Oct. 31, 2003
Auburn, Ala. – South Carolina volleyball (11-12, 5-6) snapped a five-match losing streak as they defeated the Auburn Tigers (10-13, 1-10) 3-0 on Friday night. Lynae Vanden Hull led the Gamecocks with 12 kills while Iris Santos followed with 10. Santos hit a career high .444 and had only two errors. USC outblocked the Tigers 14-7 and had only 15 errors to Auburn’s 28. The Gamecocks’ 26 block assists was the second highest for the season. This marks the first win and the first sweep for USC since defeating Mississippi State back on Oct. 5.
“It is good to get back on track. I thought we looked good tonight. We kept our errors down,” said head coach Kim Hudson Christopher. “We have been practicing well all week and it was good to see us play relaxed.”
The Gamecocks took control in game one as Carolina held the lead the entire game and won 30-26. USC hit .375 with 19 kills and only four errors. The game one win snapped a five-game losing streak and marked the first time since game two in last week’s match against Georgia that USC hit over.300. The most consecutive games Carolina has lost this season is six.
Santos led the South Carolina in game one with six kills and hit .857 while the Gamecocks held the Tigers to 13 kills and a .143 hitting percentage. USC was ahead 29-24 before Auburn made a small run but at 29-26, Vanden Hull slammed a kill to seal the deal for the Gamecocks, giving them a 1-0 lead in the match.
USC continued to control the match in game two as they went ahead 2-0 with a 30-17 win. The 17 points USC allowed was the lowest since the Gamecocks defeated Mississippi State 30-17 back on Oct. 5. Vanden Hull recorded six kills in the game to lead the match with 11 total kills at the break. In game two, the Garnet and Black held the Tigers to .000 in hitting as Auburn posted nine kills and nine errors. Also at the break, USC outblocked Auburn 9-5 and registered 16 block assists to the Tigers six.
USC played catch up in game three until Katelyn Panzau recorded back-to-back service aces to tie and give Carolina its first lead in the game at 14-13. From there, the two teams combined for four more ties before the Gamecocks pulled away and took game three 30-23 and won the match 3-0. USC held the Tigers to .000 for the second game in a row as Auburn recorded 11 kills and 11 errors. Carolina hit .219 and had 10 bock assists.
The Gamecocks will play Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (CST). Carolina is tied in the all-time series with Alabama 11-11. In their last meeting, the Crimson Tide eliminated the Gamecocks from the SEC Tournament in Fayetteville, Ark. last year 3-0.
