Sept. 18, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Senior outside hitter Shonda Cole from the South Carolina volleyball team was named the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. It was the first time in Cole’s career she garnered the award.

Cole helped lead USC (9-4, 2-0 SEC) to a 2-0 record last week with a 3-2 victory against Auburn and a 3-1 stunner over No. 6 Florida. The Kings Mountain, N.C., native blasted 36 kills versus Auburn and had 35 in the win over the Gators. She posted double-doubles in both contests by adding a career-high 18 digs against Auburn and had 17 against Florida. Between the two matches, Cole ripped 71 kills, hit .382 (71-19-136) and averaged 7.89 kills and 3.89 digs per game.

Cole moved into sole possession of second place on USC’s career list for kills after getting 36 against Auburn. She has 1,382 for her career. Her 35 kills versus Florida was a school record in a four-game match, surpassing the old standard of 28.

For the year, Cole has notched five 30-kill matches, which leads the nation. In the history of South Carolina volleyball, only six 30-kill matches have occurred.

“Shonda’s performance was deserving of the award,” head coach Nancy Somera said. “Having that kind of performance against two quality conference opponents is impressive.”

With Cole leading the way against No. 6 Florida, South Carolina managed to end a 25-match losing streak to the Gators and post just its second win against Florida since joining the SEC in 1991. USC’s previous win over Florida came Nov. 13, 1994, when the Gators were ranked 11th. The loss for Florida was just its fifth during the SEC regular season under coach Mary Wise, who is now 215-5 (.977) in regular-season conference play. Florida also is the highest-ranked team USC has defeated since the American Volleyball Coaches Association first conducted its poll in 1982.

Cole and the Gamecocks take on No. 18 LSU on Friday at 8 p.m. EST in Baton Rouge, La. South Carolina then heads to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. EST on Sunday.