Volleyball looks to earn upset victories over Missouri, Alabama at home this weekend
For a South Carolina volleyball team that is reeling after dropping its last five SEC matches and losing several key players to injury, a weekend visit from No. 6 Missouri and Alabama must seem like scheduling overkill.
The Tigers (29-0, 13-0 SEC) are undefeated this season, while Alabama (20-7, 7-5 SEC) stands in fourth place in the conference. Sunday’s match against Missouri will mark the end of a five-game stretch that has seen South Carolina (12-14, 3-10 SEC) face each of the top five teams in the SEC.
South Carolina either has played or will play each of those five matches without setter Kellie McNeil, whose season is over due to a foot injury. While the setter position is an integral part of any offense, coach Scott Swanson will look to the rest of the team to help fill the void left by McNeil’s absence.
“If we pass better, if we dig better and if we do a lot of other things better, that will definitely help us,” Swanson said. “We’re not going to be as consistent as we would have been, but that’s what happens with injuries.”
Alabama is perhaps better than its modest 7-5 SEC record indicates. The Crimson Tide have lost twice to Missouri, as well as once to Florida and twice to Kentucky. Discarding those losses to top competition, Alabama is 7-0 against the rest of the conference. Coming off a 3-1 loss to Missouri, Alabama is the first team in five games to win a set against the Tigers. Missouri had previously defeated Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Auburn consecutively with a score of 3-0. Alabama is anchored by a strong one-two punch in outside hitter Brittany Thomas and middle blocker Krystal Rivers. The duo has combined for 694 kills so far this season.
Missouri’s unprecedented domination of the SEC comes at the heels of a 2012 campaign that saw the Tigers go just 19-11 in their first year in the conference. This season, the Tigers are averaging more than two kills per set than a year ago. Another major difference between this year’s Missouri squad and last season’s is the differential in shot percentage. Last year, Missouri shot .260 for the year while allowing opponents to shoot .203. This year, the team is shooting a much-improved .360, as well as limiting its opposition to a .173 mark.
The Tigers’ versatility is evident by the four players on the team who have amassed over 200 kills so far this season. The Gamecocks have just one in Juliette Thévenin, who has 408.
South Carolina could have a tough time defending Missouri’s senior outside hitter Lisa Henning, who recently became the school’s all-time leader in kills with 1,701. Henning had 14 kills on 18 attempts last time the two teams met, which was good for an astounding .722 shot percentage.
The Gamecocks will have only three matches left to play after the conclusion of this weekend. South Carolina will travel to Arkansas then return home to play LSU before closing out the regular season at Texas A&M. Those games will be the last in a South Carolina uniform for seniors Lindsey Craft and Juliette Thévenin. Knowing the end of the season is near, junior Michaela Christiaansen wants to end on a positive note for the seniors.
“Nearing the end of the season, it’s nice to know that it’s the final push before you’re done,” Christiaansen said. “It’s motivation for us, you know? This is our last time with our seniors, so we want to give it our all and try to finish strong.”