COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball has a busy holiday week ahead of it, wrapping up the regular season with three matches. The week starts on Wednesday with the home finale against Auburn (21-5, 10-5 SEC), scheduled for a 2 p.m. first serve on the SEC Network+. After that, the team travels on Thanksgiving day to prepare for a road series at Kentucky (18-7, 13-3). The Gamecocks and Wildcats play at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, followed by a 1 p.m. first serve on Saturday. Both matches will also air on the SEC Network+.
NOTABLES: ALABAMA SERIES
- The win on Nov. 11 was South Carolina’s first on the road since Sept. 16 at Miami. The team’s last sweep on the road was almost a year to the day, a win at Auburn on Nov. 10 of last season.
- After going without a game with 10 or more kills through the first 68 matches of her career, Kiune Fletcher did it in back-to-back games. The junior finished with 13 kills, second-most on the team, while also hitting .357 and adding two blocks in the series opener.
- With four Friday night, sophomore Oby Anadi surpassed 100 total blocks for the season. With her joining Ellie Ruprich in triple digits, the Gamecocks have two players with 100 blocks in a season for just the fourth time since 1999. The other pairs to do it were Mikayla Robinson and Claire Edwards in 2019, Lauren Ford and Nicole Miller in 2004 and Niece Curry and Berna Dwyer in 2002.
- Jenna Hampton led the defense with 34 digs in the two matches, she now moves up to eighth for most digs in a single season for the rally-scoring era and became the 15th Gamecock in the program’s 49-season history to reach 400 digs in a single season.
- Lauren McCutcheon continued her late-season tear Friday night, hitting .371 with a team-high 14 kills. She also added three service aces and four total blocks. Her 19 total points are the third-most in a match of any length so far this fall. Over the last 30 days, McCutcheon is averaging 3.12 kills per set while also hitting .260.
- The Gamecocks were able to counter two of Alabama’s strengths in the win to open the series: its serve game and the play of senior middle Alyiah Wells. The Tide entered the night with the most service aces in the SEC, ranking 20th nationally with 1.85 per set, but finished with four aces and eight service errors. Wells entered the match hitting .340 with 2.62 kills per set and finished Friday with eight kills but a .143 hitting percentage.
- Sophomore Claire Wilson reached 1,000 career assists…