Sept. 22, 2002
Columbia, S.C. – Senior Cally Plummer led the South Carolina Gamecocks with 16 kills, while Berna Dwyer notched 13, as the host Gamecocks defeated the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 3-0 in front of 698 fans Sunday afternoon. South Carolina (8-3, 1-0 SEC) extends its 2002 home win streak to six games while Oral Roberts’ (6-6, 0-0 MCC) record falls to .500. The Gamecocks hit .278 for the day while Oral Roberts hit .151.
“Today was really fun. Oral Roberts is a good team and this was a good win for us,” said head coach Kim Christopher. “When we were down in game three, it was exciting to watch the seniors step it up and turn the momentum around. We were able to make some great plays and bring the crowd back into the match. It was really a good match to watch.”
Oral Roberts struggled in Game 1, hitting only .053 to South Carolina’s .273. Plummer lead Carolina with six kills while Dwyer, Megan Hosp, and Niece Curry all recorded service aces in Game 1.
South Carolina came out firing in Game 2, hitting an impressive .370 but was matched by Oral Roberts’, who improved its hitting to .308. Plummer registered six kills in Game 2 while Dwyer notched five. Plummer recorded her 200th career ace, becoming only the second Gamecock to reach this milestone.
Hitting percentages dropped in Game 3 as Carolina hit .167 and Oral Roberts hit .095. Lack of quality serves set both teams back as both teams combined for eight of the match’s 17 service errors in Game 3. Down 27-22 late in Game 3, it appeared as the Golden Eagles would force a fourth game, but Carolina came back on an 8-1 run that was capped off by a Curry kill, and an Oral Roberts attack error, as the Gamecocks squeaked by in the game and swept the match.
The Gamecocks have now won 11 consecutive non-conference matches at home, dating back to October 2000. South Carolina returns to SEC action Friday night at 7:00 as they host the Auburn Tigers.
