South Carolina volleyball opens first NCAA trip since 2002 with dramatic victory

Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002, South Carolina hardly looked out of place.

But USC did have to gut one out.

The Gamecocks battled with Colorado throughout and escaped with a 3-2 victory. USC trailed in the final game in Minneapolis, Minnesota but rallied for a 15-13 win against the seventh-place team from the Pac-12.

The Gamecocks trailed 10-8 in that last game, but closed on a 7-3 run. South Carolina (20-9) faces the winner of Minnesota-Bryant at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The opening game was tight throughout and went to extra points before the Gamecocks prevailed 34-32. There were multiple points waived off, including one game winner, before a Buffaloes (18-14) four-hit fault finally ended it.

South Carolina fell behind early in the second game and couldn’t rally, but answered with an early lead in the third and a 13-point win. Colorado battled back to take game 4 25-13.

Mikayla Shields had 19 kills to lead USC, which also had Courtney Furlong, Claire Edwards, Mikayla Robinson and Brittany McLean. The Gamecocks had a slight edge in hitting (.294 to .261), and had one more ace and two more blocks.

In the first year under coach Tom Mendoza, the Gamecocks won seven more matches than the season before. They finished tied for fifth in the SEC standings.

This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 7:56 PM.