Senior star Juliette Thevenin twists ankle in final match
The South Carolina women’s volleyball team put its unblemished home record on the line this weekend as it played host to the Carolina Classic. After spending the first half of the month on the road, the Gamecocks (8-4) returned home to beat Western Carolina and Presbyterian College in three-set matches and defeat Robert Morris University in four sets.
“I thought, for the most part, we played pretty well,” head coach Scott Swanson said. “We probably had to recover from adversity the most in the Robert Morris match. I’m glad that we kind of snapped out of it and came out and played awesome against Presbyterian.”
The Gamecocks, who are 6-0 at home, were led by their senior outside hitter and tri-captain Juliette Thévenin, who registered 57 kills over the weekend and picked up the tournament’s MVP award.
South Carolina and Western Carolina stayed close throughout the first set, but the Gamecocks eventually broke away and took the set 25-18. Fueled by a 6-0 opening run, South Carolina grabbed the lead early in the second set and never relinquished it, winning 25-18. The Catamounts put up a fight in the third set and pulled within two points to make it a 21-19 game. The Gamecocks called a timeout and picked up the next four points to finish Western Carolina off for good, 25-19.
Robert Morris University was the only opponent to win a set against South Carolina. It took 26 points to win the first set after the Colonials rallied from three points down to tie the set at 24 each. A kill by freshman Jacqy Angermiller put the Gamecocks up and a block by Sarah Blomgren and Darian Dozier on the ensuing play gave South Carolina the 26-24 win. The teams split the next two sets to bring the match to a 2-1 Gamecocks advantage. South Carolina went on an 11-3 run to end the fourth match and claim a 25-16 victory to win the match.
In the final match, the Gamecocks’ defense held Presbyterian to 12, 15 and 21 points in a clean sweep of the Blue Hose. Junior libero Michaela Christiaansen led the way with ten digs and Kellie McNeil chipped in with eight.
Thévenin went down holding her ankle about halfway through the third set against Presbyterian. The possibility of a long-term injury could come as a huge blow to the Gamecocks, who have only one other senior on their roster.
“All I know is that she twisted her ankle,” Swanson said. “I asked her if she thought she was going to be OK, and she said yes.”
Swanson said that he hopes Thévenin will be ready to go when they travel to Missouri on Friday to open up SEC play.