Sept. 8, 2006
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina senior outside hitter Shonda Cole posted her third 30-kill match of the year Friday morning, but it came in a 3-2 (30-27, 30-24, 29-31, 31-33, 10-15) loss to St. John’s in the opening match of the Gamecock Invitational. USC dropped to 7-2 with the loss, while St. John’s improved to 8-0.
The Gamecocks steadily built a 20-16 lead after a hitting error by the Red Storm. St. John’s closed to within one at 24-23 after a kill by Caitlin Rimgaila, but the Gamecocks won four of the next five points. Cole closed out the game with a kill to put USC ahead 1-0.
St. John’s jumped out to a 10-5 advantage in game two following a miscue by South Carolina. Still trailing 14-10, the Gamecocks slowly crept back and tied things up at 16. After the Red Storm regained a 23-19 advantage, South Carolina middle blocker Belita Salters recorded a kill to give teammate Ivana Kujundzic the serve. With Kujundzic serving, the Gamecocks managed to win nine points in a row before winning on a St. John’s service error.
South Carolina was up 20-15 in game three before St. John’s mounted a comeback, winning eight points in a row to take a 23-20 lead. The Gamecocks, however, recovered and tied the match up at 26. USC and St. John’s were still tied 29-all, and the Red Storm used a kill by Patti Hardimon and a South Carolina hitting error to send the match to a fourth game.
The Gamecocks were down 21-11 in game four but managed to win 12 of the next 13 rallies to lead 23-22. Sophomore outside hitter Marija Milosevic served a key stretch during the run, as South Carolina won eight points in a row. USC had three chances to win the match up 29-28, 30-29 and 31-30, but St. John’s was able to deny them the win each time and eventually won off a Gamecock hitting error.
The Red Storm quickly led 4-0 in game five before South Carolina closed the margin to one, 9-8. St. John’s used its precision hitting and relentless defense the rest of the way to earn the victory.
Cole finished with 32 kills on 65 attempts to lead the Gamecocks. Milosevic had a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Setter Iris Santos tallied 56 assists and 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Senior libero Alexcis Thomson posted a career-high 20 digs.
South Carolina next takes on 10th-ranked Southern California at 8 p.m. tonight in the Volleyball Competition Facility. The Women of Troy defeated Florida State 3-0 earlier in the day to move to 7-0 overall.
