Swanson disappointed with Sunday play
The South Carolina women’s volleyball team suffered a straight sets defeat to Ole Miss in front of 1,004 fans on Sunday to drop both of the contests they played in Columbia over the weekend.
South Carolina (13-4, 2-4 SEC) made the final set competitive despite Ole Miss starting on a 10-1 run, but eventually fell short and lost 25-23. Junior Lindsey Craft had 12 digs for the Gamecocks, leading the team. Middle blocker Cara Howley led the team in points with nine, and outside hitter Juliette Thévenin posted six kills. The Rebels’ Kara Morgan led the match in kills with eight.
Setter Amanda Philpot was a huge asset for the Ole Miss offense, posting 24 assists. Ashley Veach and Rachael McLamore of Ole Miss combined for 23 digs. Gamecocks’ coach Scott Swanson was disappointed that his team didn’t perform better against a team that he felt it should have beaten.
“This was definitely our weakest performance of the year,” he said. “We had a couple kids who weren’t feeling well ... I believe that we’re a better team than Ole Miss if we play to our potential. It was kind of a freak day, kind of an anomaly the way we were mentally unprepared to play.”
He went on to say that he especially expected more from Sunday’s game after his team battled a better Florida team, ranked No. 12, in a four-set loss on Friday night, feeling that if his team had shown the motivation they did in that match to beat a top-25 team, they would have come out on top.
The Rebels won every stat category except aces and service errors; South Carolina had one more ace than Ole Miss and three fewer service errors.
Chloe Mann led the Florida game in kills with 20, and Bethanie Thomas led the Gamecocks with 14. Thomas also had nine digs. Howley had 16 points on 12 kills, two aces and three blocks. Freshman Jenna Allen had her best game so far as a Gamecock, posting 10 kills. After losing the first two sets, South Carolina battled back, winning the third set 25-21. Florida then wrapped up the match in the fourth set, winning 25-17. Swanson was especially pleased with Thomas’ effort, whose offense in the third set help the Gamecocks extend the match.
“Our plan was to fool the big blocks they put in front of us, and she’s really good at that; she became even better at it tonight,” he said of Thomas. “For her to hit .444 against that block, that caliber of a team, and they have an unbelievable libero, is really impressive. She definitely stepped up for us in the absence of Juliette (Thévenin) who had to come out.”
Swanson commended Florida for what he thought was a flawless performance from them, particularly in the first two sets.
“In the first two sets, they had two hitting errors,” he said. “I don’t know if a lot of teams could do that on an open net.”
Going forward, Swanson said he wants a stronger mental attitude, particularly heading toward two road matches against Texas A&M and LSU. He also stressed better efficiency and more sound, errorless play. The Gamecocks will have their first meeting of the season with the Aggies on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in College Station, Texas. After winning a five-set thriller earlier this season, they’ll face LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.