Sept. 24, 2004
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball fell to 7-3 and 0-1 in SEC play as the Mississippi State Bulldogs swept the Gamecocks 3-0 in their SEC opener. The Bulldogs held USC to scores of 33-31, 30-27, 30-28. The loss marks the first win for MSU against the Gamecocks since 1994. Sarah Morgan recorded 11 kills, 16 digs and hit .280.
“We definitely didn’t play our best tonight. We were very flat,” said head coach Kim Hudson. “We have to come ready to play every game.”
The Gamecocks were down 29-23 in game one before going on a 6-0 run to tie 29-29. A kill by Cole tied the game and put USC in a chance to win but an attack error Katelyn Panzau put State in the lead. The game would tie again as Andrea Mead recorded a service error. USC would then get a chance to clinch the win as another attack error gave the Gamecocks a 31-30 lead. The Bulldogs tied the match again 31-31 on a kill by Orsolya Kriegel and took the lead on an error by Alexcis Thomson. One point away from winning the game, Cole went up for an attack and couldn’t get it over as MSU was awarded a point and the 33-31 win.
In games two and three, the Gamecocks never held more than a one-point lead. Unforced errors gave the Bulldogs the winning point in both games. After hitting a match low .071 in game one, USC was held to a .098 in game two with 13 kills and nine errors. In match three, the Gamecocks hit .323 with 16 kills and six errors but it was not enough as MSU pulled out the 30-28 win.
For the match, MSU hit .171 to USC’s .141. The Gamecocks recorded 47 kills to State’s 46. Carolina also outblocked the Bulldogs 11-7 in total team blocks and 22-10 in block assists.
USC returns to action Sunday afternoon when they take on Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility.
