win over No. 19 Florida on Oct. 13 was head coach Tom Mendoza’s 100th at the helm of South Carolina. He is the fourth coach in program history to reach the century mark, joining Kim Williams (226 wins from 1993-04), Bonnie Kenny (171, 1984-92) and Scott Swanson (101, 2011-17). Of the 12 coaches in the program’s 51-year history, Mendoza ranks second in conference wins, fourth in road wins and first in wins over ranked opponents.

KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE

The victory over No. 19 Florida on Sunday, Oct. 13 marked the seventh season in a row where South Carolina defeated a ranked opponent, extending the longest streak since joining the SEC in 1991. The Gamecocks have 10 wins over ranked opponents since head coach Tom Mendoza was hired in 2018. The program had just nine ranked wins total in the 27 seasons prior to his arrival (1991-2017). Prior to the win in Gainesville, the Gamecocks had not won a true road match against a nationally ranked opponent since Sept. 14, 2003 (#14 Notre Dame, 3-1). The team had never swept a ranked opponent in a true road match in the SEC era (since 1991) before Oct. 13.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Few teams in the country can match the career production of Carolina’s middle blockers Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich. The two entered 2024 with over 700 combined blocks. Last fall, they became the first pair of Gamecocks to record 100+ total blocks in back-to-back seasons since 1995 (Heather Larkin and DeeDee Fortman) and 1996 (Larkin and Lori Drost). Going back to the earliest available statistics (1983), the program had never seen the same two individuals surpass 100 blocks in successive seasons.

SETTING THE SCENE
The team carries three setters on the roster for 2024, bringing back junior Kimmie Thompson and sophomore Sydney Floyd and adding in Towson transfer Sarah Jordan, but the team did lose Claire Wilson to a medical retirement. Jordan had success and experience running both a single-setter and two-setter offense during her career at Towson, totaling 1,500 assists, 400 digs and 45 service aces in 56 games played with the Tigers.

Entering the week, Jordan is averaging 9.75 assists per set, ranking 9th in the SEC. The Gamecocks were looking to improve the offense’s connection after back-to-back seasons flirting with a .200 team hitting percentage – the lowest two so far under head coach Tom Mendoza. Entering the weekend, the team has a .246 hitting percentage.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES

A diverse offense has proven key. In six losses, the trio of Alayna Johnson, Tireh Smith and Oby Anadi combine for 5.90 kills per set and a .170 hitting percentage. In 12 wins, that number jumps to 7.59 kills and a .327 hitting percentage.
While the output of Riley Whitesides has remained steady in wins (4.61 kills per set) and losses (4.05/set), her efficiency is noticeable. In 12 wins, she hits .298 but drops down to .164 in losses.
A strong start has been key, the team is 11-0 when winning the first set but is just 1-6 when losing it. Before overcoming a first-set loss to beat Oklahoma on Oct. 20, the Gamecocks had lost 18 games in a row when dropping set one.
The service line has made the difference this season, the team is 11-3 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces but are 0-3 when being out-aced. It isn’t just about aces, playing mistake-free behind the line is also key. Opponents have 36 aces and 44 errors in Gamecock losses, but just 26 aces and 51 errors in Gamecock wins.
Opponents are doubling up the Gamecocks in blocks across the six losses, with 86 total blocks compared to just 40 for South Carolina.
With the team’s blocking numbers down from year’s passed, the back line of the defense has been more important than ever. When finishing with more digs, the Gamecocks are 8-1.

A VICTORIOUS RETURN
She might have played high school volleyball just down the road from the Carolina Volleyball Center, but freshman Victoria Harris has taken the long way to collegiate volleyball. A standout libero at Cardinal Newman School, about 10 miles to the northeast of downtown Columbia, Harris had to overcome two serious injuries to make it to the next phase of her volleyball career. In September 2022, she fractured her hip during a game after a teammate landed on her. She recovered in time to play the following season, but endured another setback when she tore her ACL in August of 2023. She had surgery on her knee in October, then worked towards graduating early from high school and enrolling at South Carolina for the spring semester.

She was finally cleared for full action at the end of July and immediately jumped into an important role for the Gamecocks. Entering the week, Harris has started every game as the team’s libero and averages 4.05 digs per set, fifth-most in the SEC, with a .972 serve reception percentage over 252 total receptions. Her 23 digs in the week one matchup at Duke led the defense and is the most by a Gamecock freshman since Taylr McNeil in 2014 (23 vs. Furman). Harris joins current senior Morgan Carter as the only Gamecocks to play libero as true freshmen since the position was first introduced in college volleyball in 2002.

ANADI PEAKING ON OFFENSE
Senior middle Oby Anadi made herself known as a blocker over her first two seasons in the lineup but was still working her way into the team’s offensive game plan. The 2023 season proved that growth, as she set career highs on offense AND defense. Anadi finished with 146 kills over 27 matches in 2023, after totaling 119 kills over her first two seasons (41 matches). On defense, she had a personal-best 129 total blocks last fall and became the first Gamecock since Belita Salters in 2007 to have a hand in 50 percent or more of the team’s total blocks. Anadi’s 313 total blocks currently ranks sixth-most in the rally scoring era.

Anadi finished the team’s seven-game September home stand with 11 kills and a .714 hitting percentage against East Carolina on Sept. 17. The senior has 10+ kills in three of those seven home games and hit .700 or higher in four of the seven. To put it in perspective, she had three games with double-digit kills through the first three seasons of her career entering 2024 (68 matches). For the season, she is hitting .406 with 121 total kills, fourth-most on the team. In the 14 matches where she has 10 or more total attacks, she has hit .400 or better eight times.

WHITESIDES CARRIES 2023 MOMENTUM INTO 2024
The loss of senior Riley Whitesides to injury late last season came at an inopportune time for the Gamecocks, as the veteran pin was in the midst of one of the best stretches of her career in October 2023. The Greenville native averaged 12.87 kills, 9.25 digs and a service ace per game in eight October matches last fall. On top of that, Whitesides averaged 3.36 kills per set in the team’s six games against ranked opponents when she was healthy. The injury forced her out of two games completely, and even after she was cleared to play she was limited to a back-row-only role in the final three games of the season, where she was unable to be part of the offense. A healthy Whitesides enjoyed a breakout season with the beach volleyball team in the spring semester, moving up to the top pairing by the end of the season and finishing with a 20-15 overall record.

In 2024, she has reached heights rarely seen by a Gamecock pin in the modern scoring era. Entering Friday, Whitesides is hitting .250 and averaging 4.41 kills per set, both are career-high paces and the 4.41 kills per set would rank her third in the program’s rally scoring era if the season ended today. Against Auburn last Sunday, her 16 kills led all hitters and set a single-season personal best, now at 278 through 18 games. Her previous single-season high was 268 in 2022, but she needed 101 sets and 27 games to get there.

GAMECOCK NATION PACKS THE GYM
Few venues feature the atmosphere of the Carolina Volleyball Center, and Gamecock fans came out in record-setting numbers last fall. The team had more games with 2,000 or more fans in 2023 (5) than in the previous 49 seasons of volleyball at South Carolina combined (3) and six of the top-10 most-attended matches in program history came in the team’s first eight home games. The team broke the single-season home attendance record in 2023, welcoming in 23,114 fans, surpassing the previous record of 18,797, set during the 2018 season.

Dating back to 2014, the Gamecock volleyball program is averaging at least 1,000 fans per game every season. So far in 2024, the team’s total attendance of 15,425 ranks 44th nationally and the average of 1,402 fans per game ranks 51st nationally, with all 50 teams ahead of them playing in a larger venue. In 11 home games, the team has seven over-capacity crowds.

RUPRICH REACHES ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE
Graduate student Ellie Ruprich became just the eighth woman in program history to reach 400 career blocks last fall, she is just the third woman in the modern scoring era (since 2001) to reach 400 career blocks, joining Darian Dozier (2012-15) and Mikayla Robinson (2017-21). Among current active players, Ruprich ranks fifth across all three NCAA divisions for solo blocks and 12th for total blocks.

The Beverly Hills, Michigan native is still in the hunt of some rarely contested records. In the rally-scoring record book, Ruprich surpassed Mikayla Robinson’s solo blocks record and reached 100 for her career in the win over Temple on Sept. 6. She is the fifth Gamecock in the program’s 51-year history to reach 100 solo blocks, the last woman to do so for South Carolina was Amy Collinsworth in 1993. In the all-time record book, she ranks fourth for solo blocks, fifth in block assists and fourth in total blocks.

GETTING THE SAND OUT OF THEIR SHOES
The indoor team has three indoor-to-beach crossover athletes on the roster this fall, with each Gamecock bringing a different background. The three crossovers are the most under head coach Tom Mendoza and are the most on a roster since the 2014 season. Leading the way is Riley Whitesides, who moved from an indoor-only role to beach as her spring sport during the 2022-23 school year and broke out last season on the sand. She moved up to the top court by the end of the season and finished with a 20-15 overall record.

Jolie Cranford moves from a beach-only career to an indoor role, staying true to her roots. Cranford, a native of Colorado, played indoor exclusively until late in her high school career when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed her athletic pursuits outdoors. Now two seasons into her beach career, she enters 2023-24 as the team’s winningest player on the active roster, holding a career mark of 41-21 through two seasons.

The final crossover athlete is Maggie Elliott. Originally committed to Florida State as both an indoor and beach athlete, the Charleston native opted to stay in-state for her collegiate career. As an indoor volleyball athlete, she played for her mother, Adria, and led her high school team in kills for all four years on the varsity roster.

HIGHS AND LOWS AT THE NET
A typical strong point for the Gamecocks, the team’s blocking defense has had a slower start than usual in 2024. Only three players, starting middles Oby Anadi and Ellie Ruprich and right side Tireh Smith, are over 25 total blocks through the team’s 17 games to date. As a team, South Carolina has fallen back to 11th in the SEC for blocks per set and 161st nationally.

South Carolina finished fourth in the SEC with an average of 2.46 blocks per set last fall. For as good as the Gamecock block was, however, opponents were better. South Carolina opponents averaged 2.75 blocks per set when facing the Gamecocks, far and away the most in the SEC. The team allowed 10 or more blocks in 16 of its 27 games overall and nine of 18 conference games. The 2.75 blocks per set against them is the the highest single-season average for Gamecock opponents in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).

That number remains high in 2024, currently South Carolina has been blocked more overall (183 total blocks) and per set (2.90) than any over SEC school. Five of the seven SEC opponents faced by the Gamecocks so far this fall have gone for double-digit blocks.

STATUS QUO IN THE CLASSROOM
The program improved its streak to 15 seasons in a row earning the AVCA’s Team Academic Award, announced on July 17. The Gamecocks have put 10 or more individuals on the SEC’s Fall Academic Honor Roll for eight seasons in a row and placed 16 members on either the Fall or First-Year Academic Honor Rolls in the 2023-24 school year. This comes despite an ambitious list of majors that spans the world-renowned business school, sports science fields and education.

MENDOZA’S TRENDING TOPICS
In Head Coach Tom Mendoza’s tenure with the team…

Home is where the heart is. The Gamecocks are 65-28 (.707) at the Carolina Volleyball Center in Mendoza’s seven seasons.
September is the team’s best month, combining for a 41-18 mark. The highlight came in 2018 with a perfect 9-0 record in September, the first Gamecock squad since 1983 to do so.
The team is 84-13 when winning the first set, 18-68 when losing it.
In five-set matches, the team holds an 24-15 record. In the three years prior to his arrival, the Gamecocks were just 7-8 in five-setters.
The offense finished with a higher hitting percentage than its opponents 102 times and have lost just nine of those matches.
Aces have been a key to victory; under Mendoza the Gamecocks are 78-19 when matching or surpassing opponents in aces.
If the back line is locked in, the odds swing heavily in South Carolina’s favor; the team has a 56-12 record when finishing with more digs in a match since Mendoza arrived in 2018.

ALL TIME RECORDS

South Carolina holds an 889-706 (.557) all-time record, dating back to it’s first season as a varsity sport in 1974. 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 237-327 (.420) in the 31st season as a member. The 200th SEC win came on Nov. 8, 2019 at Mississippi St.
Dating back to 1983, the team has a 37-5 record in its home opener and a 24-18 record in its road opener.
The team has a 17-17 overall record in the opening game of SEC play.
In matches in the Carolina Volleyball Center, opened in 1996, Carolina is 255-139 (.645) overall and 130-119 (.525) in SEC matches. The CVC’s 250th win came on Sept. 10, 2024 against the College of Charleston.
Tom Mendoza was introduced as the program’s 13th head coach on Jan. 3, 2018. This is his ninth season overall as a head coach, with a career record of 149-102 and a record of 102-84 at South Carolina. He has led his teams to the NCAA tournament in five of his eight years as a head coach and is just the fourth coach in South Carolina’s history to reach 100 career wins.