Sept. 14, 2005
CLEMSON, S.C. – Before a crowd of 1,280 at Jervey Gym, the South Carolina Gamecock volleyball team could not find its rhythm Tuesday night and fell 3-0 to the Clemson Tigers. Game scores were 25-30, 20-30, 28-30. Errors were abundant as USC recorded a season high 21 for the match. Despite a low hitting night, Shonda Cole led the team with 16 kills and hit .419. USC falls to 6-2 while Clemson improves to 3-2.
“I am not at all displeased with our competitive effort out there. Clemson played an unbelievable match and we could not find our rhythm tonight,” said head coach Nancy Somera. “It is not an ideal situation to have your starting opposite go out five minutes before the first serve. We had to flip into a lineup we had not really rehearsed yet. Given that situation and this environment, a rival match, I am really happy the way our team competed and went for it. We just wish the results were different.”
Prior to the match, starter Lynae Vanden Hull went down with a knee injury and had to sit out, causing the Gamecocks to shuffle its lineup at the last minute.
The Gamecocks started off flat in game one as the first point of the match went to Clemson on a service error by South Carolina. USC was not able to convert many points early on as three of their first five points came off of service errors by the Tigers. In the game, Clemson recorded six service errors. Errors seemed to be a problem for the Gamecocks in the match as they had seven in game one alone to Clemson’s four.
Trailing the entire game, USC could never grab a lead in game one and came to within three at the 28-25 mark with a late rally. The Tigers were able to hold off USC and won the game 30-25. Game point ended with an error by Lauren Ford to give Clemson the 1-0 lead in the match.
USC continued to struggle in game two and could not eliminate unnecessary errors. The Garnet and Black had 10 errors for a total of 17 before the break. That total was more that the Gamecocks have had all season in a match. USC was able to tie the match once when Iris Santos and Lauren Ford connected on block assists to make the score 5-5. Clemson then jumped back into the lead on a kill by Courtney Lawrence and would not lose the lead again. A kill by Brittany Ross clinched the 30-20 win for the Tigers and gave them a 2-0 lead going into the break. The Gamecocks were held to .025 with 11 kills in game two, while Clemson hit .312 with 15 kills and five errors.
The Gamecocks came out in game three and kept the game close, but Clemson was able to pull it out in the end. USC was up by as much as five at one point and led 27-23 late in the game before Clemson climbed back. The Tigers scored three consecutive points to come within one but a kill by Marija Milosevic extended the Gamecocks’ lead back out to two. That would be the final point USC would score as a ball handling error by Ford and an attack error by Santos tied the game 28-28 for the Tigers. Dawn Robertson the hit back-to-back service aces to win the game 30-28 and the match 3-0.
As a team, USC hit a season low .157 with 38 kills and 21 errors. The Gamecocks were never able to reach the .300 mark in hitting, while Clemson never fell below .260 and hit .312 for the match.
