The South Carolina volleyball team fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 3-1 on Oct. 5 at the Carolina Volleyball Center. This conference matchup brings the Gamecock's overall record to 6-8, with a conference record of 0-4.
To start off the first set, Georgia scored the first point after an attacking error committed by senior middle Emily Beeker.
While Georgia was quick to come out with a 4-0 run due to more South Carolina attacking errors, senior outside hitter Alayna Johnson earned the Gamecocks' first point of the match off a kill.
South Carolina was able to take an 8-5 lead after an early 6-0 run, as a result of errors committed by Georgia and strong offense displayed by the Gamecocks.
With the score tied at 13-13, Georgia regained offensive momentum and the lead after attacking errors from Johnson, sophomore right side hitter Elise Marchal and Beeker.
Georgia was able to pull away from South Carolina and win the first set 25-21 after a service error from senior setter Kimmie Thompson.
To start off the second set, South Carolina won the first point and was able to take an early 5-1 lead after a 4-0 run.
Even after an early Georgia timeout, the Gamecocks' offensive momentum only grew, further dominating the second set with an 18-5 lead after a 10-0 run.
Service aces from sophomore libero Victoria Harris, kills from Johnson and blocks from Marchal and junior middle Ava Leahy allowed the Gamecocks to surge ahead, winning the set 25-12 shortly after.
Though the Gamecocks won the first point of the third set, Georgia built an early 4-1 lead. The Bulldogs were able to find further offensive rhythm, quickly edging away from South Carolina with a 12-3 lead.
South Carolina managed to slowly close the gap, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to 3 points, 18-15. Despite the Bulldogs gaining a few more points, South Carolina caught up to Georgia after a 3-0 run. However, Georgia was able to pull away and take the third set 25-21.
To start off the fourth set, South Carolina scored first with a block from Leahy and junior right side hitter Laiya Ebo. Georgia was able to edge out an early 8-5 lead, resulting in a timeout by South Carolina.
While a kill and a block by Beeker tied the score at 13-13, Georgia still held strong offensively, despite strong fight displayed from the Gamecocks. The Bulldogs were eventually able to win the fourth set 25-22, ending the match.
Season highs
While South Carolina had a team total of 50 kills, 16 of those came from Johnson. This ties her season-high record number of kills in a match and improves her total number of kills to 154.
Along with Johnson, Ebo also achieved her season-high record number of kills with 12, bringing her total number of kills to 20.
Blocking comes in big
Like Johnson and Ebo, Leahy was also able to achieve a season high, this time in blocking. The Gamecocks were able to put up 12 blocks, with nine of those coming from Leahy, who led the team in blocks. Marchal was able to achieve the second highest number of blocks during the match with six.
South Carolina ranks 14th in the SEC with a total number of 1.96 blocks per set and 104 total blocks on the season.
Mentally tested
While the Gamecocks put up a fight against Georgia on the offensive side, they also put up a fight on the mental side of things, according to head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. South Carolina was able to go on a few streaks and able to get the Bulldogs out of system on serves, which helped boost the team’s confidence in blocking.
However, Rumely Noble still said there are some things the team needs to improve upon.
“I think that we need to play a little bit better as a unit together," Rumely Noble said. "I feel like we weren’t quite organized in the manner in which I would like to see us, the manner in which we were kind of approaching the match, the mojo that we normally play with, we didn’t have that the whole time.”
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in Norman, Oklahoma. The game will be streamed on the SEC+ network.