McNeil to miss rest of season with foot injury
This past weekend was one to forget for the South Carolina volleyball team. Not only did the Gamecocks drop a pair of SEC matches, but coach Scott Swanson announced that setter Kellie McNeil’s season is over, due to a foot injury.
The sophomore from Eagan, Minn., was averaging more than ten assists per set and had 78 kills to her name this season.
Freshman Helen Récaborde started at the setter position for the Gamecocks this weekend and is expected to hold that position for the rest of the year.
“We have what we have,” Swanson said. “She’s a freshman and she’s doing the best she can. Obviously it’s unfair to place any great expectations on her because she kind of came [into the season] to be the backup.”
Next, South Carolina will turn its focus to No. 5 Florida whose name and ranking do not strike a chord of relief with the Gamecocks.
The Gators are currently riding a four-game win streak, during which they have beat Auburn, Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M. Their lone SEC loss came at the hands of unbeaten Missouri, a 3-1 defeat at the Tigers’ home court.
An established national powerhouse, Florida is second in the nation for hitting percentage (.330) and is led by middle blocker Chloe Mann. A native of Gainesville, Fla., Mann leads the NCAA in hitting percentage with an impressive .514 mark. She is Florida’s career leader in that category and is coming off an SEC Player of the Year award from last year. The Gators’ freshman right side hitter, Alex Holston, is No. 14 on the list with .428.
Hoping to be back at near-full strength, South Carolina expects to return outside hitter Juliette Thevenin and middle blocker Jacqy Angermiller as they each missed at least one game this weekend due to illness. Thevenin leads the Gamecocks in kills and is tied for fourth in the country with 4.86 kills per set.
“I think it’s really good going into Florida knowing that we have [Thevenin and Angermiller] back,” junior Michaela Christiaansen said. “Juliette is a core part of our team, and she’s definitely a leader on the court. Jacqy has an awesome block and gets us a lot of points, so I think it’ll help our confidence going in knowing that we have them back.”
The last time the Gamecocks faced Florida was a 3-0 loss a season ago to the then-16th-ranked Gators. Živa Recek and Chloe Mann led the way for the Gators, both recording double-digit kills. Recek also delivered a double-double with 17 kills and ten digs. Florida returns each one of its starters from last season, except for Betsy Smith, who notched 11 kills last year against South Carolina.
The game is set to broadcast on ESPNU Wednesday with the first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. The game is South Carolina’s first nationally televised match of the season.
Christiaansen knows her team is young, but she wants to show those watching nationally that they will be a force to be reckoned in the coming years.
“We definitely want to show that we fight for everything,” Christiaansen said. “We’re not the type of team that lets up. We try to give it our all every match.”