South Carolina To Face Tennessee in SEC Tournament Opener

Nov. 6, 2007

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team enters the SEC Tournament as the sixth seed and faces third seed Tennessee Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 CT) at the Orange Beach Soccer Complex.

Carolina (13-5-2, 5-4-2 SEC) finished fourth in the SEC Eastern Division, the best finish for the Gamecocks since they finished third in 2002. The only other time Carolina finished better than fourth in the East was when they tied for third in 1999. The SEC Tournament berth is the sixth in school history and second consecutive after advancing to the semifinals for the first time last season.

The winner of the Carolina-Tennessee match will face the winner of the #2 Georgia-#7 Ole Miss match. South Carolina and Tennessee battled in the SEC opener for both teams this year in an overtime thriller. The 10th-ranked Lady Vols edged 12th-ranked Carolina 3-2 in a nationally televised match in Knoxville on Sept. 27.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
Tennessee enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 3 seed after collecting a 13-3-2 record to match their best regular season record ever. The Lady Vols came within one win of the SEC title, falling to Georgia 3-0 in the finale. Tennessee has won six of their last eight and is led by forward Kylee Rossi and goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson. Rossi is third in the conference in goals (10) and points (25) while Johnson is third with a 0.81 GAA.

SOUTH CAROLINA RETURNS TO THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
South Carolina remains in the national rankings this week at No. 26 by Soccer Buzz for the second consecutive week. Carolina dropped out three weeks ago following a tie and win at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, ending a school-record six consecutive weeks ranked in the polls.

Despite not receiving votes in the preseason, Carolina entered the polls after knocking off then-No. 1 North Carolina and ETSU to open the season. USC peaked that week at No. 13 in the Soccer America poll, No. 21 in Soccer Buzz and No. 22 in the NSCAA/adidas Coaches poll.

Carolina again achieved new highs the next week in all polls and have poll highs this year at No. 9 in Soccer Times (Wk 3), No. 10 in the NSCAA poll (Wk 3) and No. 16 in Soccer Buzz (Wk 3). The Gamecocks have peaked at No. 7 (Week 3-Soccer America).

This week marks the tenth time ever being ranked in the polls. Prior to this season, South Carolina had achieved a No. 29 ranking in Soccer Buzz last season the week of Oct. 2.

MONTEIRO TO MISS POSTSEASON
Junior transfer Danila Monteiro made a quick impact in her first season for the Garnet and Black before her season ended with injury (10/31). She was injured in practice prior to the Florida game. Noticeable by her yellow shoes in honor of her country Brazil, Monteiro was tied for second with seven goals and 17 points. “Dani” scored two goals against Winthrop on her 21st birthday and is fourth in the conference with three gamewinners (ETSU, Winthrop, Marshall).

MATTERN, SULLIVAN AND GALLOWAY EARN ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
South Carolina seniors Erin Sullivan and Annie Galloway and sophomore Blakely Mattern have all been named to the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District (III) team as announced on Thursday (Nov. 1). Sullivan and Mattern were both first team selections and Galloway earned third team honors. Sullivan and Mattern will now be considered for Academic All-America honors, which will be announced later in November.