South Carolina Comes Up Short Against Georgia
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina volleyball team (6-8, 0-4 SEC) fell to the Georgia Bulldogs (9-5, 1-3 SEC) in its second SEC home match of the season on Sunday afternoon, losing 3-1.
The match was evenly played across the board, with both teams finishing with the same number of digs and no more than a two-point difference in aces, blocks, total points and errors. South Carolina’s offense led the charge, out-killing Georgia 50-46 and featuring three Gamecocks in double-digit kills, but the Garnet & Black ultimately fell short.
1st SET: The Bulldogs opened the scoring on three Gamecock attack errors to jump out to an early 4-0 run. Laiya Ebo tied it up at 5-5 with her first kill of the match before Kaia Pixler gave South Carolina its first lead with an ace. South Carolina extended its run to 8-1, but Georgia answered right back, surging ahead 18-15 on a 6-1 stretch. The Bulldogs later went on another 4-0 run to take a 22-18 lead. A kill from Nia Hall cut the deficit to 22-19, but Georgia’s front line came up big with two blocks to reach set point. Kills from Ebo and Elise Marchal brought the Gamecocks within three at 24-21, but a South Carolina service error closed the set, 25-21, in favor of Georgia.
2nd SET: South Carolina opened the set on a 5-1 run, forcing an early Georgia timeout. The Gamecocks kept the momentum rolling with a dominant 10-0 scoring stretch, fueled by two aces from Victoria Harris and four blocks from Ava Leahy and Marchal, to take an 18-5 lead. South Carolina cruised to a 25-12 win, capitalizing on the Bulldogs’ offensive struggles as Georgia just hit .037. The Gamecocks, meanwhile, posted an impressive .391 hitting percentage – up significantly from their earlier .089 mark in the first set.
3rd SET: South Carolina opened the set with the first point but quickly fell behind as Georgia built a 12-3 lead. The Gamecocks battled back, trimming the deficit to 18-15 after two 3-0 runs to force a Georgia timeout. Down 20-15, Alayna Johnson sparked the rally with two of the next three points, helping South Carolina cut the gap to 23-21. However, the Gamecocks were unable to maintain the momentum, falling 25-21 and allowing Georgia to go up 2-1.
4th SET: Both teams traded points early before knotting the score at 5-5. A 4-0 run from the Bulldogs put them ahead 10-5, but a successful South Carolina challenge on a touch call reversed the score to 10-6. The Gamecocks battled back to tie it at 13-13 with blocks from Hall and Emily Beeker before taking their first lead at 14-13. Georgia responded with a 4-1 run to go up 19-16, prompting a South Carolina timeout. The Bulldogs reached set point at 24-20, and despite a late push with a kill from Ebo, the Gamecocks dropped the set 25-22, losing the match 3-1.
Notables
- Laiya Ebo reached a season high 12 kills, and hit .526 which led the team in today’s match
- It was the ninth game of the season with double digit kills for Alayna Johnson and she matched her career high 16 which led the offense
- Ava Leahy tied her career high nine blocks
- Kaia Pixler reached a collegiate career high 23 assists, which led the team
- Victoria Harris tied her career high aces, hitting three
Up Next: The Gamecocks hit the road next week to face Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. before rounding out the week at Arkansas on Sunday, Oct. 12 for a 4:00 p.m. match.
