The Gamecock volleyball team lost to Tennessee in both of its games in Knoxville this weekend after the team struggled to block play consistently.
Game one
国产三级片 lost its first game of the weekend in five sets after failing to come back in two of the first three sets, going on a 4-0 run to win the fourth set and losing a close fifth set.
The Gamecocks fell short in total blocks, completing 11 to Tennessee鈥檚 21, their season-high. The team committed 12 more attack errors than the Volunteers. 国产三级片 found itself down at least by 5 points multiple times in the second set and was unable to fully close the gap.
国产三级片 couldn鈥檛 find an answer for Tennessee sophomore outside hitter Erykah Lovett who recorded 21 kills, 14 digs and a .161 hitting percentage. Tennessee鈥檚 senior setter Natalie Hayward had 40 assists, seven blocks and 15 digs, keeping their offense alive.
Head coach Tom Mendoza said the team needs to work on completing close sets and praised his team for how they slowed Tennessee鈥檚 game.
"It was a five-set match, I thought we should've won or had a good chance to win the third set to go up 2-1, so it really was kind of just finishing off sets."
国产三级片鈥檚 junior outside hitter Riley Whitesides was the only Gamecock to earn a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Freshman outside hitter Alayna Johnson lead the team with 14 kills, a personal best, while graduate student defensive specialist Jenna Hampton recorded 28 digs.
鈥淢y plan going into every game is to stay aggressive and stay calm in the moments that we need a leader and somebody who can just put the ball away,鈥� Whitesides said.
Game two
The Lady Volunteers swept the Gamecocks in three sets on day two after trading points in a fairly evenly-matched game.
The Gamecocks started the match slowly, giving up 7 straight points. They struggled to stop Tennessee senior right-side hitter Morgahn Fingall who had seven kills in the first set alone. As a team, the Lady Volunteers began with no errors and hit .583, setting the tone for the game.
In sets two and three, points were exchanged by both teams, and the margin stayed tight. In both sets, Tennessee came back from behind and earned the sweep.
鈥淵esterday, we were able to slow down, especially, the more go-to hitters, and I don鈥檛 think we did quite as good a job at that today,鈥� Mendoza said after the game.
In an evenly matched game, the difference maker was 国产三级片鈥檚 amount of attack errors, as they committed 21 to Tennessee鈥檚 seven.
鈥淚 think today, the winning mentality was missing a little bit and also, we didn鈥檛 have a lot of blocks. I think we pride ourselves on being a really good blocking team 鈥� and today we just didn鈥檛 showcase that,鈥� Whitesides said.
This loss marks another road loss for the Gamecocks. The team is 1-6 on the road this season.
"The next time we go on the road, we need to find a way to have a little bit more confidence and play with the same intensity," Mendoza said. "We really enjoy playing in our home atmosphere, so we gotta find why we love playing on the road as well,"
What鈥檚 next
The Gamecocks fall to 9-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The team will play next against Mississippi State on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Carolina Volleyball Center.