Oct. 14, 2005
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was the defensive game that made the difference Friday night in The Cave as the South Carolina Gamecock volleyball team (9-8, 2-5) fell 3-0 to the SEC West leading Alabama Crimson Tide (17-3, 5-2). Alabama out dug USC 43-33 and defeated Carolina 30-27, 30-20, 31-29. The Gamecocks had 47 kills and 18 errors to hit .250, while Alabama registered 56 kills with 19 errors to hit .316.
“We are struggling to find a group that can go out there and perform on a consistent basis at a certain level,” said head coach Nancy Somera. “We come and go as a team. This game was won and lost defensively. Alabama had a solid night tonight defensively and we didn’t. There were some individual highlights, but we need to come together as a team.”
Iris Santos recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 15 assists. Lauren Ford recorded 11 kills, hit .333 and had five total blocks. Freshman Marija Milosevic was the third player for the Gamecocks to reach double figures in kills with 10. Milosevic hit .381 on the night.
Despite a strong effort in game one, the Gamecocks fell to Alabama 30-27 as the Tide took a 1-0 lead in the match. USC outhit Alabama .306 to .267 and outblocked the Tide 5-2, but the UA recorded 21 kills to USC’s 15 and. Defensive digs were key in game one as Alabama registered 15 to South Carolina’s 8.
The Gamecocks were flat in game two and struggled to find its rhythm. The Tide had an answer for every ball the Gamecocks put over the net. At the break, Alabama had 31 digs to USC’s 20. USC also posted seven errors and had just 10 kills to hit a slumping .083. The Tide also had production in serves as they had four in game two and totaled six at the break. The Gamecocks had only one and that came in game one.
At the end of game two, Ford led the Gamecocks with nine kills, four errors and had an attack percentage of .400. In addition, Ford had five of USC’s eight total blocks.
South Carolina looked as if it were going to snap the 10-game losing streak to the Tide in game three but that would not be the case. USC was up the entire match and led by as much as six points, until Alabama rallied back and tied it 28-28. The Gamecocks were up 27-25 and a net violation by `Bama awarded USC a point. With USC up 28-25, Alabama would fight back and score four straight points, and was able to take the lead 28-29 on a USC error. Santos kept the chances alive for the Gamecocks as she answered back with a kill slammed between two Alabama defenders, but back-to-back kills by Fuentez and Kelley Potter catapulted the Tide to the 31-29 victory and the 3-0 match win.
USC recorded 22 kills in game three, their best for the match and out blocked Alabama 11-6. The Tide had nine service aces and USC had two.
Junior outside hitter Shonda Cole had her double-figures kills streak snapped at 18 matches, dating back to the SEC Tournament last year. With three kills and five errors, Cole hit -.143, her worst hitting percentage since September of last year in a match against Tennessee. Cole had recorded double-figures in kills in each match this season, 16 streaight.
The Gamecocks are still winless on the road in SEC play and will have another chance on Sunday to break the slump when USC heads to Auburn for a 1:30 p.m. (CT) first serve. The match can be heard live via audio webcast at www.uscsports.com
