South Carolina scores first win in Palmetto Series

The Palmetto Series saw the first points of this year’s rivalry go to the University of South Carolina women’s volleyball team.  

The Gamecocks defeated the Clemson Tigers in three straight sets Sept. 20. With scores of 34-32, 25-16 and 25-23, the Gamecocks picked up their second straight victory over Clemson University and their first win at Clemson since 2019. 

“We know the rivalry and how important it is for our fan bases, players and our programs,” said USC volleyball head coach Tom Mendoza. “To be able to give the athletic department and the fan base a point of pride, obviously we feel really good about that.”  

USC graduate player Ellie Ruprich remembers Clemson playing Sandstorm in 2022 when the Tigers last beat the Gamecocks. That made this year’s victory all the sweeter. 

“The fans really care about the rivalry, and so they showed up and showed out,” Ruprich said. “It was a pretty tough environment to play in. But that just made it so much more special when we were able to sweep them on their home court.”  

This marks the sixth win Gamecocks volleyball has scored against the Tigers since the beginning of the Palmetto Series. The series began in the 2015-16 academic year to promote the annual rivalry between the two schools in a changing lineup of about 12 men’s and women’s sports. The series was put on pause from 2020 to 2022 due to COVID and was brought back in 2023. 

Gamecocks’ Executive Associate Athletics Director and Chief Communications Officer Charles Bloom said the series is a great way to promote competition for all programs. 

“The rivalry has always been there and will always be there,” Bloom said. “I think the Palmetto Series itself has been an outstanding tool to give promotion to the overall head-to-head sport competition.” 

Last year was the first time Clemson took home the trophy, bringing the overall record to 5-1 in favor of South Carolina. 

South Carolina took the lead for the 2024-25 series 2-0-2, after both men’s and women’s soccer games tied and women’s golf finished second in the Mason Rudolph Championship Sunday in front of Clemson. 

“It’s nice to get on the positive side of it,” Mendoza said. “I know last year was the first year we lost (the series), and so obviously we want to fix that and get back to owning the Palmetto Series.” 

Bloom believes the healthy competition between the in-state rivals that play in separate conferences is akin to iron sharpening iron. 

“There’s many ways that you can judge the success of an athletics program,” he said. “But the head-to-head competition is one of them that, you know, has been beneficial.” 

The next matchups are the women’s cross country meets on Oct. 5 and 18, women’s basketball on Nov. 20 and football on Nov. 30.