Oct. 25, 2007

South Carolina vs. Ole Miss (Oct. 26 @ 7 p.m.)
South Carolina vs. LSU (Oct. 28 @ 1:30 p.m.)

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina faces a tough test this weekend against teams in the top half of the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division. Friday night, the Gamecocks welcome the Rebels from the University of Mississippi, with start time set for 7 p.m. The LSU Tigers come to the Volleyball Competition Facility for a 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon showdown.

Mississippi stands third in the SEC Western Division with an 8-4 league mark, just a game in back of LSU. The Bayou Bengals have been ranked most of the season, falling out of the CSTV.com/AVCA rankings this week despite winning two matches last weekend.

This weekend starts one of the toughest stretches of the season for the Gamecocks, as they face three of the top five teams in the conference inside of a week. Florida comes to Columbia for a Halloween night affair following this weekend. A week from Friday, traditional power Arkansas treks to South Carolina to complete the tough stretch.

Gametracker live stats are provided for free on GamecocksOnline.com, while All-Access members can watch a live video stream on the official website of South Carolina athletics.

All-Time Versus Mississippi: South Carolina holds a 20-8 advantage over the Rebels all-time, but Ole Miss has taken two consecutive matches in the series, both in Oxford. Carolina’s last loss to the Rebels in Columbia came in 1992 during a six-match Rebel winning streak.

All-Time Versus LSU: The Tigers hold an 11-10 mark over the Gamecocks after the win in Baton Rogue earlier this year, LSU’s sixth straight victory in the series, dating back to 2003. Carolina’s last win against the Purple and Gold came on Sept. 26, 2003 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, while the program’s last triumph at home over the Bayou Bengals came in 2001.

Following Kujundzic’s Lead: Sophomore outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic has been a consistent force for the Gamecocks in 2007. The Serbian has compiled 13 matches of double-digit kills, 10 of double-digit digs and nine double-doubles. Eight times, she has led the team in kills, tied for the most on the squad with Laughlin. Seven of those have come in the team’s 12 SEC matches, including in the 3-0 sweep at Auburn last Sunday.