USC sees promising performances from inexperienced players
The South Carolina women’s volleyball team fell to both of its opponents over the weekend, losing to Texas A&M in straight sets Sunday afternoon at home after losing to Auburn on Friday night.
Outside hitter Juliette Thévenin continued an impressive junior campaign for South Carolina (15-10, 3-10 SEC), leading the team with 10 kills. Junior libero Paige Wheeler had 12 digs, and freshmen Darian Dozier and Christina Vereb both had three block assists. Lindsey Miller led the Aggies with 13 kills and a .550 percentage for the match. Texas A&M served seven aces, including three from Alisia Kastmo. Kastmo also posted nine kills.
After Texas A&M won the first two sets, the Gamecocks kept the final set close, taking the lead late on a 7-1 run to lead 20-19. The Aggies closed out the match in straight sets in the end, scoring the final point on a Miller kill, one of six she had in the final set. Texas A&M won every statistical category, the closest being a 40-39 advantage in digs. Gamecocks’ coach Scott Swanson was glad his team was able to make the third set competitive, but overall felt his team was outplayed once again by a much more experienced squad.
“(Yesterday’s game) was a lot of inexperienced young kids out there, playing physically talented, experienced players,” Swanson said. “We did fight, which was good to see in that third game, that we kept fighting until the end. If it wasn’t for a couple errors on our part we could have taken that set. Right now it is what it is, we’re trying to get it sorted out, gain experience and build for our future.”
On Friday night, South Carolina suffered another straight sets loss to Auburn. In spite of the defeat, freshman middle blocker Darian Dozier had a .400 hitting percentage and 12 kills, the most in her short career for South Carolina. Thévenin added 10 kills, and Wheeler had 10 digs. Sarah Bullock had 13 kills and 12 digs for Auburn without any errors. Katherine Culwell led the Tigers in kills with 14. The Tigers were very efficient, hitting .474 for the match to South Carolina’s .228. The Gamecocks and Tigers each had five blocks, the Gamecocks won the aces category 3-1, but Auburn won all other stat categories. Swanson was very pleased with the effort of Dozier and feels she’s on her way to being a key component for his team down the road.
“It’s promising for us. She fits the mold of what an SEC athlete looks like,” Swanson said. “She’s 6-foot-2, she’s got long arms, she’s a very good athlete who jumps easily off the floor and she’s getting better and better at a new position. She’s learning on the run and learning under pressure against team after team ... if she figures some things out, she’s going to be really good in the future. We’re excited about that.”
This weekend, South Carolina travels to Missouri and Kentucky for its first meeting this season with both schools. Kentucky promises to be a tough test, as it is second in the SEC East behind Florida and has an 8-2 record at home this season.
When the Gamecocks make their first ever trip to Columbia, Mo., it will be a matchup of the bottom two teams in the East, with Missouri at 7-6 in SEC play.