Nov. 30, 2001

Despite 20 kills by Niece Curry, the Gamecocks were unable to defeat the Tar Heels of North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, losing 3-1 tonight. USC finishes the season at 20-6 while North Carolina (23-8), the ACC Tournament Champions, advances to the second round to play Pepperdine tomorrow night in Chapel Hill.
Game scores were 25-30, 32-30, 25-30, and 21-20. USC hit .188 while UNC hit .291. USC was out-dug by 10, 83-73.

“It’s always an emotional contest when North and South Carolina play each other. They had the home court advantage and seemed very motivated – they played relentless defense,” said USC Head Coach Kim Christopher. “This Gamecock team has been wonderful. The kind of quality people they are. We will miss our seniors, Liz Price, Nia Mackie and Milicia Perovic next year, but we return an outstanding bunch. We talked before the match about our expectations as far as wins and losses go and this is not how we wanted our season to end.

Cally Plummer notched 19 kills despite injuring her ankle early on in the first game. Yajaira Cadet had 10 kills and Megan Hosp had three service aces.

In game one, North Carolina took an early 7-3 lead as Cally Plummer suffered an injury to her right ankle early on in the game. The Tar Heels’ early 6-0 run was stopped as Sam Alban slammed home a big kill. The Tar Heels took a 16-8 lead, but the Gamecocks would rally to pull within four, making the score a 20-16 Tar Heel lead. North Carolina would go up 26-20, but South Carolina would quickly stop that rally on a 3-0 run that included two Sefferovich kills. It was all USC could do as North Carolina took game one, 30-25. USC hit .256 to UNC’s .400.

In game two, Cally Plummer made a triumphant return as South Carolina jumped out to a quick 12-7 lead, but suffered a minor setback as Nadia Sefferovich suffered a leg injury early on when a North Carolina player fell on her leg. South Carolina would go up 13-9 on a big Niece Curry kill. The Tar Heels pulled within two, but the Gamecocks jumped ahead 18-14 on a 4-1 run that was capped off by a Berna Dwyer kill. The Gamecocks took a 21-16 lead off off a Curry kill, but North Carolina would rally back to tie the game at 29 on a 6-2 run. South Carolina would get a little help as the Tar Heels committed an error to set a Gamecock lead at 30-29, but the Tar Heels tied it once more. On the next play, Plummer slammed home a huge kill for the Gamecocks and North Carolina hit the ball out of bounds to give the Gamecocks a game two win, 32-30. USC hit .246 while UNC hit .226.

In game three, North Carolina took an early 7-4 lead, but the Gamecocks rallied to pull within three, 7-10, on a run that was capped off by a Megan Hosp ace. The Gamecocks continued to rally and take a 13-12 lead on another run that was capped off by a big block assist by Plummer and Dwyer. North Carolina quickly answered as they went on a 13-2 run that put the Gamecocks down 16-24, but the Gamecocks refused to quit as they rallied back to pull within two to set the score at 23-25 on a run that was included two Curry kills and another Hosp ace. North Carolina would jump ahead once again, 28-24, but the Gamecocks stopped that run off of a Plummer kill. North Carolina would get another point on a Gamecock error, but Yajaira Cadet would keep the game going as she slammed home a kill that would knock a Tar Heel player over. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks were called for a player in the net on the next play and the Tar Heels would win game three 30-25. USC hit just .082 while UNC hit .234.

In game four, North Carolina jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Gamecocks stopped that run with a kill by Plummer and yet another ace by Hosp. The two Carolinas battled it out, playing to an 11-9 Tar Heel lead and then North Carolina went on a big run that would give them an 18-12 lead. The Gamecocks battled back to pull within four, 22-18, on a run that was capped off by a Plummer kill. North Carolina answered with a staggering 7-1 run that would win the game and the match for the Tar Heels, 30-21, and thus ended the Gamecocks season. USC hit .174 in the final game to UNC’s .350.