April 21, 2006

Invitational Pool and Brackets in PDF Format
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team will wrap up its spring campaign Saturday at the 2006 Great Lakes Center NCAA Invitational in Aurora, Ill. The Gamecocks take on Bowling Green and Wisconsin at 9 and 10 a.m. CDT to begin the event.

Saturday’s invitational features eight pools consisting of three teams. After each school plays the others in its pool, three eight-team brackets will be created based on the results to determine first through 24th place.

Bowling Green finished the 2005 season with an 18-14 record and was 9-8 in the Mid-American Conference. Wisconsin posted a 26-7 slate, which included a 15-5 mark in the Big Ten. The Badgers also reached the NCAA Elite Eight, where they fell to eventual national champion Washington in three games.

The Gamecocks went 13-14 last year and 5-11 in the Southeastern Conference under first-year head coach Nancy Somera. USC returns nine letterwinners from its team, including All-SEC outside hitter Shonda Cole.

Other teams competing in the Great Lakes Center NCAA Invitational include Texas, Iowa, Villanova, Purdue, Cincinnati, Valparaiso, Ohio, Marquette, Indiana, Minnesota, Dayton, UW-Milwaukee, LSU, Marshall, Kent State, Northwestern, Arizona, Loyola-Chicago, North Carolina, Michigan State and Illinois-Chicago.