Nov. 4, 2005
LEXINGTON, Ky. – South Carolina volleyball suffered its fifth straight loss as the Gamecocks fell 30-21, 30-26, 30-16 in a 3-0 sweep to the Kentucky Wildcats. USC now falls to 10-13 and 3-10 in the SEC, while Kentucky improves to 16-7 and 9-4 in the conference. The Gamecocks struggled on the floor as they hit .138 to UK’s .314. USC had 38 kills and 23 errors while the Wildcats had 54 kills and 17 errors.
Shonda Cole and Marija Milosevic led the team in kills with 10 each but both hit under .200. USC was also outblocked 11-5 and outdug 43-37.
Kentucky took game one 30-21 after recording 18 kills with four errors and hitting .424. The Gamecocks managed 13 kills but had 10 errors and hit .088. Danielle Wallace led the game with seven while Milosevic was USC’s leader with four. The Wildcats outblocked the Gamecocks 4-1 while USC edged UK in digs 9-8. With her first kill of the game, Milosevic recorded her 200th on the season.
The Gamecocks turned things around in game two but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats were able to come out with the 30-26 win and took a 2-0 lead in the match. USC improved on hitting as they recorded 16 kills and four errors to hit .300. UK had 22 kills and nine errors but hit .283.
The game remained close throughout and South Carolina was within one when a kill by Cole made it 26-25, Kentucky. The Wildcats then took a timeout and came back with three straight points on a ball handling error by USC, a kill by Wallace and an ace by Julie Gagnon. A kill by Nicole Miller kept the game alive, 29-26, but another kill by Wallace sealed the deal for UK and the Wildcats won the game.
Game three was all Kentucky as the Wildcats won 30-16. The Gamecocks struggled from the start as UK cruised through the game. South Carolina hit .000 with nine kills and nine errors while UK had 14 kills and four errors.
With the win, UK now takes the series lead 17-16 and picked up its second consecutive series sweep. The last time the Gamecocks were swept by Kentucky was in 1999 on a neutral court. The last sweep for UK in Lexington was in 1993.
South Carolina will return to action Wednesday night when they travel to Tennessee to face the Lady Vols.
