Oct. 27, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. – By the end of the weekend, South Carolina volleyball (10-10, 3-7) will have played four matches in eight days as the Gamecocks welcome the fourth-ranked Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs. USC will take on the Gators Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. and face the Bulldogs on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1:30 p.m. Both matches will be at the Volleyball Competition Facility.

The Gators are 20-1 and have a perfect 10-0 conference record, while UGA is under .500 with a 7-12 record and a 2-7 SEC mark. Earlier this month, South Carolina was swept by Florida in Gainesville and lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Georgia in Athens.

Leading the SEC, Florida enters the weekend with a 13-match win streak and has only lost one game in those matches. The Gators’ lone loss of the season was a 3-0 fall to No. 19 Notre Dame. For the season, UF has lost seven games out of 67. The last team to earn a game win against UF was SEC opponent Mississippi State. MSU won game one 30-27 back on Sept. 23.

All-American Jane Collymore leads the Gators in kills with 292 and is averaging 4.36 kills per game. Sophomore Kisya Killingsworth leads the team in hitting with a .362 percentage. Killingsworth also leads the team in blocks with 90 total, including 13 solos.

The Georgia Bulldogs are looking to snap a five-match losing streak. UGA’s last win came actually against the Gamecocks back on Oct. 7. The only other conference win for the Bulldogs is a 3-2 victory over Ole Miss.

Julia Petruschke leads the Bulldogs with 304 kills and is averaging 4.47 per game. Alexandra Oquendo is hitting .344 and is the only Bulldog currently hitting over the .300 mark. Brooke Burlingame has 281 digs for an average of 4.01 per game.

USC’s Shonda Cole had a solid night against Tennessee and recorded 22 kills, marking the sixth time this season she has posted 20 or more kills. The junior outside hitter needs 22 kills to reach the 1,000 career kill mark. In game one against the Lady Vols, Cole picked up her 300th kill on the season. Senior Sarah Morgan enters the weekend with 927 career digs and needs just 29 to move into USC’s all-time list. Freshman setter Petra Lorenzi saw plenty of action in her last outing and recorded a career high 41 assists.

The Gamecocks are still looking for their first win against an eastern division opponent this season. USC has not earned a win against an SEC east team since 2003 when they defeated Kentucky, 3-1 in Lexington. The Gamecocks have lost 16 straight matches against divisional foes.