Sept. 23, 2004

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (7-2) volleyball hopes to extend their four-match win streak as they open SEC play and host Mississippi State (7-5) and Ole Miss (7-4) this weekend. The Gamecocks will start the weekend off with the Bulldogs on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility. USC will host Ole Miss on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

“I am glad to get to the conference part of our schedule. This is what you prepare all preseason for,” said head coach Kim Hudson. “I continue to see improvements in our game but we still need to have that focus we have shown in our last few outings in order to be successful.”

The Gamecocks are coming off of an impressive outing last weekend as they defeated Michigan State and Notre Dame to win the Gamecock Invitational. The Bulldogs and the Rebels both played mid-week matches as MSU earned a win against UAB and Ole Miss fell to Arkansas St.

For the series, the Gamecocks lead the Bulldogs 15-4 and have won the last 11 matches. The last time MSU recorded a win against Carolina was in 1994. Against Ole Miss, USC leads 16-8 and has won the last 14 matches. The last time the Rebels recorded a win against USC was in 1992.

A familiar face will return to Columbia in Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. Getzin was a Gamecock assistant under Coach Hudson prior to taking the helm of the Rebels in 2002. MSU is led by Tina Seals, who is in her first year as head coach of the Bulldogs.

Following the Sunday match against Ole Miss, there will be a free volleyball clinic open to the public. The Gamecock players and coaches will be on hand for 30 minutes following the match.

Both matches can be heard live via Internet web casts at uscsports.com or live stats can be followed on the Internet on Gamectracker.