Aug. 18, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina volleyball team held its final two-a-day on Friday at the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center. The Gamecocks practiced for an hour in the morning before scrimmaging for two hours in the afternoon.
 USC is set to begin its 2006 season in a week when it travels to Fort Worth, Texas, to play in a tournament hosted by TCU. The Gamecocks open against Boise State at 3:30 p.m. and face the host Horned Frogs at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, South Carolina squares off with Loyola (Md.) at 10:30 a.m. and then finishes the tournament with a 6 p.m. match-up with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Fans can follow all the action via CSTV's Gametracker on uscsports.com.
 Following Friday's scrimmage, head coach Nancy Somera offered her thoughts on the Gamecocks:
On how much scouting has been done for next week's tournament:
"Right now, we're focused on our team. We'll try to get some information on the teams next week. The first weekend is really for getting out there and playing. There will be an opportunity to see the other teams once we get there and scout on site."
On whether a starting lineup has been determined:
"With another week under our belt, the depth chart is starting to fill itself in with who's first, second and third at certain positions. We play so many matches with eight in the first two weeks,  so we're trying to make sure everyone is comfortable no matter who is out there. We don't want to just function well with our starting lineup. We have depth this year, which puts us in a great position in the preseason to have different starters."
On how she views the non-conference schedule:
"Preseason is a little for seeing who does what in real competitive situations. The goal of preseason is to come out with good win-loss record, but also to see how people work coming off the bench and evaluating how they deal with pressure. That helps determine what the eventual starting lineup becomes, and things may change three weeks later depending on how people perform."
On the team's continued improvement defensively:
"They're staying ahead of the point better and longer. They're seeing and anticipating what will happen far better than in the past. That's why we're making the reaction plays on coverage and second balls. We're seeing things and positioning ourselves a lot better and getting a longer look at what might happen."