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Gamecocks Claim Temple Invitational Title
Sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin named tournament MVP
PHILADELPHIA,
Pa. – Behind another double-double from sophomore outside hitter
Juliette Thévenin, South Carolina (3-0) swept past Temple (1-1) to
claim the Temple Invitational championship.
Thévenin, the
tournament MVP and most valuable attacker, had 10 kills and a
match-best 19 digs in the win. Freshman outside hitter Hanna Forst
tallied a team-best 12 kills and added nine digs. Junior setter Taylor
Bruns had 35 assists and 10 digs, while sophomore libero Paige Wheeler
and freshman outside hitter Bethanie Thomas added 12 and 10 digs,
respectively. Collin Wallace led Temple with 13 kills and 12 digs,
while Elyse Burkert and Gabriella Matautia both had 10 kills. Matautia
led the Owls with 14 digs, while Tiffany Connatser and Chelsea Tupuola
both had 11 digs.
The Gamecocks ran out to a 9-3 lead in the
first, posting a four-point run to start the match and a three-point
skein powered by Forst kills that caused a Temple timeout. The streak
reached five on a back-row kill by Thévenin and an Owl blocking error,
giving the Gamecocks an 11-3 advantage. Temple got within four before
the Gamecocks pulled away again. Junior middle blocker Brandi Byers put
away a kill to end the set at 25-15. Forst posted six kills in the
frame and four digs, while Thévenin adds four kills and seven digs.
South
Carolina streaked out to 7-2 and 11-6 advantages in the second, but
Temple fought back to take a 14-13 lead thanks to a four-point run. The
Gamecocks responded with their own four-point stand, bookended by
Thévenin kills. The Owls tied it again at 19 after a solo block and
kill by Wallace, forcing the Gamecocks to call timeout. The sides
traded points before South Carolina posted three straight, the final
two on a block assist and kill by Byers, causing another Owl timeout at
23-20. Temple posted two straight, but the Gamecocks posted two in a
row as well, including the set ender by Thévenin off the Owl block that
made it 25-22. The Gamecocks got four kills from Thévenin and three
from Forst, while five Gamecocks had three or more digs.
Temple
got a five-point run early to make it 8-5, but the Gamecocks responded
by taking 10 of 12 to claim a 16-12 lead. Redshirt freshman Cara Howley
had three kills and an ace in the sequence. South Carolina got another
three-point run to make it 19-13, with kills from Vain and Thomas
coming around an Owl error. Temple took four points in five to cause a
Gamecock timeout at 21-18, and South Carolina regrouped to take the
next four points to end the set, 25-18. Howley had the kills that
started and ended the final stretch and posted six in the set overall.
The
Gamecocks held an edge in every statistical category, including a 5-3
block advantage and a .217-.135 mark in hitting percentage.
Bruns garnered most valuable setter honors in the tournament.
South
Carolina hosts the Gamecock Invitational on Sept. 2-3 at the Volleyball
Competition Facility, with matches beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT each day.
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