Gamecocks will lose key players from 2013 season
In a season where South Carolina failed to match the 2012 team’s win total, head coach Scott Swanson is sticking to what he said at the beginning of the season.
Fielding a team featuring 10 freshmen and one transfer player, Swanson said he wasn’t setting any goals for conference wins or things of that nature in anticipation for 2013. Instead, he was focused on seeing his team fight to the last point and ultimately gain experience as a team.
“I think we know now more than ever,” Swanson said. “They got to get an idea of the speed that the SEC brings … they kind of got exposed at times, whether it be their footwork or just the ability to play a ball that’s coming at them harder than it was in high school or in club volleyball.”
South Carolina finished the season with eight consecutive shutout losses, Setter Kellie McNeil was forced to miss all of those matches due to a season-ending foot injury. The Gamecocks struggled to find a replacement for McNeil, who was the glue for their offensive attack. At the time of her injury, McNeil was averaging more than ten assists per set, owning 834 on the season.
Through the remaining month, South Carolina used freshman Helen Récaborde to fill the hole left by McNeil. The Gamecocks found McNeil’s proficiency hard to replace, as they averaged a .096 shooting percentage with Récaborde as the setter. The team was averaging .236 before the McNeil injury.
Pushed into the starting lineup, Récaborde finished her 2013 campaign with an average of just fewer than seven assists per set. The freshman from Atlanta enjoyed a career-high day in assists when she recorded 34 in a three-set loss to Alabama.
Récaborde was one of nine South Carolina freshmen to see game action this season. After seeing what the competition level is like in college and specifically in the SEC, Swanson expects his team to demand better of themselves.
“I think they all kind of get it now that they have to get better and they have to get stronger and faster,” Swanson said. “That’s usually how freshmen get motivated to work harder in the off-season.”
Swanson also said that ball control would continue to be a focal point heading into the off-season.
A major hit for the Gamecocks will undoubtedly be the departure of senior outside hitter Juliette Thévenin. Although South Carolina’s senior class only includes two players — Juliette Thévenin and Lindsey Craft, the two accounted for 34 percent of the Gamecocks’ kills this season. The majority of those kills came at the hands of Thévenin, who finished her South Carolina career with 1,590 kills — third-most in school history. Thévenin also became the second player in program history to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. Amy Iannoccari did so too, as she notched 1,231 kills and 1,012 digs from 1991 to 1994.
Heading into the off-season, Swanson has the comfort of knowing his recruiting class is locked up. Swanson said that the 2014 and 2015 classes have already committed. He also noted that they will continue to go after younger players, and are already talking to 2016 and 2017 recruits.
“You’ve got to find the right fit,” Swanson said. “But we’re recruiting very young and so it’s hard to know exactly how well or how quickly they’re going to develop. That’s always a risk. You’re talking about recruiting that far out that, and that’s what we have to do in our business.”
As it is now, Swanson will continue to sell the program as one that is continually getting better. The younger Gamecocks will head into the off-season with the familiarities of collegiate play fresh in their minds, knowing what lies ahead of them next fall.