Sept. 14, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Gamecock volleyball (6-2) will try to rebound after suffering a tough loss to Clemson this week when they travel to Charleston, S.C. for the College of Charleston Invitational. USC will take on the C of C Cougars (8-1) Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and the Houston Cougars (5-5) on Friday at 5 p.m.

C of C started the season 8-0 before falling 3-0 to No. 16 Tennessee this past weekend. This marks the first meeting between USC and the Cougars since 1996. The Gamecocks lead the series 24-9 and have won the last three meetings. A 1993 3-2 victory in Columbia was C of C’s last win over the Gamecocks.

Rebecca Wieters leads the Cougars in kills with 102 and she is third on the team in total blocks with 31. Setter Kaycie Carr enters the meet with 339 assists and is averaging 11.69 assists per game, in addition to posting a .429 attack percentage. Carr was also named to the Comcast Lady Vol Classic all-tournament team last weekend.

Houston is coming off of a 3-2 win over Florida State, which also snapped a four-match losing streak for the Cougars. Prior to the FSU match, Houston suffered losses to No. 5 Minnesota and No. 24 Kansas State. The Gamecocks are looking for their first win ever against Houston as the Cougars lead the series 2-0. The last meeting between the two teams took place in 1993, a 3-0 loss in Columbia.

Kariny Ritter leads Houston in kills with 157 while Becca Sartori leads in attack percentage with .270. As a team, Houston is hitting .198. USC will be the second SEC team that Houston will have faced this season. The Cougars defeated Ole Miss 3-1 earlier in the month.

USC will continue to look to Shonda Cole, Iris Santos and Nicole Miller for production. Cole leads the team in kills with 124 (4.59 kills p/g), Santos leads in assists (257) and aces (14), and Miller leads in blocks (33). This will be the final non-conference outing for the Gamecocks before SEC competition begins next week, Sept. 23-25.