Youth powers Gamecocks in opening victories
After a 3-0 start to their season, the Gamecock volleyball team will head to Rock Hill to take on in-state rival Clemson (4-0), Furman (1-2) and Winthrop (2-3) as a part of the Winthrop invitational.
For South Carolina so far, it’s been a fountain of youth that propelled the team’s early success, particularly sophomore Koko Atoa-Williams and freshman Taylr McNeil.
Through three games, Atoa-Williams and McNeil have combined for 70 kills, leading the team and staying in the squad’s top three leaders in digs. And between the two of them, they have only one serving error. The boost they’ve given the team thus far is immeasurable, as neither was on the roster last year.
Both players have made the post-Juliette Thévenin transition rather smooth, after all. Thévenin was one of the best volleyball players in USC history, boasting an all-time career record in kills for the Gamecocks.
Head coach Scott Swanson was grateful for Atoa-Williams and McNeil’s contributions thus far.
“The thing with Koko and Taylr is they’re just so athletic and versatile,” Swanson said. “They kill extremely well. They can block, set, dig, serve and do just about everything we need them to and it really is nice having two younger kids set the tone for us up front because it really does speak to how talented we are all the way around.”
Of course, whenever the Clemson Tigers step on the court, the field or the pitch, there’s going to be a little extra fire in the hearts of Gamecock players and fans alike.
To say that the rivalry is intense would be like saying that Michael Jordan was a pretty good basketball player.
Its roots are ingrained deep into the culture and history of South Carolina and can never truly be understood unless you live among the people who eat, sleep and breathe Gamecock and Tiger sporting events.
Friday will be no different.
This will be the 60th meeting between South Carolina and Clemson with the Gamecocks leading the all-time series 36-23, and South Carolina does not want the Tigers to gain ground in the rivalry.
Still, Swanson kept relatively calm when describing what the game means to his team.
“I mean, I really don’t think they need any extra motivation,” Coach Swanson said. “They know what’s at stake here in terms of this rivalry game. They know it’s a big deal. We don’t want to come back to campus with a loss to Clemson. There’s a huge pride factor here.”
In comparison to the three victories against lower-tier competition for the Gamecocks, the Tigers are undoubtedly the best team they will have seen this season. And along with a better team comes a slightly different approach.
“We’re going to scout and prepare the same way we would for an SEC opponent, try to do everything we can to slow them down offensively, figure out who we want to target, who we want to serve,” Swanson said. “So it’s not that much different, but they’re the closest thing to an SEC opponent that we face in our non-conference schedule.”
In terms of improvement, Swanson said there are a few areas that need to be specifically addressed and he hopes will be nipped in the bud by the end of this weekend.
“You know, we’re better in a lot of areas,” Swanson said.“But we really, really need to improve on our serve-receive and our picking up of short tipped balls. Those are a couple weaknesses of ours that we practice daily.”