Oct. 26, 2003
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina volleyball fell to No. 3 Florida Gators 3-0 in SEC East play. The Gators defeated the Gamecocks 30-23, 30-17, 30-22. The Gamecocks fall to 10-12 overall and 4-6 in the SEC, while Florida remains undefeated in SEC play and is 22-1 and 10-0. Lynae Vanden Hull led the Gamecocks with 10 kills and hit .360. Aury Cruz led Florida with 19 kills and hit .359.
“We came in today and played a great Florida Gator team. In order to win we need to keep improving and put a whole match together,” said head coach Kim Hudson Christopher. “I thought we did compete well but we weren’t consistent and we weren’t able to put a whole match together.”
Despite hitting only .056 to Florida’s .314, the Gamecocks were able to keep the game close as they used solid blocking to stay in the game. USC out blocked Florida 4-2 and recorded eight block assists to UF’s two. Carolina was down 15-10 before going on a 6-1 run and tied the match on back-to-back blocks by Morgan and Miller. The duo would strike again as a block by Miller and back-to-back aces by Morgan gave the Gamecocks a 19-18 lead. Carolina led 21-19 before the Gators suffered a blow as senior middle blocker Benavia Jenkins went down during a play at the net and had to leave the match. The momentum then shifted and Florida went on a 9-1 run to establish a solid lead. Florida was ahead 27-21 before Carolina scored again. The Gators would eventually cruise to a 30-23 game one win.
The Gators continued to dominate in game two as they held the Gamecocks to -.091 with six kills and nine errors. The Gamecocks defense was halted as well as Carolina was held to just one block solo in the game. Florida took the 2-0 lead in the match with the 30-17 win.
Florida capped off the match with a 30-22 game three win as they hit .243 to Carolina’s .114. The Garnet and Black had several runs but fell short in their attempts. For the match, USC was held to .029 while Florida hit .255. The Gators outkilled the Gamecocks 44-26.
The five straight losses is Carolina’s longest streak since 1993. The last time USC lost five straight SEC matches was in 1993.
The Gamecocks next match is Friday, Oct. 31 when they play the Auburn Tigers in Auburn, Ala.
