Nov. 27, 2015
COLUMBIA, MO. – The South Carolina volleyball program saw its 2015 season end Friday night, losing at Missouri 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-16). The Gamecocks end the season with a 13-18 overall record, 6-12 in the SEC. The Tigers will likely continue on in the NCAA tournament, finishing the regular season at 26-5, (14-4 SEC).
1st Set: The Gamecocks took a quick 5-3 lead off the bat, but the Tigers would warm up fast and went into the media timeout ahead 15-12. Carolina scored the first point out of the break, but Missouri would shut them down from that point on. The Tigers scored nine unanswered points before a kill from Darian Dozier broke the streak. By then it would be too late and the home side took the first set 25-14.
Missouri had five blocks in the set and out-hit the Gamecocks .500 to .000. Elizabeth Johnbull converted all three of her swings into kills to lead the team offensively.
2nd Set: Missouri kept rolling into the second set and forced an early South Carolina timeout with an 11-6 lead. The Gamecocks would rally out of the timeout, and pulled within two, 15-13, thanks in large part to a pair of blocks from Dozier. She would finish the set with four total blocks, but Carolina was unable to keep stringing together runs. The Tigers were able to hold off any hope for a rally and took a 2-0 lead to the halftime break.
3rd Set: Another fast start staked the home team to a 9-2 lead, and the Tigers would lead by five or more points from the 7-2 mark on in the set. The lead would grow as large as 13 points, 23-10, before the Gamecocks reeled off five straight points. It would be too late for the visitors, who would ultimately fall 25-16 to end the match.
Stat of the Match
The Tigers had 13 blocks in the match, the most by a Carolina opponent this season. The previous high had been 12, by Georgia (10/14) and Winthrop (9/5). The Gamecocks hit a season-low .020 as a team due to the Missouri defense.
Notable
- Aubrey Ezell finishes her freshman campaign with 1167 assists and 309 digs. She is the first Gamecock in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) to hit both milestones in a season. Only three others have done it since 1993.
- Dessaa Legros and Sarah Blomgren eached finished with over 300 kills for the season (349 for Legros, 345 for Blomgren). They are just the fifth pair to go over 300 kills together since 2000.
- Carolina’s six conference wins are the second most in the last seven seasons.
- Aubrey Ezell’s 47 aces are tied for the most by any Gamecock over the last 13 years (Shonda Cole had 47 in 2006). South Carolina’s 134 aces are the most in a single season since 2007.
