Sept. 4, 2004
Winston-Salem, N.C. – Sophomore Shonda Cole recorded a career high 22 kills as the South Carolina volleyball team defeated the Connecticut Huskies 3-1 to post their first win of the 2004 season. The Gamecocks (1-1) snapped a six-match losing streak dating back to last year. The win is the first for Carolina since Nov. 5 against Kentucky. The Huskies fall to 0-2 on the year. “It is good to get a win. I felt like the last five points of the match I finally saw teamwork,” said head coach Kim Hudson. “This will give us confidence going into this evening and on Tuesday.” Behind Cole, Lynae Vanden Hull was second on the team in kills with 14, but led in hitting with a .429 percentage. Nicole Miller and Katelyn Panzau both recorded double-doubles, as Miller posted 12 kills and 12 digs and Panzau registered 37 assists and 13 digs. The Garnet and Black took a 1-0 lead in the match as they battled and came from behind to win game one 30-27. USC came within one at the 23-24 mark but the Huskies pulled away with a 3-0 run and went ahead 27-23. The Gamecocks then began a rally with a 6-0 run and held UConn from scoring anymore in the game. A kill by Sarah Morgan tied the game 27-27 for USC and an error by Connecticut put South Carolina in the lead 28-27. Block assists by Morgan and Lauren Ford brought the Gamecocks to within game point and an impressive kill by Morgan clinched the game win for USC. Despite a sloppy serve game with six service errors, the Gamecocks still managed nine block assists in game one and out killed the Huskies 19-8. Cole led the game with 10 kills and hit .471 while Ford recorded four block assists. In game two, the Gamecocks controlled the match as they maintained the lead the entire time. The Huskies closest score was at the 21-20 mark but USC held on and pulled out to a six-point lead, which they kept within one point throughout the rest of the game. Vanden Hull led game two with five of South Carolina’s 19 kills and hit .444. The game one win was the first for the Gamecocks since the Nov. 5 Kentucky match last year. The back-to-back game wins also marked the first time USC had a 2-0 lead in a match since Oct. 31 at Auburn. The Huskies fought back in game three to force a game four as they won 30-25. After a 3-3 tie early in the game, the Huskies took the lead and never fell behind. Despite recording only six errors in game three, the Gamecocks were only able to hit .116 to Connecticut’s .180. USC registered 11 kills while the Huskies had 18. Game four was anyone’s game and that was the way it was played. With 16 ties, neither team had more than a two-point lead until USC went up 27-24. From there, the Gamecocks pushed on and extended their lead to six for the eventual 30-24 win. Nicole Miller closed out the match with a strong kill to give USC the 3-1 match victory. In game four, USC hit .295 to UConn’s .179 and recorded a game high 21 kills.
