Gamecocks record season-high 14 blocks in loss to Blue Devils
The South Carolina volleyball team came away with two wins in the three matches it played over the weekend in Durham, N.C., at the Blue Devil Classic.
After a tough stretch with three losses at the Big Orange Bash in Clemson, the Gamecocks fared better at Duke. In its doubleheader on Friday, South Carolina beat Utah State 3-1 in the morning and won 3-0 against Liberty in the evening match. The Gamecocks lost to the hosts on Saturday, as Duke beat them 3-1 to cap off the tournament.
Against the Blue Devils, the Gamecocks had a season-high 14 blocks — the most a South Carolina team has had since Nov. 26, 2008, when they recorded 14 at home against Florida. It was not enough to come up with a win though, and South Carolina lost 27-25, 17-25, 25-22 and 21-25.
“That was something that really stood out to us,” head coach Scott Swanson said. “We blocked well and we served well. Our strategy was serving the ball short to kind of disrupt their offense and we executed really well. You could predict where they were going to set. That was a big reason for the blocking numbers.”
Freshman Jacqy Angermiller, who was out the first few weeks with a hip flexor injury, had a strong showing at the net against Duke with a career-high nine block assists. Sophomore setter Kellie McNeil added five blocks and distributed 24 assists in total. Senior outside hitter Juliette Thévenin recorded a team-high 15 kills against the Blue Devils and had four blocks to go along with it. Swanson said Angermiller is a big help offensively and defensively and that she has been working to get back into game shape after the missed time.
Sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Campbell impressed for the Blue Devils, tallying 25 kills in the victory. Her teammate, junior setter Maggie Deichmeister was also in good form, recording 56 assists in the match.
As a team, South Carolina hit .209 and finished with 43 kills, while the Blue Devils finished with 71 kills and had a solid .258 hitting percentage.
Duke led 17-12 in the first set, but with a Thévenin kill the Gamecocks roared back to make it 18-17. The two teams fought to a 22-22 tie, but then Duke won the set with a final three points.
USC recorded eight blocks in the second set; an 18-15 lead was followed by a second set win 25-20, but Duke jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the third set and won with 25-20. In the fourth set, the Gamecocks scrambled back from a deficit to trail only 19-17, but never made up any more ground and Duke prevailed for the match.
In the match against Utah State, Thévenin and sophomore Darian Dozier shined with 14 kills each. Angermiller added eight kills and four blocks as the Gamecocks outhit Utah State .174 to .145 to go along with a 57-45 advantage in kills. USC lost the first set 16-25, but then bounced back in the next three, beating the Aggies 25-22, 25-20 and 25-19.
In the evening, the Gamecocks put up scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-21 to beat Liberty. Thévenin had a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs, while Angermiller and fellow freshman KoKo Atoa-Williams had eight and nine kills, respectively. South Carolina outhit the Flames .254 to .110 on its way to the victory.
McNeil and Dozier were among those who received All-Tournament honors at the Invitational.
Swanson said he thought the Clemson match shook the team’s confidence a little bit but that the team has put it behind them and are now moving on.
“We were up and down a little bit,” he said. “We struggled with our passing in the first match against Utah State and still managed to win that one. Overall, our serving got a little better, our passing got a little better, and for sure, our blocking improved.”
After the weekend, USC sits at 5-4 and hosts the Carolina Classic this weekend, where its first matchup is against Western Carolina Friday at 7 p.m.
“We just keep focusing on the good things that are happening and the improvements we’re making.” Swanson said. “Our expectations are to give our best shot every time. We don’t have any set goals for conference wins or things like that; we just want to go out there and see what happens.”