Oct. 19, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. – Despite a career-best effort from sophomore Ivana Kujundzic, the Gamecocks fell in a hard-fought match, 3-2, to Georgia, 23-30, 30-25, 34-32, 25-30, 16-14. Georgia moves to 14-7 on the campaign, 5-6 in Southeastern Conference action, while South Carolina falls to 9-11, 2-9 in league play.
Kujundzic tallied her eighth double-double of the season, digging 14 balls to go with her career high 26 kills. Freshman Hannah Lawing collected her third double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs in her return to her home state. Junior setter Petra Lorenzi had a season-high 45 assists to go with 12 digs for her third double-double of the year. Lorenzi also added three aces in the match. Junior Belita Salters had 14 kills and six blocks, while sophomore Meredith Moorhead and freshman Megan Laughlin both had 11 kills in the match. Moorhead also set a career high with seven assists. Junior Dinelia Concepcion had 21 digs for the Gamecocks.
Maria Taylor led Georgia with 25 kills while adding 15 digs. Erika Clark and Britta Buethe collected double-doubles for the Bulldogs. Clark had 13 kills and 16 digs, while Buethe had 10 kills and 14 digs. Renee Johnson led five Georgia players with 17 digs.
Carolina took control of the first game early on, running out to a 5-2 lead on kills from Salters, Laughlin and a Moorhead block. The lead was stretched to 15-8 after the Gamecocks captured seven out of eight points. Salters had two kills during that run, while freshman Dani Bedore had an ace. USC pushed the edge out to 24-16 with a Salters kill and a block from Moorhead and Salters. The Bulldogs kept fighting, but the Gamecocks put the game away with a Laughlin ace. South Carolina hit .400 in the 30-23 win, led by Salters’ six kills and Kujundzic’s five.
After Georgia took a 10-6 lead, Carolina came back to within two after a pair of back-row kills from Kujundzic. The Dogs went back ahead, 15-11, before the Gamecocks took five of the next six points to tie it up at 16-16. Kujundzic knotted up the match with an ace after a block from the freshmen, Lawing and Laughlin. But errors would undo the comeback bid, as the Bulldogs would take seven of their next nine points off Gamecock errors: two from service errors, three from hitting errors and another two from set errors, to take the score to 26-19. Kujundzic would keep the Garnet and Black alive, making three kills in four points to bring Carolina to within four at 27-23. But the squads traded side outs from there to end the frame, 30-25, for Georgia. While the Gamecocks out-hit the Bulldogs in the second game, .189 to .150, eight attack errors and seven service errors hurt Carolina. Kujundzic had eight kills to lead both squads.
The Gamecocks stormed ahead at 9-7 after three consecutive blocks involving Salters, two coming in tandem with Bedore and another assisted by Lawing. Georgia knotted it up at 13-13 after a Taylor kill. After the teams swapped points, the Bulldogs took nine of 10 points to stake a 24-17 advantage. Clark and Valentina Gonzalez both had a kill and a block together in the run. However, Carolina would not go away. The Garnet chipped away, taking seven of the next 10 to bring it within three. A service error put Georgia two points from victory, but the Gamecocks kept fighting. Kujundzic made a kill prior to two Bulldog errors that put USC down 28-27. A Carolina attack error put Georgia on the brink of the victory, but Lawing and company would not go away. A block from Salters and Bedore preceded two kills from the Marietta, Ga., freshman that pushed Carolina into a 30-29 lead.
Georgia’s Lindsay Gehan tied the game at 30-30, winning an even ball at the net. Lawing gave Carolina the chance to win after her kill, but the Dogs would take the advantage back on Gehan dump and a Garnet hitting error. A service error by the Red and Black would tie up the match again, but Clark got a kill to put Georgia on the precipice of the victory. Buethe would push the Dogs over the edge with her sixth kill of the match for the 34-32 win.
Game four was nearly all Gamecocks. The squad took a 7-5 lead after two Kujundzic kills. After a Georgia kill by Buethe, Carolina took control with six straight points. Lorenzi started the run with her second kill of the season and continued it with three consecutive aces to put the Garnet up, 13-6. That edge would keep the Gamecocks on top, as they won the frame, 30-25, on a Laughlin kill. Kujundzic’s seven kills led the Garnet.
The Dogs got the first advantage in the game at 7-6 with a block from Taylor and Gonzalez. Another Bulldog block, this one from Taylor and Gehan, put Georgia in the lead, 9-7. Carolina took a 10-9 lead after kills from Lawing and Kujundzic and a UGA hitting error. However, that lead would not last, as Gehan got a kill and a block assist along with Martin to take the lead again at 11-10. The Gamecocks would climb back into the lead at 13-12 after a Bulldog service error and a Kujundzic kill. A Gehan spike and a Carolina hitting error put Georgia on the brink of the win, but a service error extended the match. Clark put the Bulldogs back in position with her kill, and Taylor ended the game, 16-14, and the match with her 25th kill of the contest.
Carolina hit .208 in the match, compared to just .188 for Georgia. The Gamecocks had more kills, assists, and digs, but Georgia matched Carolina in aces and topped them in blocks, 12-9. South Carolina dropped its third five-game match of the year.
South Carolina faces Auburn on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. CDT at the Student Activities Center.
