Nov. 5, 2001
Athens, GA – Led by 14 kills off the hot hand of Yajaira Cadet, USC put away Georgia tonight 3-0. USC moves to 17-3 and 10-3 in the SEC and Georgia drops to 10-10 and 4-8 in the SEC.
Game scores were 30-25, 30-23, and 30-20. USC had five players in double digits in the kills category as USC hit .411 as a team, collected two aces, and a total of four team blocks.
Yajiara Cadet notched 14 kills, Cally Plummer had 13, and Nadia Sefferovich, Berna Dwyer, and Nia Mackie all had 10 kills, leading the Gamecocks on to victory.
South Carolina travels to Florida for a crucial SEC rematch against the Gators at 3 pm. The match will be broadcast on live TV on the Sunshine Network and on the internet, via www.uscsports.com with play-by-play man Kevin McCrarey calling the action.
“It was a really good match for us in the sense that we worked hard,” said Carolina Head Coach Kim Christopher. “We worked well defensively and that’s what we wanted to do. We just wanted to match their intensity and beat them defensively. We knew it would be an emotional match for them as this was their senior night. I felt we did a good job achieving those goals. We are now looking forward to getting to Florida, playing hard, and enjoying the experience. We want to enjoy ourselves and let the wins and losses fall where they may.”
In game one, Carolina took an early lead at 5-2 until Georgia rallied back to tie the game at nine. After falling behind 13-14, the Gamecocks stormed back to take a 20-15 lead, beginning with a Bulldog error. Georgia got the game as close as 21-17, but Carolina once again pulled away 25-20 after a Nia Mackie kill. After four straight kills by Nadia Sefferovich, two by Nia Mackie, and one by Cadet, the oGamecocks took game one with a final score of 30-25. Yajaira Cadet and Nadia Sefferovich had four kills each for Carolina.
Game two witnessed four lead changes as the Gamecocks and Bulldogs battled to a tie at 14 in the beginning. Georgia took a quick 19-16 lead on three straight kills. Carolina head coach Kim Christopher called a time out and just when the Bulldogs had gained some momentum, Carolina snatched it right back with eight unanswered points. During this run, Carolina recorded five kills and Nadia Sefferovich earned a service ace. Georgia came back to pull within three at 26-23, but the rally was too little, too late as the Gamecocks polished off the Bulldogs with four straight points to win the game 30-23. Yajaira Cadet, Berna Dwyer, and Nia Mackie each recorded five kills in game two with Mackie kitting 1.000.
Carolina broke out with a rough start in game three, falling behind 3-4, but quickly came back to take an 18-12 lead off two straight blocks by Nia Mackie and Cally Plummer. Georgia rallied back to close the gap to 19-14, but it was all they could do to slow the Gamecock onslaught as the Gamecocks took a quick game three by a score of 30-20.
