COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 18 ranked Washington State Cougars began the 2021 fall season on the road against the Gamecocks of South Carolina, where USC took down WSU in a five-set thriller of a match.
Set scores from the match were: 25-20, 27-25, 13-25, 21-25, and 13-15 in favor of South Carolina (1-0, 0-0 SEC).
The opening set of the new season between these high-profile programs saw a tightly contested battle early, with a total of eight ties leading up to a 10-10 deadlock. The Cougars (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) began to catch a bit of fire with four consecutive points anchored by kills from , , and , to hold down the 12-10 advantage.