USC sees top performance from junior Thevenin
The South Carolina women’s volleyball team was swept by Ole Miss Sunday afternoon, ending its weekend in Mississippi with a 1-1 mark.
Juliette Thevenin and Jenna Allen both had nine kills for South Carolina (15-8, 3-8 SEC), and Thevenin also led the Gamecocks with 12 digs. Ole Miss’ Nakeyta Clair led all players with 14 kills also posted eight blocks. Amanda Philpot had 31 assists, 22 digs and five kills for the Rebels. The Gamecocks tried to make the third set interesting, leading 17-15 at one point, but Ole Miss eventually won 25-21, ending the game on a six-point run.
South Carolina coach Scott Swanson said he felt many aspects of the game could have gone better for his team, and that Ole Miss simply played better than USC by doing several things well from the start.
“Mississippi put a lot of pressure on us from the beginning,” he said. “They played great defense; they were blocking great and digging great. We started to fall apart mentally and couldn’t execute. I thought we served well and played some decent defense at times, but they were more physical than us, and we had a hard time blocking them at times. Our serve receive fell apart and then we got blocked even more because we had to set higher balls.”
Swanson described the game as “a really tough day,” and said he didn’t feel his team was mentally prepared to give their best effort. The Rebels won all stat categories except serving, where the Gamecocks had two aces and no errors.
On Friday night in Starkville, Miss., South Carolina rode a perfect hitting effort from Thevenin to a straight sets victory over Mississippi State, which remains winless in the SEC. Thevenin, the junior outside-hitter who has established herself this season as South Carolina’s primary offensive threat, had a match-high 15 kills and no errors, hitting .556 for the match.
Cara Howley served five of the Gamecocks’ nine aces. Junior libero Paige Wheeler led all players with 16 digs, continuing what has been a solid defensive season for her. Jenna Allen and Bethanie Thomas both posted double digits in digs, with 14 and 13, respectively.
After stressing after last weekend’s losses that his team had to hit more efficiently and effectively, Swanson said he was pleased with Thevenin’s offensive game and the offensive effort of the entire team.
“[It was] incredible efficiency by not just [Thevenin], but the whole team,” Swanson said. “We only had five hitting errors and two serving errors in three whole sets. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen as a coach as far as [offensive efficiency] goes, regardless of how much Mississippi State is struggling right now.”
He went on to point out that the Bulldogs were without a true setter after their setter left the team, which made it easier for his squad to hit more effectively.
The Bulldogs had a .000 hitting percentage in the final set and hit only .074 for the entire match. The Gamecocks also won every stat category.
The Gamecocks will return to Columbia this weekend and try to exact revenge on two teams that beat them earlier this season.
They’ll take on Auburn at 7 p.m. Friday, and Texas A&M at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. South Carolina lost at Auburn in four sets on Sept. 21, and was beaten in straight sets at Texas A&M on Oct. 5.