Team rebounds in singles after dropping doubles to Wolfpack
At halftime of South Carolina’s match against No. 34 North Carolina State, coach Josh Goffi told his team to lay it all on the line.
After falling to the Wolfpack in doubles before the intermission, Goffi needed his team to respond with energy. The Gamecocks bounced back to defeat N.C. State 4-3.
“We needed to gut out a tough win, and that is exactly what happened today,” Goffi said.
The Wolfpack swept the Gamecocks in doubles play before South Carolina clinched four wins in singles. In light of South Carolina’s loss to Wake Forest on Friday, Goffi said the theme for the N.C. State match was “finishing.”
“We started out the match well against Wake, and we just didn’t finish,” he said. “That is a sign of lack of belief and maybe a little bit of toughness to be honest.”
Chip Cox, a junior from Myrtle Beach, felt the team took the coach’s message to heart.
“We met in the locker room and decided what we needed to do for singles [is] come out with a ton of energy,” Cox said. “I feel like everyone did an unbelievable job coming out in singles and just getting the momentum back on our side ... I think that is what we have been improving on in each match. That is what is really going to help us get these top ranked wins.”
Cox noted that for him, the match against N.C. State was personal.
“Every year I played this team, we had lost to them,” Cox said. “This time, we really didn’t want to go away and we really wanted this win.”
Although Cox fell in both his singles and doubles matches against N.C. State, Goffi recognized him as one of the key leaders of his team. However, that success also brings a heavy sense of responsibility.
“With Chip playing so high and having a good year, he is going to be high in our lineup,” Goffi said. “And with that comes pressure and tough competition.”
Cox explained that he wanted to continue to improve throughout the season by staying committed to his style of play.
“Sometimes I kind of get away from it in the second set,” he said.
Cox has said he wants to focus on reading the tendencies of his opponent and applying pressure to him in “suffocating” fashion. Ultimately, it comes down to executing the details. He is committed to “finishing easy volleys at the net” and using his ground game to gain points.
Goffi is confident that despite the poor doubles showing, his team can compete with any opponent.
“We have got a very strong doubles point,” he said. “We are a little scared to lead right now against some of the better teams. They don’t realize that they are actually that good.”
However, he believes that over time, the team’s confidence will build. To succeed in the long run, Goffi said his players simply have to convince themselves they are capable.
“When you get leads, you got to run with them,” he said. “That’s been the issue. These guys have done the work; now it’s time to start believing.”