Sept. 20, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sam Alban led South Carolina with 13 kills and hit a career high .765 as the host South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3, 1-0 SEC) defeated the Kentucky Wildcats (6-4, 0-1 SEC) 3-0 in both team’s conference openers. Game scores were 30-18, 30-22, and 30-23.
Megan Hosp recorded her 100th career ace tonight as the Gamecocks recorded nine aces to Kentucky’s three. Sarah Morgan and Berna Dwyer both notched 10 kills for Carolina in front of 817 Gamecock faithful. South Carolina hit .394, a season high for the team, while Kentucky hit .125. Cally Plummer recorded seven kills for the Gamecocks tonight, moving her up to sixth on the all-time career kill list at USC.
“Offensively we did some very good things tonight,” commented Carolina Head Coach Kim Christopher. “We worked on our tempo this week and we’re glad to see that pay off. I felt we played a good, upbeat match. I am glad to see Sam’s hard work from this week lead us offensively tonight.”
Kentucky couldn’t get anything going in Game 1, hitting a dismal -.029 to South Carolina’s .294. Senior Berna Dwyer led Carolina with five kills while Sam Alban notched four kills. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back, going on to win 30-18.
South Carolina improved on its hitting in the second game, hitting .441 to the Wildcats’ .189. South Carolina took a 17-10 lead, but that was the largest lead the Gamecocks would get of the game, holding on for the 30-22 win. Morgan led Carolina in kills in Game 2 with five.
South Carolina struggled out of the gate in Game 3, never taking a larger lead than four until late in the game when they took a 19-14 lead. South Carolina hit an impressive .444 to Kentucky’s .200 while Alban led Carolina with seven kills in Game 3.
The win over Kentucky tonight ties the all-time series at 13. This is South Carolina’s fifth straight win over the Wildcats. In that streak, USC has won 15 of the past 17 games. The last time South Carolina fell to Kentucky was in a 3-0 loss in the SEC Tournament in 1999.
South Carolina returns to action Sunday, hosting Oral Roberts in their final non-conference match of the season. Action begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Volleyball Competition Facility.
