Sept. 1, 2006
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CLEMSON, S.C. – The South Carolina volleyball team ran its winning streak to five Friday afternoon with a 3-1 (30-21, 25-30, 30-27, 30-23) victory against Tennessee State in Clemson, S.C. The Gamecocks improved to 6-1 with the win and Tennessee State dropped to 0-2.
USC jumped on the Tigers early in the first game, building as much as a 12-point lead. Freshman outside hitter Meredith Moorhead put the Gamecocks ahead 26-15 with a kill from the right side and she later hit the game-winning kill as well.
South Carolina began to show the effects of playing its third match in less than 24 hours in game two. The Gamecocks had a 14-12 upper hand before Tennessee State scored six consecutive points to lead by four. Half of those points were attributed to miscues by the Gamecocks.
“For whatever reason, the tournament format had us in our third match in less than 24 hours,” USC head coach Nancy Somera said. “That’s a lot of volleyball. I’m really proud of the team for just grinding that one out because it’s hard to be sharp when you’re mentally and physically fatigued. It wasn’t always pretty, but I liked that we scrapped it out and won some huge momentum points with our defense.”
Tennessee State gave the Gamecocks fits in game three despite trailing 24-16. The Tigers managed to win 10 of the next 13 rallies to pull within a point, but South Carolina countered with a kill from senior outside hitter Shonda Cole and an ace by sophomore libero Dinelia Concepcion. Senior setter Iris Santos used a dump shot to win the game.
The Gamecocks were cruising through the fourth frame, leading by as many as eight at 14-6. TSU again responded, going on a 14-6 run of its own to tie the match up at 20. With the score still deadlocked at 22, USC outside hitter Marija Milosevic hit her 11th kill of the match to put her squad ahead 23-22.
Sophomore middle blocker Belita Salters led the Gamecocks in closing out the match as she went back to serve following Milosevic’s kill. South Carolina won six consecutive points with her serving and her defense played a major role in several rallies.
“Belita gets the game ball for this match,” Somera said. “She kept the pressure on with her serve during that series and dug her area of the court. Belita had a couple of key coverage balls as well. She did everything she was supposed to do in that position.”
Salters finished the match with six kills and three digs. Cole led the Gamecocks with 16 kills, while Milosevic finished with a dozen. Santos finished one dig shy of a double-double thanks to 44 assists, and senior defensive specialist Alexcis Thomson tallied 19 digs.
South Carolina concludes play in Clemson’s Big Orange Bash tournament Saturday at 3 p.m. against Western Carolina.
