CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fresh off three wins in the opening weekend of its season, South Carolina volleyball now embarks on its first road trip with a three-game swing against ACC teams starting on Friday. The Gamecocks play North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Friday at 6:30 p.m. then go west for a 7 p.m. match at Wake Forest on Saturday night.
Both matches will be on the ACC NetworkX, the network’s online-only channel.
WEEK ONE NOTABLES
- With the three wins, head coach Tom Mendoza moved into a tie for the fourth-most wins by a coach in program history. His 69-47 record (.594) moves him into a tie with Kathy Graham (1976-77) for fourth. Next in line is his predecessor, Scott Swanson, who won 101 games in seven seasons.
- McKenzie Moorman had 19 kills vs. Sacred Heart and 16 against Omaha on Friday, Aug. 26. The senior’s previous high for kills entering the day was 12, against Alabama on Oct. 27, 2019 – her freshman season.
- Three Gamecocks notched a pair of aces against Sacred Heart – Dalaney Hans, Whitesides and Camilla Covas – but the Gamecocks also committed 15 service errors compared to just four by the Pioneers.
- Claire Wilson led the team with 33 assists vs. Sacred Heart, but needed only 64 total sets to reach it. The Gamecock offense converted 51.6 percent of her sets for kills and overall had kills on 43.5 percent of the total sets. Over the three wins, Wilson averaged 7.3 assists per set with the offense coverting almost half – 49.7 percent – of her sets for kills.
- After week one, the Gamecocks came in ranked ninth nationally for team hitting percentage, at .335. Wilson and Dalaney Hans helped get the team ranked 12th nationall in assists per set and 17th in kills per set.
- Junior Kiune Fletcher showed she could have a breakout year ahead of her after finishing with eight kills and two solo blocks against the Pioneers – both are career highs. Fletcher ended the weekend with at least five kills in all three matches and hit .310 with two kills per set overall.
- Junior Ellie Ruprich made her season debut against Omaha and did miss a beat from her 112-block sophomore season in 2021. The middle recorded seven total blocks and three solo stuffs in the three sets against the Mavericks.
- Despite losing four-time All-SEC middle Mikayla Robinson to graduation, the Gamecock block remained stout as ever. Ruprich finished with 10 total blocks in two games and fellow middle Oby Anadi led the team with 11 in three games.
- Highly touted transfer libero…