Vanderbilt Volleyball (5-14) fell to South Carolina on Sunday afternoon, 3-1, marking its sixth-straight conference loss. Reese Animashaun led the team in kills with 16 while Elli Kinney led the team in digs with 20, but it wasn’t enough to conquer an impressive South Carolina squad.
“Feels like this happens a lot, where we have more kills than they do and we don’t come out with the win. That’s not how its supposed to work,” head coach Anders Nelson said after the game. “Too high error today on attack. We’re not playing good enough defense and we’ve got to figure that out.”
Set 1
The Gamecocks served first, and Alayna Johnson had a service error to begin the set. Things remained relatively tight through the opening points, with each team exchanging kills to bring the score to 3-3. Vanderbilt’s Jackie Moore started the set hot, finding two kills early to extend the Commodores’ lead to 5-3. But South Carolina then clawed its way back to take an 8-7 lead as Vanderbilt had two service errors from Animashaun and Taryn DeWese.
Things remained neck-and-neck as the score rose to 10-apiece. South Carolina’s Nia Hall hit back-to-back kills, proving herself a threat on the front line. Gamecock Laiya Ebo had a huge kill to a gap on the left side to bring the score to 14-12, but Kayla Dunlap had an impressive block to bring the lead down to one.
As South Carolina went up 15-13, the media timeout arrived to give both teams a much-needed break. The Gamecocks slowly started to break away a lead after the break, getting it to 17-14. However, solid play from Mia Soerensen and an ace by Isabella Bareford allowed the Commodores to claw their way back.
Vanderbilt tied it up at 20-20 as both sides traded blows. South Carolina’s Emily Beeker had strong kills to take the late lead at 23-21. Back-to-back service errors eventually gave the Gamecocks the first set, 25-22.
Set 2
Vanderbilt got off to a quick start in Set 2, taking an early 5-2 led by multiple kills from Moore and Animashaun. The Gamecocks showed fight despite these early setbacks, as Ava Leahy made some noise with several kills. Still, Vanderbilt continued to apply pressure as it took a 9-5 lead after Dunlap secured an easy kill with the assist from DeWese.
Things got even better for the Commodores as the set went on, taking a 12-7 lead as Sydney Conley had a booming kill. The Gamecocks showed some fight, though, clawing back to make it 11-13 as there was an attack error by Vanderbilt’s Maya Witherspoon.
Both teams continued to trade points as the set progressed, with Vanderbilt eventually extending its lead to 18-16 with a kill by Animashaun. South Carolina’s deficit remained at two for a couple points as each team couldn’t break away. The score finally reached 22-20 and Vanderbilt won two consecutive points — on an attack error by Nia and a service error — to make it 24-20. The Gamecocks tried to mount a late comeback, but a final service error by Leahy gave the Commodores the set, 25-22.
Set 3
Vanderbilt jumped out to the early lead in the third, leading 5-4 after an attack error by South Carolina’s Laiya Ebo. Both teams exchanged plenty of points, and neither could break away, as the score rose to 11-8 with Vanderbilt in the driver’s seat. South Carolina then broke off an incredible run, capped off by a service ace from Victoria Hill, to take the lead at 15-13. Back-to-back attack errors by the Gamecocks tied it up at 15-apiece as it remained close in Memorial Gym.
Moore had an emphatic kill to tie it up at 19-19 after both teams went back-and-forth, before Moore and Witherspoon had a fantastic block assist to take the lead at 20-19.
The Gamecocks rattled off two further points to take the lead for themselves, 21-20, as Hall had an excellent block assist and kill. They then extended their lead to 23-21 before eventually taking the set, 25-21, to earn a 2-1 set lead.
Set 4
Vanderbilt jumped out to the 2-1 lead after Moore slammed a kill right between the lines. A service error by Johnson brought Vanderbilt’s lead to 5-4, before Witherspoon hit a perfectly placed kill to get it to 6-4.
The momentum shifted in Memorial Gym from that point on, as South Carolina began firing on all cylinders. The Gamecocks earned critical blocks from their front line of Beeker and Ebo, to take an 8-7 lead. After that, it was entirely South Carolina domination as it won nine of the next 13 points in the set to take a 17-10 lead. Vanderbilt tried to rally, but its deficit was already too large. South Carolina took the lead 18-14 after a kill from Elise Marchal and then followed it up soon after with an attack by Hall to get the score to 20-15.
Vanderbilt had a late surge in the set, though, taking four consecutive points to bring it to 22-22. Animashaun had three kills in that stretch as she tried to keep the Commodores afloat.
The Gamecocks eventually took the final set, 25-23, to hand Vanderbilt another loss in the SEC. Animashaun led the way for the ‘Dores in kills with 16, but it was too little to overcome such a potent South Carolina offense.
Vanderbilt returns to action on the road against Kentucky on Oct. 31 at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
