Mikayla Shields

AWARDS/HONORS

• 2019 AVCA Third Team All-American (1st in program history)

• 2017, 2018, 2019 All-SEC Team
• 2017, 2018, 2019 AVCA All-Region, Southeast
• 2017, 2018 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American
• 2016 SEC All-Freshman Team
• 2016 AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention
• 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
• 2017, 2018 SEC Academic Honor Roll
• 2016 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll
• SEC Freshman of the Week (8/29/16)

2019 (SENIOR)

• Capped off one of the best careers in South Carolina history with a program first, earning AVCA Third Team All-America honors.
• Also made the All-SEC and All-Region teams, both for the third time in her career. Only three other Gamecocks have been All-Region honorees three or more times, and seven have been three-time All-SEC honorees.
• In the program’s all-time history, Shields ranks in the top 10 in kills, attacks, hitting percentage and points, and cracked the 1,500 career kills milestone. In the rally-scoring era only, she also ranks in the top 10 for aces, blocks and digs.
• Her 122 career matches played are tied for the program record for the rally-scoring era, and her 447 sets played ranks second.
• Stood as the only pin hitter in the SEC who ranked in the top ten for both hitting percentage (.317) and kills per set (3.55). Among the 10 SEC student-athletes who are ranked in the top 10 currently for hitting percentage, Shields had 122 more total kills than anyone else on the list.
• Also ranked third in the SEC for service aces, seventh for points and 11th for double-doubles.
• Despite attempting 234 more attacks than any other player on the South Carolina roster, her .317 hitting percentage was the sixth highest for any member of the program in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) and higher than any other Gamecock pin hitter in the era.
• Her 405 kills ranks sixth-most for a single season in the rally-scoring era for the Gamecocks.
• Shields one-upped her game in SEC play, averaging 3.75 kills, 2.44 digs, 0.41 aces and 0.72 blocks per set with a .341 hitting percentage to help the team finish sixth in the final standings.
• Reached 15 or more kills in 12 matches, six of those 12 came in SEC play.
• Set a career high with 25 digs against Cincinnati (8/30), also adding 15 kills.
• Recorded a kill/block double-double at Arkansas, finishing with 11 kills and a career-high 10 blocks (10/13).
• Hit .640 with 17 kills in just three sets against LSU, also adding six digs and a solo block (11/1).
• Posted back-to-back double-doubles in the team’s road sweeps at Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
• Hit .400 and led the team with 24 kills while adding 12 digs and a pair of blocks in the team’s key road win at Georgia (11/22).

2018 (JUNIOR)

• Made the AVCA’s All-Southeast Region team, and a spot on the Honorable Mention All-America list. She is the first student-athlete in the program’s 46-year history to be recognized nationally twice in a career.
• Honored as a back-to-back All-SEC honoree, making her the ninth Gamecock to do so since South Carolina joined the conference in 1991.
• Led the team with 362 kills (3.23 per set), making her just the third player in the program’s 46-year history to lead the team for each of their first three seasons. The 362 kills are the eighth most for a single season in the rally-scoring era.
• Became the fifth junior in program history to reach 1,000 career kills in three seasons, and currently ranks ninth in the program’s all-time top 10 for kills.
• Also led the team with nine double-doubles, ranked second on the team with 2.41 digs per set, and reached a career high for service aces (29).
• Made the all-tournament team at the Rice Invitational after averaging 3.42 kills and 2.5 digs per set. 
• Set a career-high with six blocks and added 14 kills and 14 digs in a five-set win at Georgia (9/30). 
• Reached 1,000 career kills at Tennessee (10/24), making her the fourth-fastest Gamecock to hit the milestone.
• Led the team to an upset of No. 20 Missouri, with 19 kills and 10 digs (11/2). 
• Posted a double-double (19 kills, 15 digs) vs. Colorado (11/30) in the team’s win in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

2017 (SOPHOMORE)

• Spent the summer of 2017 training with the U19 national team, representing Team USA at the Pan American Cup where the team won gold.
• Made the All-SEC team, the first Gamecock to do so since 2013.
• Finished the season with 429 kills, the fourth most for a single season in the rally-scoring era and the most by a sophomore in the program’s 45-year history.
• Developed into a six-rotation hitter, and had 11 double-doubles, the 21st-most in a single season in program history.
• Her 263 digs were second on the team, and were 147 more than her 2016 total.
• She increased her solo blocks from five in 2016 to 17 in 2017; the 27 solo blocks broke a 15-year-old sophomore record, and are the fourth-most in a single season in the rally-scoring era.
• Became the third sophomore in program history to reach 700 career kills, joining all-time kills leader Lori Rowe (in 1984), and current associate head coach Shonda Cole (in 2004).
• Hit .284, second-highest on the team; its the highest attack percentage by a hitter with 1,000 or more attempts in a season since Shonda Cole in 2006 and the fourth-highest in program history.
• Hit .419 with 23 kills and 19 digs at Tennessee (11/3).
• Hit .480 with a career-high 29 kills vs. Missouri (11/8).
• Made the CoSIDA Academic All-District team, the 13th Gamecock in program history to make the team, and just the fourth sophomore.

2016 (FRESHMAN)

• Posted one of the best freshman seasons in program history, culminating with a spot on the AVCA All-Region honorable mention team
• Played in all but one of the team’s 106 sets on the season
• Led the team with 341 kills (3.25 per set) and hit .308, shattering the program’s freshman record for hitting percentage in the rally-scoring era
• Posted one of the best freshman seasons in program history, culminating with a spot on the AVCA All-Region honorable mention team
• Opened her college career with tournament MVP honors at the College of Charleston Tournament, where she totaled 33 kills and hit .403 over nine sets (8/29)
• Made the all-tournament team at the Springhill Suites Invitational (9/10), and earned MVP honors again at the Gamecock Invitational (9/17)
• Had a season-high 23 kills and hit .298 in a five-set comeback win at Mississippi State (11/4)
• Stunned Georgia with six aces in the three-set win, tied for the second-most in school history for a three-setter (11/6)
• Hit .368 with 17 kills and 14 digs to help the Gamecocks upset #21 Missouri at home (11/13)
• Recorded her fifth and final double-double of the season against Arkansas, putting up 18 kills and 10 digs to go with four blocks (11/23)
• Finished the season with team highs in kills (341) and hitting percentage (.308). She is the first Gamecock since Shonda Cole in 2006 to lead the team in both categories, and is the first since Belita Salters in 2008 to have over 300 kills while also hitting above .300.

HIGH SCHOOL/CLUB

• Played club volleyball for head coach Danny Eleutiza at OVA/TBVA 17 Asics Red
• Ranked 36th in the 2015 Max Preps Senior Aces Top 100
• 2014 Class 7A Player of the Year
• Led her team to the 2015 East Metro Championship
• Led her high school team to the 7A regional championship
• Earned the AP Scholar Award for academics at Lake Nona
• Also competed in track and field for four years, taking after her parents who each competed in track and field at the University of Pittsburgh. Father Brett is part of the school-record-holding Sprint Hurdle Relay team. Mother Najuma holds the indoor and outdoor high jump records, as well as the pentathlon and heptathlon records

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Brett and Najuma Shields
• Plans to major in Biological Sciences