Sept. 19, 2003
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three Gamecocks notched 11 kills Friday as South Carolina (5-6) topped the Duke Blue Devils (4-7) 3-0 in front of 653 garnet and black faithful in the 2003 Gamecock Invitational. Iris Santos posted a career high 11 kills while Lynae Vanden Hull and Niece Curry also added 11 kills while Carolina hit .264 to Duke’s .167. Game scores were 30-28, 30-23 and 30-28.
“As long as we stay positive playing ranked teams and we keep learning, there’s no way playing great teams will hurt us,” said Carolina Head Coach Kim Hudson Christopher. “Iris [Santos] comes from a background of a lot of competition, she comes from a high level of play. She’s getting used to playing a new position and is playing well. This schedule has been our toughest non-conference schedule and with this young team I wanted to get them thrown in the fire early. I knew we’d get better and better as the season progressed and we have.”
Duke topped South Carolina in total team blocks 6-5 and the two teams tied in digs with 49. The Gamecocks posted 53 kills on the match while the Blue Devils only managed 41. The match witnessed 20 ties and 14 lead changes with 10 lead changes occurring in the first game.
South Carolina jumped ahead early on in game one but the pesky Blue Devils never let the game slip away. Carolina was up 15-12 but Duke fought back and took an 18-17 lead. The match continued back and forth with neither team taking a multipoint lead until South Carolina finally jumped ahead 26-24. Duke fought back and took a 28-27 lead but Carolina never let up as Santos served up an ace to seal the 30-28 game one win.
Carolina’s defense went up in game two, holding Duke to a hitting percentage of -.049 while hitting .267. The Gamecocks committed 18 kills to Duke’s eight and posted 20 digs to Duke’s 16. Santos lead Carolina with five kills and Katelyn Panzau notched six digs to lead the defensive effort for Carolina. Lauren Ford made two block assists Duke was unable to take a lead in the game.
Lynae Vanden Hull led Carolina with five kills in game three as Carolina notched 20 kills to Duke’s 12. The Gamecocks hit .286, the highest hitting percentage in a game in the match for Carolina. The Garnet and Black led as much as 19-13 but Duke fought back and pulled within one as Carolina led late 29-28. Santos posted her 11th kill of the night sealing the 30-28 game three and 3-0 match win for USC.
South Carolina squares off against George Washington Saturday morning at 10 a.m. in the final day of the Gamecock Invitational. Duke faces George Washington at 3 p.m. in the final match of the 2003 Gamecock Invitational.
