Nov. 22, 2006
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team dropped its 2006 finale against College of Charleston on Wednesday by a score of 3-1 (23-30, 30-22, 20-30, 27-30) in Columbia, S.C., to end the year with a 15-17 record. The Cougars improved to 27-7 overall with the victory.
USC senior Shonda Cole added 29 more kills to her season total, which ended at 703 to make her just the 14th player in NCAA history to eclipse the 700-kill plateau since rally scoring was first adopted for the 2001 season. Cole added 11 digs as well for her team-leading 11th double-double of the year.
Cole ended her career at Carolina ranked first in attacks (4,181) and kills per game (4.26) while holding down second place in kills (1,775). Her 305 total blocks also ranks No. 10 in school history. A native of Kings Mountain, N.C., Cole set USC season records in 2006 for kills (703), attacks (1,541) and kills per game (5.76). She also became the first Gamecock to average over 4.00 kills per game for three seasons.
Another significant contribution for Carolina on Wednesday night came from Marija Milosevic with 12 kills on 23 attempts. Meredith Moorhead had nine kills, and Sarah Cline led the team in digs with 13. Alexcis Thomson tallied 49 assists, four digs and three blocks.
Three Cougars reached double digits in kills, led by Deanna Patrick’s 22. Tiffany Blum recorded 16 kills and Annie Uthe made 11. Marie Dobrenz had a match-high 22 digs, and Alexis Lowes reached double figures in digs as well with 11. Lindsey Kane notched 58 assists, seven digs and three kills.
The two teams battled back and forth in game one and were still at a stalemate with the scoreboard reading 22-all. College of Charleston sided out on the next rally and behind Dobrenz’s serving managed to win the next six points to complete a 7-0 run. Ivana Kujundzic stopped the Cougars from finishing the game with eight consecutive points after she tallied a kill, but Patrick got a kill of her own on the next rally to close out the frame.
With the score tied 6-6 in the second game, the Gamecocks used a 5-0 spurt to grab control. The lead grew to six, 17-11, after another kill by Cole, but C of C slowly crept back into the game and eventually pulled with two when Emily Sawin scored an ace to make the score 19-17. South Carolina recovered and pushed its advantage to six following a service ace by Dinelia Concepcion to go ahead 24-18. The Gamecocks won game two when Kane mishandled a set.
South Carolina had an early 7-5 lead in the third stanza before the Cougars ran off seven points in a row. The Gamecocks were able to regroup midway through and got within two, 18-16, thanks to an ace by Kujundzic. After splitting the next two rallies, College of Charleston went on another run, this time a 6-0 tear to put the game out of reach.
USC trailed 10-7 in game No. 4 but responded with six straight points to lead by three. The Gamecocks were still leading 17-16 when the Cougars used a 4-0 spurt to gain a three-point advantage. College of Charleston’s lead was four, 28-24, following a Lowes kill, but Carolina made a late charge in hopes of extending the match to a fifth game. Cole blasted another kill and Concepcion aced C of C to make the deficit two. The Gamecocks managed to fight off one match point with the final kill of Cole’s career before the Cougars snagged the win.
