FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – South Carolina (13-7, 4-5 SEC) begins a pivotal five-game stretch of road games with a trip out west, facing Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 8 before heading up to Columbia for a Sunday evening matchup with the SEC-leading Missouri Tigers. Friday night in Fayetteville will be on the SEC Network+ and Sunday will be a national broadcast with Sam Ravech and Nicole Branagh on the call.
SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters Friday at 15-7 and 5-5 in SEC play, coming off of a five-set comeback over Auburn that ended a five-game losing streak. The Razorbacks did not run and hide after graduating major contributors Jill Gillen, Maggie Cartwright and Taylor Head from last season’s Sweet 16 team, instead reloading with young arms Aniya Madkin and Romani Thurman. Madkin leads the team with 3.85 kills per set and spearheaded the comeback over Auburn with 25 kills on Sunday. Thurman is right behind her with 3.19 kills per set on a .246 hitting percentage. Defensively, senior Courtney Jackson leads the Razorbacks in digs per set (4.52), ranking her second in the SEC, and the team leading the conference for digs (averaging 16.71 per set). Senior middle Zoi Evans’ 1.22 blocks per set leads the team and ranks 6th in the SEC.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Missouri Tigers are entering the weeked at 17-5, after an upset win against No. 9 Texas last week and a Wednesday four-set win over Georgia that ran its SEC win streak to eight games. The Tigers have yet to lose at home this fall and are tied with Kentucky for the top spot in the SEC standings. The team has had a shot in the arm from graduate transfer Mychael Vernon, who came from Oregon State and enters the weekend averaging 4.29 kills per set. Vernon has been a boost for returning standouts Jordan Lliff and Janet deMarrais, who both went over 300 kills in 2023. Iliff also leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in aces per set, averaging 0.68. The team is second overall in the SEC and ninth nationally for hitting percentage (.295), and leads the conference in kills per set (14.63), good for third in the NCAA. Behind the service line, the Tigers rank 18th nationally and second in the conference for aces per set (1.94). Defensively, junior libero Maya Sands holds first for the conference in digs per set this season (4.62), but the Tigers rank last in the SEC for blocks, averaging just 1.56 per set.
WEEK TEN NOTABLES
- Kentucky entered Friday as one of the best serving teams in the nation, and proved…