Sept. 15, 2006
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team extended its winning streak against Auburn to 13 matches thanks to a 3-2 (31-33, 30-25, 28-30, 30-23, 15-13) victory over the Tigers on Friday night in Columbia, S.C. USC upped its record to 8-4 and 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Auburn fell to 8-4 and 0-1 in the league.
After splitting games one and two, South Carolina managed to take a 14-11 lead in game three after a kill by sophomore outside hitter Marija Milosevic. The Tigers, however, recovered following a timeout and won the next five rallies to lead 16-14. The match was stilled tied at 28 after an Auburn service error, but the Tigers followed with kills from Jessica Glover and Whitney Jacob to win the game.
The Gamecocks were down 13-10 in the fourth stanza before going on a 9-0 run behind Milosevic’s serve. Sophomore middle blocker Belita Salters tallied three kills during the streak, and senior outside hitter Shonda Cole recorded two. South Carolina eventually led by double digits on three occasions before an Auburn hitting error gave USC its 30th point.
The Tigers had a two-point lead at 7-5 in game No. 5, but South Carolina answered with three straight points on two Auburn miscues and a kill by Cole. With the score tied 11-11, USC freshman defensive specialist Sarah Cline clipped the top of the net on her serve and the ball just dropped over on Auburn’s side of the court to give South Carolina the ace. Senior setter Iris Santos and Milosevic pushed the score to 14-12 after their kills, and Cole closed out the match with a powerful blast on the left side.
Cole nearly tied the school record for kills with 36, one shy of the total she posted earlier in the year against TCU. It marked her fourth 30-kill match of the season and the fifth in USC history. She also notched a career-high 18 digs for her second double-double of 2006.
Milosevic finished with a season-high 15 kills, and Salters had a career-best with 11. Santos recorded 58 assists and 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Senior libero Alexcis Thomson posted 18 digs, while Cline and sophomore defensive specialist Dinelia Concepcion each added 11.
South Carolina had 80 kills to Auburn’s 64 and hit at a .230 (80-35-196) clip compared to .217 (64-25-180) for the Tigers. The Gamecocks also out-dug Auburn 84-78.
The Gamecocks next face sixth-ranked Florida on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility, which is located at the corner of Blossom and Assembly Streets. The Gators moved their record to 8-1 and 1-0 in the SEC with a 3-0 victory at Georgia on Friday night.
