Volleyball Student-Athletes Collect Postseason Recognition
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Four members of the Gamecock volleyball program were recognized for their efforts on and off the court this week. Graduate student Riley Whitesides made the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s 14-woman All-Southeast Region team on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and senior Oby Anadi, junior Sarah Jordan and graduate student Ellie Ruprich were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, announced on Thursday, Dec. 12.
Whitesides is the 16th woman in program history to make an AVCA All-Region team; overall, Gamecocks have collected 26 total all-region honors dating back to 1985. The Greenville, S.C. native put together one of the best seasons by an attacker in the program’s 51-season history. The left-side hitter averaged 4.47 kills per set, ranking her inside the top 25 nationally. In the regular season finale against Texas A&M on Nov. 30, she passed Shonda Cole’s 2005 total of 414 for fifth-most in a single season in the modern scoring era. Her 4.47 kills per set average is second-highest in the program’s all-time history, behind Cole’s 2006 average of 5.95.
Whitesides was responsible for over 34 percent of the team’s total kills for the entire season, which is the second-highest share of kills in the program’s stat-keeping era (since 1984). She nearly doubled her kill total from 2023 (239) while also hitting almost 60 points higher (.184 in 2023, .241 in 2024).She finished her indoor career ranked in the top 10 for kills (1,452, 5th), attacks (4,007, 3rd), service aces (100, 2nd), digs (920, 9th) and points scored (1,645.0, 4th) for the rally-scoring era (since 2001). She is also a First Team All-SEC honoree, the first All-SEC honoree for South Carolina since 2022 and 24th woman overall to make the conference list since the program joined in 1991.
On the academic all-district team, Anadi and Ruprich made previous teams in 2022 and 2023, Jordan made the 2023 team while attending Towson University.
Ruprich graduated last December and is now pursuing a Master’s in Business Analytics. She holds the school’s modern scoring era records for block assists (405), solo blocks (117) and total blocks (522), making her one of three women in program history with 500 kills and 500 blocks. She ends her career ranked 10th in the modern scoring era for points scored, with 952.5 over 485 sets played.
Anadi set numerous personal bests in her senior campaign, hitting a team-high .359 with a career-high 161 kills while playing every set. The Slidell, La. Native also leaves her name on the program record book, ranking ninth in the program’s all-time history with 71 solo blocks and fifth in the rally-scoring era for total blocks (363).
Jordan made an instant impact in her first fall in Columbia, her 9.91 assists per set ranks sixth in the SEC and is the eighth-highest per-set average in a single season for the rally-scoring era. She finished the season strong, recording three 40+ assist performances in the team’s final six matches and leading the team with 10 double-doubles. Her 66-assist night at LSU on Nov. 13 is a rally-scoring era record for most in a match of any length and fourth-highest in the NCAA this season.
South Carolina finished 2024 with a 16-12 overall record, making the NCAA tournament for the fourth time under head coach Tom Mendoza. For continued updates on the team, follow Gamecockvolley on Twitter and GamecockVB on Instagram.
