Gamecocks to face Coastal Carolina in nonconference match
The South Carolina women’s volleyball team continued its recent struggles against talented SEC opponents, falling to Alabama at home Friday night.
The loss was the seventh straight for the Gamecocks (13-7, 2-7), who won the first set but then dropped three straight. Junior outside hitter Juliette Thévenin had 19 kills and 12 digs, which led all players. Sophomore outside hitter Bethanie Thomas also posted a double-double, with 14 kills and 13 blocks. Junior libero Paige Wheeler had a strong defensive game, posting 19 digs to lead all players. Senior setter Taylor Bruns had 49 assists, serving as a catalyst for most of the South Carolina offense. For Alabama, Laura Steiner has 14 kills, leading four Crimson Tide players that posted double digits.
South Carolina coach Scott Swanson was pleased with his team’s play in the first set but attributed the Gamecocks’ loss to Alabama to a series of costly mistakes.
“We put a lot of pressure on Alabama in set one,” Swanson said. “As soon as that set was over, they switched sides and flipped the switch and played on a completely different level. And I felt we let them get their confidence back by making a bunch of errors. We had 28 hitting errors, which is uncharacteristic from what we average a game. When you’re playing a team that’s playing well and you’re giving up free points, it’s hard to overcome that.”
Swanson went on to say that while his team did do some things well, he felt they lost because in the end they tried to do too much with their shots rather than make simple plays and keep the ball in the court. He also pointed to Alabama’s domination of net play as a big reason that the Crimson Tide were able to come back after the first set.
At roughly the midpoint of their season, the Gamecocks will travel to Conway tonight for a nonconference game at 6 p.m. against Coastal Carolina. The Gamecocks will be hoping to snap their losing streak against the Chanticleers (7-10, 5-2 Big South), who are coming off a 3-1 victory at home against Liberty. Coastal Carolina is led by outside hitter Gabriella Horvath, who leads the team in kills. Defensive specialist Jamie DiMaggio leads the Chanticleers in digs.
Swanson expects the game to be a remedy for his struggling team, but he also said Coastal Carolina would be fired up for a game against a bigger school like USC and the Gamecocks could ill afford to repeat the mistakes it made against Alabama.
“We have to manage risk. We can’t have a bunch of hitting errors again; it doesn’t matter who you’re playing if you’re killing yourself on your own side,” Swanson said. “It’s going to be one of those matches that we’re going to have to play well since we’re going to their place. The pressure is on us because we’re the big school and we’re supposed to beat them. Sometimes those kind of matches can be real tough, and we’re going to have to be ready to go in there and take care of business.”
After they take on the Chanticleers, the Gamecocks will travel to Mississippi for the weekend to play both Mississippi State and Ole Miss.