Gamecocks travel to Arkansas for second-to-last match of 2013
Entering the final stretch of the season, the South Carolina volleyball team is looking to finish the year on a high note.
The Gamecocks will head to Fayetteville, Ark., Friday to face an Arkansas team looking to earn a bid to the conference tournament. The Gamecocks will then return to Columbia to match up against LSU on senior night in what will be the final home game for seniors Juliette Thévenin and Lindsey Craft.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Thévenin said. “I’ve had some ups and downs, but I’ve had a great time here with my teammates and the whole staff.”
South Carolina (12-16, 3-12 SEC) will look to get revenge against Arkansas (14-12, 7-8 SEC) after suffering a 3-2 loss when the Razorbacks visited the Volleyball Competition Facility in October.
Thévenin said focus will be key in the rematch.
“We know we have what we need to win against this team,” Thévenin said. “We need to focus on our side of the net and go all out.”
Both Arkansas and LSU (16-10, 6-8 SEC) are ahead of South Carolina in the conference standings, but with wins against the two sides, the Gamecocks will be within distance of jumping ahead of them both. A victory against the Razorbacks would end the five-game losing skid South Carolina has suffered while facing some of the top teams in the conference.
Three of those losses have come against teams in the top 10 nationally. Head coach Scott Swanson said the team’s tough schedule and inexperience caused the losing streak, but he added that the experiences will pay off in the future.
“A lot of it is just (that) we have a lot of inexperienced young players on the court,” Swanson said. “Even though we’re not winning those matches, we’re getting them that experience.”
Injuries have also contributed to the Gamecocks’ woes, as they recently got back Thévenin after she was sidelined for several games.
“That had a lot to do with our losing streak. We also had some other players out,” Swanson said. “It’s been a little bit of bad luck and not a very good time to have that at the end of the season.”
South Carolina will once again turn to Thévenin, an outside hitter, to carry the team in her final contests as a Gamecock. She continues to dominate the conference in kills, registering 4.77 per set and is second nationally in career kills among active players.
Although she has earned her fair share of personal accolades, Thévenin said she hopes she will simply be remembered for bolstering South Carolina volleyball as a whole.
“I’ve put so much into this program throughout my four years,” Thévenin said. “I want people to remember me as someone who really cared about this program.”
For a team that has been labeled as young throughout the year, Swanson has made a point not to understate the contributions his seniors have made this season.
Swanson said he knows how important Thévenin and Craft have been for the program, adding that South Carolina has been lucky to have them.
“They’ve been awesome; they’ve been very loyal and have hung in there through some tough years, Swanson said. “It’s been crucial to have them here.”