Oct. 8, 2005
ATHENS, Ga. – The South Carolina Gamecock volleyball team (9-6, 2-3) suffered its first eastern division loss on the season as they fell 3-2 to the Georgia Bulldogs (7-7, 2-2) Friday night. Game scores were 30-28, 25-30, 24-30, 30-26, 13-15. UGA’s Julia Petruschke led both teams in kills with 25, while Alexandra Oquendo posted 21. USC’s Shonda Cole had 20 kills, followed by Lauren Ford with 15. USC could not find its rhythm and struggled at the net. The Garnet and Black recorded 69 kills and had a season high 42 errors to hit .135.
“Obviously our focus was not there tonight,” said head coach Nancy Somera. “I am very disappointed in our effort tonight. Even as poor as our focus was tonight, we still had opportunities and we were still in the match. We had way too many attack errors and they came at the wrong times.”
USC almost let game one slip away from them but the Gamecocks were able to hold on and pulled out a close one. After being down 6-1 in game one, the Gamecocks climbed into the game and eventually established a lead they maintained. A ball handling error by Chelsea Young gave USC the lead at the 8-8 mark and the Gamecocks went on to extend its lead. South Carolina appeared to have the game under control and looked as if it were going to put the Dogs away easily in game one after setting up a 28-19 lead. Georgia however did not give up and managed a 9-1 run before USC was able to put the game in the books.
After Brook Burlingame recorded a service ace to make the score 29-25, USC called a timeout, but UGA added more points due to two attack errors by USC and a kill by Petruschke. With that, UGA had cut the Gamecocks’ lead to one, 29-28, and had a chance to win the game, but an error by Petruschke handed USC its winning point and the 30-28 win.
Both teams struggled at the net as USC hit .102 and UGA recorded a .095 attack percentage. Georgia outblocked USC 5-2 and both teams registered 16 digs in the game.
UGA continued its momentum into game two and was able to even the match 1-1 after taking the game 30-25. Tied 24-24, the two teams were able to keep the game close throughout. Petruschke recorded a kill to give the Bulldogs the lead and from there, USC would score only one more time. That point came on a kill by Sarah Morgan, but the Gamecocks were down 28-24. Georgia’s final two points came on a kill by Maria Taylor and a service ace by Megan Welch.
The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the match after winning game three 30-24. UGA recorded 19 kills with eight errors and hit .256, while USC posted 11 kills with eight errors and hit a paltry .077. USC tied the game 17-17 after UGA had an attack error, but a kill by Angela Hale put UGA back into the lead, which the Bulldogs held on to for the remainder of the game. South Carolina would score its final seven points on four kills by Cole and Nicole Miller, two attack errors by Petruschke and a service ace by Alexcis Thomson. Thomson’s ace was the final point of the game for the Gamecocks.
USC pushed hard in game four and found a way to come out with the 30-26 win and evened the match 2-2. Late in the game, a service ace by Marija Milosevic put USC ahead 28-25. Miller followed with a block solo to bring the Gamecocks within match point. UGA posted a kill to keep the game going but Iris Santos slammed a kill in the middle of the Bulldogs’ defense to clinch the game and force a game five.
In game five, the Gamecocks tied it 10-10 on block assists by Lauren Ford and Milosevic, but it was at the 11-11 mark that the Bulldogs took the lead and never looked back. Up by two, UGA came within match point on a service ace and a net violation by USC handed Georgia the win, 15-13.
The Gamecocks are now 0-3 in five-game matches this season. USC is still looking for its first SEC road win. The Bulldogs extend their win streak over the Gamecocks to five matches.
