Sept. 9, 2006
Game Book in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (28-30, 30-21, 17-30, 30-28, 13-15) decision with Florida State on Saturday in the third-place contest of the Gamecock Invitational. South Carolina dropped to 7-4 in 2006 with the loss and the Seminoles improved to 6-2.
Florida State held a commanding 27-20 lead in game one following a kill by Brianna Barry and eventually led 29-25. From there, South Carolina received kills from freshman outside hitter Meredith Moorhead and one from senior outside hitter Shonda Cole to close the margin to one. After a long rally, the Seminoles’ Makini Thompson was able to put the match away with one of her 21 kills.
After game two was tied at 17, the Gamecocks took over. With a 23-19 lead, South Carolina went on a 6-0 run for a double-digit advantage. A Seminole service error eventually deadlocked the match, 1-1.
South Carolina recovered from its game three loss, taking as much as an eight-point upper hand in the fourth. FSU made the game interesting, closing to within one at 29-28, but the Gamecocks closed it out thanks to a solo block by sophomore middle blocker Belita Salters.
The Gamecocks had an 8-6 advantage in game five heading to the changeover, however, the Seminoles claimed the next four rallies to lead 10-8. FSU went ahead 14-10 after a kill from Barry, but USC countered and won the next three points. FSU’s Makini Thompson was able to finish off the match with a kill down the line on the left side.
Cole had a match-high 25 kills on 52 attempts while adding five blocks. Moorhead also reached double figures in the kill category with 11, and she was three digs shy of a double-double. USC senior setter Iris Santos toyed with a triple-double on 48 assists, nine kills and eight digs.
Southern California won the Gamecock Invitational by sweeping St. John’s in the 11 a.m. Saturday match. St. John’s finished second with a 2-1 record, while FSU went 1-2 and the Gamecocks 0-3.
Cole was named to her third-straight all-tournament team. Other members included Latoya Blunt and Kathleen Yee from St. John’s, Thompson of Florida State, and Diane Copenhagen and Jessica Gysin from Southern California. Asia Kaczor of Southern California was the tournament MVP, while teammate Debora Seilhamer was tabbed Outstanding Libero.
The Gamecocks open SEC play next week hosting Auburn on Friday at 7 p.m. and Florida on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility.
