The South Carolina indoor volleyball team faced rival Clemson on Friday to begin Furman’s Carolina Classic. The Gamecocks won the match 3-1 and bragging rights over the Tigers.
Both teams began the game strong, but Clemson held a small lead. The Gamecocks fought back and tied the set at 24, but the Tigers scored the next two to win the first set 26-24 and take a 1-0 lead.
The teams came back into the second set and were again evenly matched throughout. The Gamecocks went on a late 7-2 run to win the set 25-23 and tie the match at 1.
The third set was another close back and forth battle. Once again, the Gamecocks edged out the Tigers to claim the set 25-23 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the fourth set. They maintained their lead the entire set and went on to get the win, 25-15, and win the match 3-1.
Junior Dessaa Legros had one of the best nights of her career. She had her first double-double and had 21 kills and 19 digs, a career high. Senior Darian Dozier also had a great night with 13 kills.
This was the first time the Gamecocks beat the Tigers since September 2012.
The Gamecocks were back in action on Saturday to close out Furman’s Carolina Classic. They started the afternoon against Winthrop and did not start out strong, as Winthrop took an early 5-2 lead in the first set. The Gamecocks attempted to make a comeback and tied the set at 23, but the Eagles pulled ahead to win 26-24.
Winthrop continued to hold a lead over South Carolina early in the second set. The Gamecocks tried to keep it close and tied the set at 10, but the Eagles took control over the set to take the win 25-19.
Down in the match 0-2, the Gamecocks needed to make a comeback and took an early 8-5 lead in the third. Another close set with a tie at 14, but the Gamecocks were on a roll and won the set 25-21 to stay alive in the match.
South Carolina came into the fourth set strong, again taking an early lead. They held the lead on Winthrop the whole set to eventually get the win, 25-20, and tie the match at 2.
Both teams were even for most of the fifth set, but the Gamecocks took a late lead to win the set 15-12 and win the match 3-2.
The Gamecocks faced Furman in the evening and quickly fell behind in the first set. Furman had complete control and won the set 25-14.
South Carolina kept pace for most of the second set as it went back and forth constantly. They eventually topped the Paladins 30-28 to tie the match at 2.
Furman took another early lead in the third set, leading 14-10. The Gamecocks end up falling short in the third and dropped the set, 25-17, giving Furman the match lead 2-1.
Similar to the second set, the fourth was very close and back and forth, but the Paladins eventually pulled away to win the set 25-22 and win the match 3-1.
South Carolina is now 4-2 on the season. The Gamecocks will face Pittsburgh and Michigan on Friday and Western Michigan on Saturday.