Nov. 15, 2006
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team completed a season sweep of the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday night in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks registered a 3-0 (30-28, 30-20, 30-18) victory to improve to 15-15 overall and 8-11 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia dropped to 6-23 and 2-17 in the league.
Shonda Cole put up big numbers for the Gamecocks once again, racking up 27 kills on 44 attacks with a .500 hitting percentage. Her 27 kills was a school record for a three-game match, surpassing the previous mark by four. Cole added nine digs, four service aces and five blocks as well. Marija Milosevic had 11 kills and nine digs, while Meredith Moorhead notched eight kills and a career-high 10 digs. Alexcis Thomson made 50 assists and eight digs. Dinelia Concepcion dug a match-high 16 balls.
Maria Taylor led Georgia with 11 kills and nine digs. Simona Speed chipped in six kills and three digs. Chelsea Young made 25 assists and six digs.
South Carolina’s .350 hitting percentage (61-20-117) was its highest since recording a .393 figure (55-13-107) against the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga., on Sept. 27. Georgia hit .097 (28-17-113) for Wednesday’s match and was out-dug 61-34. The 27-dig disparity was the largest of the year for the Gamecocks in their 15 wins.
The Gamecocks trailed for much of game one, falling behind by as many as five at 22-17. Following a timeout, South Carolina managed to eventually tie the score 26-all. During the run, Cole blasted five kills and finished the game with 12 and a stellar .688 hitting percentage. With the scored still knotted up at 28-28, Milosevic hammered two spikes to give USC a 1-0 lead.
Game two belonged to Carolina from the outset. The Gamecocks doubled-up the Bulldogs 14-7 after another kill by Cole and extended the lead to nine, 21-12, when Milosevic tallied another kill. Georgia went on a 3-0 run to close the margin to six, but USC charged back to lead by 10 at 29-19 after a service error by UGA. The game had an uneventful end, as the next two points resulted from serving miscues as well.
South Carolina also controlled the final stanza of the contest. The advantage swelled to nine, 18-9, thanks to a kill by Moorhead. The Gamecocks called a timeout after Georgia cut the lead to 19-13 and came back to win the next three rallies. USC went ahead by double digits when Cole made her third solo block of the night against Anjelica Partridge to her team in front 26-16. Carolina used three kills and a Bulldog attack error for its third consecutive win.
South Carolina plays its next match at Alabama on Friday at 8 p.m. A victory will keep the Gamecocks eligible for the NCAA Tournament, as at-large teams must have above a .500 winning percentage to be considered for a bid.
