COLUMBIA, S.C. – Gamecock volleyball is jumping in to conference play with both feet, starting a stretch of five SEC matches in eight days with a weekend series against No. 12 Florida (9-2, 1-0 SEC) from Sept. 24-25. Both matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. first serves. South Carolina finished the non-conference season with a 6-4 overall record, most recently splitting two weekend matches at the Hurricanes Invitational.
Both matches can be streamed on the SEC Network+, Paul MacDonald and Dave Weinstein will be on the call.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Florida moved up to No. 12 in the national polls this week and are riding high after picking up a marquee win in its non-conference finale, defeating No. 3 Wisconsin on the road in front of the largest regular season crowd in collegiate volleyball history. The Gators opened SEC play at home Wednesday night against Alabama, sweeping away the Crimson Tide in straight sets for their sixth win in a row – with five sweeps in those six wins. A trio of sophomores are leading the charge in their second seasons in Gainesville, with Merritt Beason, Bre Kelley and Gabby Essix accounting for three of the top four point scorers on the roster. The fourth is senior Syracuse transfer Marina Markova, who leads the team in kills and is hitting a shade under .300 on the left pin. Defense remains Florida’s calling card, the Gators rank seventh nationally in opponent hitting percentage, limiting them to just .133 this season, with an average of 2.81 blocks per set which ranks 12th-highest nationally.
HURRICANE INVITATIONAL NOTABLES
- Friday’s match against the Hurricanes was the first meeting between the two programs in 41 years. Outside of Clemson, it was South Carolina’s first true road win over an ACC team since 2017 when the Gamecocks defeated Duke.
- The Gamecocks were out-everything’d in the win at Miami, giving up more kills (60-56), aces (8-7), digs (56-55) and blocks (12-10) while also being out-hit (.235 to .190).
- Friday’s win over Miami was just the seventh time under head coach Tom Mendoza that the team had a lower hitting percentage than its opponent but still won the game.
- McKenzie Moorman led the team in kills for both the Miami and Oregon matches and did so efficiently, hitting a combined .345 over the two games.
TRENDING TOPICS
Over the last five matches…
- South Carolina has nearly identical offensive numbers as its opponents, with the same kill total (233) but a slightly lower hitting percentage (.221…