The South Carolina volleyball team swept Tennessee at home in three sets on Sunday afternoon at the Carolina Volleyball Center. Star performances from junior outside hitter Alayna Johnson and junior setter Sarah Jordan led the way for the Gamecocks in the win.
South Carolina started the match going back and forth with Tennessee before a 4-0 run allowed the Gamecocks to increase its lead. South Carolina continued to keep the momentum on its side, holding onto its lead for the rest of an opening set that ended in a 10-1 scoring run and a 25-12 win for the Gamecocks.
The second set would be much tighter between the Gamecocks and the Volunteers.
The set featured nine separate ties, with the Gamecocks being able to hold onto its lead through the first five. The Gamecocks streak of hanging onto its lead broke when a service ace from the Volunteers put Tennessee up 25-24.
After the Gamecocks re-tied the match, the two teams continued to exchange points until the Gamecocks scored its 28th and 29th points of the set to take the win 29-27.
"It felt like a match of its own, " head coach Tom Mendoza said.
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the third set before the Volunteers answered with a 7-point run to take take the lead. A 5-point run from the Gamecocks would put the set back in its favor, making the score 12-9.
The Gamecocks held onto that lead before a 4-point run from the Volunteers saw the team take an 18-17 lead, leading to a Gamecock timeout. Both teams went on their own small runs out of the timeout to tie up the match at 20 before back-and-forth scoring eventually led the Gamecocks to close the set and match with a 25-23 win.
"Both the second (set) and the third (set) could've been a coin flip," Mendoza said. "It was just who was going to make more plays at the end, and fortunately, we were able to do that."
Johnson shines in opening set
Johnson had nine of the team’s 15 kills in the match's opening set. She was also efficient throughout the match, holding a hitting percentage of .240 and a team-high kill percentage of .480. Johnson also had the third highest amount of digs on the team with seven.
"My setter Sarah (Jordan) was giving me some great balls, our passes were putting me in great positions," Johnson said. "Our middles were running the routes so I could get good situations to hit some balls."
Jordan earns most assists
The team managed in Sunday's match to put up 34 assists. Jordan had 30 of those.
"I think our passing was so spot-on that I was able to get my hands on a lot of things," Jordan said. "Obviously, it starts with the pass, and they were on it today, and then just my hitters being ready. "
Strong blocking game
The Gamecocks today had 10 total blocks, led by sophomore outside hitter Tireh Smith, graduate middle blocker Ellie Ruprich and senior middle blocker Oby Anadi.
“When our attacking was a little up and down in sets two and three, our blocking was huge," Mendoza said. "I think we won (the second set) on a block as well".
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will travel to face the Arkansas Razorbacks on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+.