South Carolina volleyball team returned home to host the Carolina Classic and had a clean sweep finishing 3-0 on Saturday. The Gamecocks defeated East Carolina, Charleston Southern and Wofford.
Entering Friday’s game against East Carolina, the Gamecocks were on a four-match losing streak and needed a turnaround. Senior Sarah Blomgren helped give South Carolina an early 5-1 lead in the first set. The Pirates kept the score in close range for the entire set, but the Gamecocks held onto their lead and took the first set 25-22. The beginning of the second set was back-and-forth, but not for long. The Gamecocks went on a 9-2 run and were on a roll. They kept up the momentum and went on to win the set 25-14. South Carolina went on a 15-2 opening run in the third set. There was no stopping them, and they won the set 25-8 and the match 3-0.
The Gamecocks faced Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon. Charleston Southern took an early lead in the match with a 25-23 first set win. The second set was also very close, but the Gamecocks were able to take the 25-21 win. The Gamecocks came on firing in the third set, taking an early 15-8 lead. They never looked back and got the win, 25-13, to lead the match 2-1. Charleston Southern tried to come back in the fourth, but South Carolina surged to win it 25-20 and win the match 3-1.
South Carolina finished the Carolina Classic against Wofford Sunday night. The Gamecocks took an early lead in the first and kept in the entire set to win it 25-19. The second set was also dominated by the Gamecocks, with seven kills from senior Darian Dozier, and they won it 25-14. The first half of the third set was very close, but the Gamecocks would pull away to get the 25-19 win, and win the match 3-0.
Head coach Scott Swanson was nervous during the Wofford game only because of the tough competition ahead for his team.
“I was really proud of the kids for hanging in there," Swanson said. "We started playing more disciplined and we started communicating better and we had some really awesome performances from a few different hitters who got double-digit kills with high hitting percentages."
Blomgren had a total of 41 kills and received the tournament’s MVP award for the weekend.
South Carolina is now 7-5 overall will be back in action at home Tuesday against Coastal Carolina.