Mississippi State
10-10, 5-6SEC
South Carolina
11-10, 2-9SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 19 | 24 | 22 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 25 | 26 | 25 | 3 |
Rance Joins MSU's 1,000-Kill Club In Loss At South Carolina
October 21, 2011 | Volleyball
Rance became the 10th Mississippi State player to reach the 1,000-kill milestone during the opening set and finished the night with a match-leading 17 kills. She moved past Kris Dawson (1984-1987) and Jamie Joyner (2004-2007) into eighth place among MSU's career leaders in kills. It was Rance's 52nd career double-figure showing in kills.
Faith Steinwedell added eight kills and eight digs, but the night belonged to the homestanding Gamecocks. USC hit at a match-best .421 clip with 22 kills in winning the opening set. Teresa Stenlund, Cara Howley and Bethanie Thomas had five kills each and Taylor Bruns added four more as USC broke on top in the match impressively.
State battled gamely in a see-saw second stanza that featured 19 tie scores. After hitting .212 with 10 kills in the opening set, the Bulldogs warmed up offensively with 18 kills and .326 hitting. Rance delivered seven kills in the frame. Faith Steinwedell knotted the score at 23-23 and then put the Bulldogs at set point with a service ace. But USC reeled off three consecutive points, two on kills by Julie Thevenin, to rally for a 26-24 win and a 2-0 match lead at intermission.
The Bulldogs led for much of the first half of the final set and on Rance's 16th kill of the night took a 20-18 advantage over the Gamecocks. Another kill by Rance moments later gave the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead. It would be the final advantage of the night for State as USC out-pointed MSU 5-1 down the stretch to nail down its second league win of the campaign.
Thevenin led a balanced South Carolina attack with 13 kills and made it a double-double night with 15 digs. Teresa Stenlund had 10 kills and one attack error on a .474 hitting night while Taylor Bruns hit a sizzling .727 and joined teammates Cara Howley and Bethanie Thomas with nine kills each.
USC built up a 57-40 advantage in kills and a 58-38 bulge in digs. Both teams finished with five total team blocks. Bulldog senior Hannah Wilkinson paced State with three blocks and notched her 100th career block in the opening set.
The Bulldogs complete their SEC weekend road run Sunday in Gainesville, Fla., with a 12:30 p.m. match against the 13th-ranked Florida Gators (16-3/9-1 SEC) in UF's O'Connell Center.
