Nov. 2, 2003
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – South Carolina volleyball (11-13, 5-7) fell short Sunday as the Alabama Crimson Tide (13-11, 7-5) defeated the Gamecocks 3-1 with game scores of 29-31, 30-22, 23-30, 22-30. USC had three players in double figure kills as Lynae Vanden Hull led the way with 16. Vanden Hull hit .375 while Shonda Cole followed with 13 kills and hit .320. Iris Santos recorded a career high 12 kills and hit .250. Setter Katelyn Panzau posted 52 assists and hit a career high .583. Erin Heffner led the Tide with 19 kills and hit .297. Jennifer Bibber followed with 18 kills and hit .351.
“We played much better as a team today but we just made mistakes at bad times in the match,” said head coach Kim Hudson Christopher. “We made too many hitting and service errors in games three and four and that is what hurt us.”
Despite hitting .485 and recording only two errors, the Gamecocks lost game one 31-29. USC played a solid game as they registered 18 kills in 33 attempts and had only two errors. Carolina also posted six block assists to the Tide’s zero. Lauren Ford recorded a kill to put USC ahead 29-28, but Alabama’s Kelly Potter answered back with a kill to tie the game. An error by the Gamecocks gave Alabama a 30-29 lead and Jennifer Bibber, who led the game with six kills, spiked the ball for the Crimson Tide, giving Alabama the 31-29 win. Vanden Hull led both teams in game one with eight kills and hit .615.
The Gamecocks tied the match 1-1 when they took game two 30-22. USC was ahead 22-20 before the Gamecocks went on an 8-2 run to earn the win. Carolina continued to hit over .400 as they hit .481 with 18 kills and five errors in 27 attempts. USC also posted 12 digs to Alabama’s four and held the Crimson Tide to .129 hitting percentage. Shonda Cole led game two with five kills and hit .667.
The momentum shifted in Alabama’s favor in game three as the Tide maintained the lead the entire game and won 30-23. The Gamecocks were down by as much as seven and never got closer then five. The tables turned at Alabama hit .500 and USC hit .147. Carolina recorded nine errors in game three, two more than what they recorded in games one and two combined. USC was also only able to register two block assists which accounted for one total team block while the Tide had 10 block assists for five total team blocks.
The Gamecocks held the lead early and for the first half of game four but the Tide stayed in the game and posted several runs to win game four and the match. The game was tied 18-18 before a ball handling error put Alabama ahead. From there, the Tide built on the lead and established an 11-4 run to claim the 30-22 win. For the match, Alabama hit .348 while USC hit .317.
South Carolina returns to action this Wednesday as they travel to Lexington, Ky. to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. This will be the Gamecocks final SEC road match of the season.
