South Carolina volleyball upsets No. 10 Colorado State to advance in NCAAs
South Carolina volleyball picked up their biggest win in more than 13 years, defeating 10th-ranked Colorado State in the opening round of the NCAA volleyball tournament Friday night.
Making their first-ever trip to the Pacific Northwest, the Gamecocks (20-11) won tight battles in the first, third and fifth sets for 27-25, 17-25, 25-22, 14-25, 18-16 over the favored Rams. The USC victory snapped CSU’s 28-match winning streak snapped, the longest active streak in the country entering the tournament.
With the Rams outpacing the Gamecocks in nearly every major category — kills, blocks, aces, digs and hitting percentage — Carolina had to rely on making plays at key moments to win the match.
“We played three good sets, and we won those three sets,” head coach Tom Mendoza said.
The Gamecocks won the first set despite initially wasting four set points as CSU roared back from down 24-20 to earn a set point of their own. After a CSU hitting error tied the set at 25, a pair of seniors clinched the set: opposite hitter Mikayla Shields had a big kill to re-take the lead, then middle blocker Claire Edwards sealed it with an ace.
Early in the match, USC struggled to make consistent passes, but managed to stay competitive and then win the opening set due to very strong play in their out-of-system offense.
“I think from a passer’s standpoint and a hitter’s standpoint, as I kind of get both sides, I would say a lot of credit goes to (senior setter) Courtney Koehler,” junior outside hitter Jess Vastine said. “In the first couple of sets when our passing was not too great, she still made great sets and put our hitters in good situations so we could still fight through it.”
Colorado State head coach Tom Hilbert pointed out one key statistical edge that South Carolina did have: USC committed only five unforced attacking errors in the match, a remarkably efficient total for five sets. The Rams had 15, and a handful of them were costly miscues that helped USC hold off a rally in the first set and stage rallies of their own in the third and fifth.
South Carolina’s win over Colorado State marked the program’s first win over a team ranked in the top 10 since defeating No. 6 Florida on Sept. 17, 2006.
Junior middle blocker Mikayla Robinson had 16 kills and a .481 hitting percentage, both team-highs. Mikayla Shields had 15 kills with many of them coming in clutch moments, including the kill to seal the third set and the match-winner. Koehler had a double-double with 42 assists and 11 digs.
“We want South Carolina volleyball to be a point of pride for the athletic department and the university, and to represent our school as best we can,” Mendoza said. “I think our student-athletes have hit a home run in that aspect.”
Colorado State (29-2, 18-0 Mountain West) lost for the first time since Aug. 31, when they suffered their only other defeat against California. Breana Runnels had a match-high 24 kills to lead the Rams.
Next: South Carolina will face host 8th-seeded Washington looking to reach their first Sweet 16 in program history on Saturday at 10 p.m.
Stream Saturday night’s match at pac-12.com/live/university-washington.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 11:32 PM.