Nov. 4, 2001

Nadia Sefferovich led the Gamecocks with 10 kills as South Carolina dropped a tough match to SEC Eastern foe Florida Gators in USC’s final SEC regular season match of the year. The Gamecocks’ record is now 17-4, 10-4 in the SEC.

Next up for the Gamecocks is a home, non-conference match against the Deamon Decons of Wake Forest on November 11th and the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, TN on November 15-17.

Game scores were 22-30, 21-30, and 23-30. Carolina hit a team percentage of .150 while Florida hit .339.

“We passed well. What hurt us was our blocking. We didn’t pursue the ball the way we needed to and as attackers we got timid,” said USC head coach Kim Christopher. “I like the way Bridget White pursued the ball today. It hurt us that Yajaira Cadet went out at the beginning of the game with an injury. We want to see them in the finals of the SEC Tournament. Florida is a very good team. We are getting better we just need to take it all one match at a time.”

In game one, the Gators jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, but the Gamecocks came back to within two off of two straight aces by Cally Plummer. Florida came back with a three-point rally, capped off by an Aury Cruz service ace, but the Gamecocks ended that mini-rally with a quick timeout and a Mariana Branquinho kill. Carolina brought the score to 17-20 Gators, but the Gamecocks couldn’t get any closer as Florida took game one 30-22. Branquinho led the Gamecocks in game one with four kills.

In game two, both teams came out firing as they battled to an 8-8 tie, capped off with a Megan Hosp ace. Florida jumped out to 16-9 lead off of a 6-0 run. The Gamecocks came back and pulled with in five to make the score 22-18 but that would be as close as Carolina would come as Florida once again pulled away on a 6-1 run to end the game, capped off by two straight service aces by Florida sophomore Cruz. The Gamecocks were led in game two by Nadia Sefferovich with five kills.

In game three, Florida jumped out to a 4-1 lead but the Gamecocks came roaring back to bring the score to a 9-7 Gator lead. Carolina came out firing again as they went on a 3-0 run to bring the score to 11-14, but Florida stopped that with a Cruz kill. The Gamecocks staged a mini-rally to bring the score to 18-23, but it was all they could do as the Gators took game three 30-23.