Oct. 11, 2001
Clemson, SC – Behind Cally Plummer’s eight aces, the No. 19 USC volleyball team defeated Clemson tonight 3-1 to make it two straight over the Tigers, winning the unofficial state title between the two teams. USC moves to 11-2, while Clemson falls to 5-9.
Game scores were 23-30, 33-31, 32-30 and 30-16. USC hit .234 while CU hit .237. USC had 14 aces to CU’s 11.
“Clemson did some very good things. The Clemson-South Carolina rivalry has grown. It’s the sport that brings out the passion in these two teams – they are both very passionate about competing,” said USC head coach Kim Christopher. “Cally Plummer was the star tonight. She served them well in the fourth game. Liz Price, a senior from Columbia, stepped in and really sparked the team. It’s a great story that Liz was the difference maker.”
“Rally scoring is all about the ups and downs. We might have gotten too up in the first game. Clemson is a very good team. They gave it a good fight,” said Plummer, who tied her own school record set in 1998 with the eight aces. “We have been on the road a lot this year and it’s nice our fans came up here tonight to see us win. (on serving the aces): You get in a zone. You don’t think – you just want to hit the next ball down.”
Plummer and Yajaira Cadet both collected 15 kills, hitting .286 and .219, respectively. Plummer added 14 digs and a block assist. Nadia Sefferovich had 12 kills, an ace, eight digs, a block solo and three block assists. Setter Megan Hosp collected 55 assists, five kills and a team-high 15 digs.
Game one USC jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the two tied it up at 15, 18, 19 and 20. Clemson went up 23-31 and won game one 30-23. USC hit .034 and CU hit .400.
Game two USC went down 12-18 before tying it up at 21 on a kill by Plummer. The two tied it up before USC served for the game three times. USC won game two 33-31 on an ace by Plummer.
Game three Clemson again went up big 10-3, but Carolina fought back to take the lead at 14-13 on a Megan Hosp kill. The lead changed hands several times, before re-gaining the lead at 31-30. One point later, Carolina finished the game off with another kill to end the game at 32-30.
The fourth game started with Carolina jumping out to a 20-11 lead, using strong defense and Plummer’s deadly serve to win 30-16.
Carolina returns home this Friday night when they host SEC rival Arkansas at 7:00 p.m. from the Volleyball Competition Facility on the Carolina campus.
