TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – South Carolina’s offensive barrage continued after a nine-day break, the Gamecocks followed up a record-setting performance in a win at LSU on Nov. 13 with another dominant night at Alabama on Friday. South Carolina (15-9, 6-7 SEC) swept the Crimson Tide (11-14, 3-11) thanks to a .418 team hitting percentage and 29 combined kills from pins Riley Whitesides and Campbell Paris.
1st SET: South Carolina gained the early advantage behind its blocking, scoring three of its first eight points of the game off denials. The Gamecocks pushed ahead slowly but surely, but were slowed by errors behind the service line, gifting Alabama a third of its first 15 points directly off missed serves. A missed attempt sparked a 5-0 run for the Tide that gave them a late 19-18 advantage, but Carolina answered back with a 3-0 run of its own to force an Alabama timeout. Campbell Paris scored on some critical swings late, two of her team-high five kills came after the team crossed the 20-point threshold and the Gamecocks finished off a 25-22 win.
2nd SET: The two teams jockeyed for position early and often in set two, there would be 11 ties and three lead changes before the first timeout. Alabama scored four of five points heading into that first break to take a 15-13 lead, then scored the next two points after the timeout for its largest lead of the match to date. South Carolina rallied back late, winning long rallies to tie the set at 21-all and 22-all, but Alabama kept answering each score and had two set point opportunities with a 24-22 advantage. The Gamecocks were able to side out from a Paris kill, then Sarah Jordan shocked Alabama with a service ace that floated to the back line untouched to tie the score at 24. Oby Anadi and Tireh Smith combined for a big block after that, and the fourth and final unanswered point for South Carolina came off a. Alabama attack that went long for a 26-24 margin.
3rd SET: The Gamecocks rolled the momentum from set two into a fast start in the third, scoring the first three points and leading 10-7 before the home side regained its bearing. Alabama answered back with a pair of runs to take a 15-13 lead into the first timeout of the third, but as the game got late the momentum again tilted back in South Carolina’s favor. A kill from Paris got the Gamecocks to 20 first, a 20-19 margin, and the match would be decided by a three-point stretch out of a 20-all score, helped by another Paris kills and Jordan’s…