Nov. 3, 2006
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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Shonda Cole from the South Carolina volleyball team broke the school’s single-season record for kills Friday night in Starkville, Miss. It was bittersweet, however, as the Gamecocks lost a 3-0 (24-30, 21-30, 20-30) decision to Mississippi State to fall to 12-14 overall and 5-10 in the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs improved to 15-10 and 6-9 in the league.
Cole broke the previous record of 553 kills by Lori Rowe in 1983. Rowe established the record playing in 38 matches, while Cole needed just 26 this year. Cole’s season total now stands at 561.
Cole finished the match with 15 kills to lead South Carolina’s offense and she added three blocks. Belita Salters had an efficient night, hitting seven kills on eight attacks while making no errors. Alexcis Thomson had 17 assists and nine digs, while Petra Lorenzi posted her second double-double of the year with 12 assists and 10 digs. Dinelia Concepcion led the Gamecocks in digs with 14.
Martina Gregusova had 15 kills to top Mississippi State’s attackers. Orshi Kriegel was the only other Bulldog to reach double digits in the kills category with 10, which was the same number of digs she recorded. Kriegel’s sister, Eva, had 36 assists, five digs and five blocks. Megan Lukasek made a team-high 12 digs.
Mississippi State had a .327 hitting percentage (51-15-110) compared to .110 (36-24-109) for the Gamecocks. Both teams made 42 digs and the Bulldogs held a 10-9 advantage in blocks.
The Bulldogs built a 15-9 advantage in game one after two miscues by the Gamecocks. South Carolina was able to cut the deficit to four several times the remainder of the stanza, but Mississippi State always had an answer. MSU had a .424 hitting percentage with 18 kills on 33 attempts and just four errors, while USC mustered a .156 (12-7-32) figure. Errors hampered the Gamecocks, as they gave the Bulldogs 13 points.
South Carolina fought back from an early three-point hole to tie the score up at 7-all in the second game, but Mississippi State countered by winning the next four rallies. Marija Milosevic ended MSU’s streak with a kill, but the Bulldogs went on to win six straight points to lead 17-8. State’s advantage eventually ballooned to 12 at 21-9, however, Carolina grinded out nine of the next 12 rallies in its favor to trail 24-18. MSU’s big lead proved to be too much for the Gamecocks to overcome, as they never pulled closer than five before losing by nine.
The Gamecocks led 6-5 in game three after an assisted block from Cole and Ivana Kujundzic, but it was the last lead Carolina would see. Mississippi State won the ensuing four points and went on to build an 18-11 upper hand before the Gamecocks cut it back to four at 18-14. MSU responded by winning the next four points to lead by eight and held steady for the victory.
The Gamecocks play their next match in Oxford, Miss., on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET against the Ole Miss Lady Rebels.
