Sept. 13, 2003
South Bend, Ind. – South Carolina volleyball snapped two losing streaks in one as they defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 3-2. With scores of 30-15, 30-24, 30-32, 30-23, 15-10, Carolina snapped a two match losing streak and an 0-4 losing streak to the Hoosiers. The Gamecocks improve to 3-5 while Indiana falls to 4-4. The Gamecocks recorded a team season high 13 service aces. Sophomore Amy Benson had a career high four service aces while freshman outside hitter Shonda Cole also had a career high 18 kills and hit .382.
Carolina had five players in double-figure kills. Lynae Vanden Hull followed Cole with 15, Lauren Ford had 13, Sarah Morgan posted 12 and Niece Curry had 10. As a team, Carolina hit .261 and posted 70 kills to Indiana’s .201 and 64 kills.
Carolina recorded their first game win since game three against Clemson as they took a 1-0 lead over the Hoosiers 30-15. Indiana recorded nine kills and 10 errors to hit -.033 in the game. The Gamecocks recorded 12 kills and had only three errors as they hit .360, the highest for Carolina during the tournament. Indiana’s 15 points is the lowest Carolina has allowed in the tournament so far.
USC continued to stay in control in game two as they won 30-24 and went ahead 2-0 in the match. At the break, Ford led the Gamecocks with seven kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Carolina held the Hoosiers to 39 points in the first two games, marking the lowest points allowed by a team before the break so far this season.
Game three was a closer battle as there were 14 lead changes. Carolina was down 25-28 before the Gamecocks fought back with a 3-0 run and a kill by Cole tied the game 28-28. Indiana took the lead on a kill by Melissa Brewer but USC connected on a kill by Ford to tie the game once again. A block by Curry put Carolina in the lead 30-29. Indiana did not quit as Monique Pritz recorded a kill to tie it back up. From there, Katie Pollom and Nikki Hill posted block assists to put the Hoosiers up 31-30. Unfortunately, a hitting error by Cole gave Indiana game point and the 32-30 win. Carolina recorded a match high 17 kills but had 11 errors to post their lowest hitting percentage of the day with .143.
The Hoosiers returned in game four and led the Gamecocks the entire way as they took game four 30-23 and tied the match 2-2, forcing a game five. Indiana led by as much as 10 points and outkilled Carolina 20-15, the highest in the match for the Hoosiers. After a 5-5 tie early in the match, Indiana pulled away and never fell behind. Carolina attempted a rally and went on a 4-1 run at the end but it wasn’t enough. Indiana hit .563 and had only two errors in the game win.
The Gamecocks conclude action in the Shamrock Invitational on Sunday when they face No. 21 Notre Dame at 1:30 p.m. (CT).
