Sept. 23, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – South Carolina volleyball rallied back from a 2-0 deficit only to fall short 3-2 to the LSU Tigers in their SEC opener. Played at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., USC lost 20-30, 17-30, 30-26, 30-28, 11-15. In a scrappy comeback, the Gamecocks came up on the short end and fell to 7-4 overall and 0-1 in the SEC. LSU improved to 11-1 and 1-0 in the conference.
Shonda Cole and Sarah Morgan each recorded double doubles while Cole posted a career high 16 digs. Cole led with 22 kills while Morgan had 10. LSU had four players reach double figures in kills with Jelena Mijatovic leading with 19.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win and it was good to see us come back like we did in games 3, 4 and 5,” said head coach Nancy Somera. “Who knows how the outcome would have been had we played like that in games one and two. We still need to get better and know what we are to do once we get out there.”
The Gamecocks fell to 0-1 in the match after losing 20-30. The Gamecocks recorded 14 kills with four errors in 33 attempts to hit .303, while LSU had 19 kills with three errors in 33 attempts, hitting .485. USC never had a lead in the game and fought hard to stay in it as the Tigers led by as much as 12 points at one time. Down 14-26, South Carolina called a timeout and came back with a kill by Cole. From there, USC was able to score five more points but LSU had the edge and maintained its lead. The Tigers’ game point came on a kill by Marina Skender.
Game two was tied 5-5 before LSU went on an 8-0 run to establish a 5-13 lead. The Gamecocks got a break in the run when a service error by Heather Fierce gave USC a point. The Garnet and Black was within five points, 15-20 before LSU went on another run, 6-0, and solidified its lead. Up 16-25, USC’s final point of the game was awarded on another service error by Fierce. The Gamecocks’ final three points of the game came by the means of LSU errors. LSU went 6-0 to finish out the game and claimed the 17-30 win and the 2-0 lead in the match.
USC was held to -.143 hitting percentage and had six kills and 10 errors. LSU posted a .250 attack percentage with 15 kills and six errors.
In game three, USC scrapped and pulled to within one when Sarah Morgan recorded a kill off of a diving dig to make the score 22-21. The Gamecocks continued to push and rallied from behind on several occasions before eventually tying game two 25-25 on a kill by Morgan. USC took its first lead of the match on a kill by Morgan to go up 27-26. Block assists by Iris Santos and Nicole Miller put added to the lead and an attack error by Kyna Washington gave USC game point and the 30-26 win, forcing game four.
The numbers in game three were not big but it was enough for USC to salvage a win. USC hit .171 with 15 kills and eight errors, while LSU was held to .130. Defense was the key in game three as USC outdug the Tigers 29-16 and outblocked LSU 4-2.
Block assists by Marina Skender and Ivana Kuzmic tied game four 10-10 for LSU, the Gamecocks connected on three straight kills by Santos, Cole and Ford to go up 13-10. Ford and Cole later posted block assists to give USC its largest lead of the match, 16-11. The Tigers continued to fight and kept the game close. An error by Cole allowed LSU to tie the game 21-alland a lift called on USC put the Tigers in the lead. Another kill by Cole tied it for the Gamecocks before LSU relied on back-to-back kills by Jelena Mijatovic to go up by two.
At the 24-25 mark, Cole recorded her fourth service ace of the match to tie it for USC, 25-25. After two more ties, a big block by Kuzmic put LSU up 27-28. The Gamecocks’ Santos answered back with a kill to tie it 28-28. USC then took a 29-28 lead on a block by Cole and Miller and a kill by Cole clinched the game four win 30-28 to keep the match alive, 2-2.
In game five, LSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Gamecocks could get on the board. Cole came through with a kill to break up the run. LSU continued to attack aggressively and scored three more points before a service error gave the Gamecocks’ their second point of the game. USC got a break and was able to capitalize on LSU mistakes. Three LSU net violations and a service ace by Cole cut the score to 6-8 for the Gamecocks. The Tigers were able to connect on three more kills and moved out to a 7-11 lead before USC scored again. Back-to-back errors by LSU then brought USC to within one, 10-11, but Washington recorded her 18th kill of the match and kept the momentum in favor of the Tigers. USC came to within one for the final time of the match, 11-12 before LSU went 3-0 to close out the game and the win 3-2.
As a team, USC hit .186 with 59 kills. LSU had 75 kills and hit .275. Defensively, USC had 71 digs to LSU’s 58.
USC returns to action on Sunday when they take on Arkansas at 1:30 pm (CT).
