Gamecocks Host No. 9 Texas A&M, Georgia for SEC Home Opener
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina volleyball team (6-6, 0-2 SEC) returns home after opening SEC play on the road last week against two ranked opponents to face their second top 10 opponent of the season, No. 9 Texas A&M (10-2, 2-0 SEC) on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 p.m. before rounding out the week with a 1:00 p.m. match against Georgia (8-4, 0-2 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 5.
Both matches will be streamed on SEC Network and live stats will be available on StatBroadcast. The links to each are available on the schedule page. Fans can also follow along with in-game updates on X, @GamecockVolley.
PROMOTIONS
Wednesday’s match against Texas A&M will be a white out game, and fans are encouraged to wear white attire. The first 400 fans will also receive a free rally towel. The match against Georgia will have a Women in Sports theme, and the first 500 students will receive a free phone wallet.
WEEK FIVE NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks look to pick up their first conference win of the season as they went 0-2 last week against a No. 3 Kentucky and No. 22 Tennessee, falling 3-0 to both
- South Carolina was narrowly out-killed by both opponents as there was only at most a four point margin in both matches, but the teams’ 30+ errors in both games proved costly
- Against Kentucky the Gamecocks put up a fight, leading for a majority of the second set and pushing the lead to as far as 18-10
- Nia Hall paced the offense with 15 kills, the most earned in a three set match this season. She hit .323
- Alayna Johnson added 13 kills, marking the eighth match of the season with two Gamecocks hitting double digit kills
- Against Tennessee, the Gamecocks narrowly dropped the first set 25-23 before trailing off for the remaining two sets
- Johnson had her seventh match of the season with a double digit kill, notching 10 and hitting .320
- Laiya Ebo and Kaia Pixler were subbed in during the third set and made an immediate impact with Pixler setting up Ebo for multiple early kills in the frame. Both Gamecocks earned season highs, Ebo with three kills and Pixler with four assists
- Sarah Jordan had a combined 39 assists for the week, accounting for over half of the teams’ total assists at both matches
- Victoria Harris extended her streak to six consecutive matches with double digit digs, dishing out 15 and 12 respectively
- For the current stat leaders, Hall leads in kills with 151 (3.36 per set), Jordan leads assists with 222 (5.84 per set), Johnson leads aces with 12 (.27 per set), Harris leads digs with 175 (3.89 per set) and Emily Beeker leads blocks with 44 (1.00 per set).
- Harris ranks eighth in the SEC for digs per set, Hall ranks 18 for kills per set and Beeker ranks 20th for digs per set
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
No. 9 Texas A&M, picked third in the SEC preseason poll with one first place vote, opened conference play 2-0 last week – defeating then-No. 21 Missouri 3-1 before sweeping Vanderbilt. After the week, the Aggies moved from No. 13 to No. 9 in the AVCA coaches poll, marking their second time in the top 10 this season. The team is ranked in the top 50 in the nation in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, kills per set, digs per set and blocks per set. Texas A&M ranks in the top 10 in the country in kills and digs per set, sitting at sixth with 14.47 and seventh with 14.23 respectively. Logan Lednicky leads the team with 143 kills so far this season, averaging 3.67 per set. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla holds a .462 hitting percentage which ranks second in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA. The senior also ranks seventh in the NCAA and second in the SEC with 1.58 blocks per set. Maddie Waak backs the offense with 11.51 assists per set, currently leading the nation. The Aggies lead the Gamecocks in the all-time series record, 18-3.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Georgia mirrored South Carolina’s start to SEC play, first facing Tennessee before moving on to play Kentucky last week. Like the Gamecocks, the Bulldogs were swept by both opponents to start SEC play 0-2. Georgia has a strong offensive presence on the court, currently ranking sixth in the NCAA with 3.00 blocks per set. Kendal Kemp leads the team with 1.50 blocks per set, which ranks 13th in the nation. Tori Harper follows not too far behind with 1.29 per set, ranking 64th. On the offensive side, Bianna Muoneke has accumulated 161 kills so far this season, averaging 4.13 per set which ranks seventh in the SEC. Georgia leads the all-time series record against the Gamecocks, 54-27.
