Lawing ends three digs shy of school record
The South Carolina volleyball team had the opportunity to become the fourth team at USC to knock off a top-ranked team this year, but they were unable to stop Florida’s powerful attack.
The Gamecocks lost their final match of the year to No. 1 Florida on Friday, and senior Hannah Lawing fell just three digs short of history.
Lawing finished with eight digs to lead the team for the 28th time in 30 matches. Lawing became the second player in program history to reach 500 career digs. However, she was unable to beat the all-time single-season record held by Diane Denton.
The contest with Florida didn’t last long, as the Gators won the match in straight sets, 14-25, 16-25 and 12-25, increasing its record to 27-1. They were named the first overall seed in the NCAA Tournament bracket released Sunday.
Callie Rivers, daughter of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, led the Gators in scoring with nine kills. The visitors dominated at the net, outblocking South Carolina 15 to three. They won the hitting percentage convincingly as well, hitting .416 to South Carolina’s .081.
South Carolina freshman Juliette Thevenin added 12 kills to her outstanding season, finishing with 350. Senior Megan Laughlin also had three kills in her final game at South Carolina.
The second set was the closest the Gamecocks came to taking a set from the Gators. The match was 8-6 before the Gators went on a five-point run.
In the end of the set, South Carolina was able to hold off four set points from Florida, but eventually lost 16-25.
The Gamecocks finished ninth in the SEC, with a record of 7-23, 4-16 SEC.