Oct. 30, 2007

South Carolina vs. Florida (Oct. 31 @ 7 p.m.)
South Carolina vs. Arkansas (Nov. 2 @ 7 p.m.)

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – After the big victory over LSU, South Carolina faces a short week of practice before taking on the best team in the Southeastern Conference, No. 10 Florida, on Halloween night at 7 p.m. in the Volleyball Competition Facility. To complete the four matches in eight days stretch, the Gamecocks will welcome the Lady Razorbacks of Arkansas to Columbia on Friday night for a 7 p.m. start.

The Gators are the only SEC team in the national polls, coming in at No. 10 in the latest AVCA/CSTV.com rankings, and are two games up on Alabama in the race for the conference championship. Arkansas comes to the Palmetto State with a 10-14 record overall and a 4-10 mark in league play.

All-Time Versus Florida: As is the case with most SEC teams, Florida has dominated the series against the Gamecocks, taking 37 of 44 matches all-time. The Gators have lost to the Garnet and Black twice since Carolina joined the league. However, one of those times came last year, when the Gamecocks upset the Gators in four games at the Volleyball Competition Facility.

All-Time Versus Arkansas: When taking on the school that joined the SEC the same time as Carolina, the Gamecocks have not faired as well as they would have liked. The Lady’Backs have a 14-6 advantage in the series that dates back to 1994. South Carolina owns three home wins against Arkansas, the latest coming in 2004.

Lawing Named SEC Defensive Player of the Week: Freshman Hannah Lawing became the Gamecocks’ first SEC Defensive Player of the Week this season after setting a career high with 25 digs in the five-game triumph over LSU. The Marietta, Ga., native also added three blocks in that victory and had a total of 42 digs on the weekend. She stands third on the squad with her 2.83 digs per game.

Carolina Has Bucked Trend; Looking for More: South Carolina has traditionally been a first-half team in SEC play, but head coach Ben Somera and the team have already done something only five teams previously had. Since joining the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina has improved on its first-half league record three times and matched the previous half just twice out of the 15 years that Carolina has competed in the SEC. Already, the Garnet and Black have tallied as many wins in the second half as they had in the first. Previous to this year, the last time a Gamecock team improved from one half to the next was in 2001, when the squad started conference play 4-3 and ended with a 10-4 record overall. Now the squad has six matches to better its overall record and improve its finish in the league.

Following Kujundzic’s Lead: Sophomore outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic has been a consistent force for the Gamecocks in 2007. The Serbian has compiled 15 matches of double-digit kills, 12 of double-digit digs and 11 double-doubles. Ten times, she has led the team in kills, which tops the squad. Nine of those have come in the team’s 14 SEC matches, including in the last three conference matches, two of those wins for Carolina.

Sophomores a Bright Spot for Gamecocks: The play of sophomore outside hitters Ivana Kujundzic and Meredith Moorhead has been stellar so far in SEC play. The Serbia native Kujundzic has made more kills per game since league action started, rising to 3.46 kills a game now, including a 3.72 average against the SEC, which stands ninth in the conference statistical rankings for SEC games. Her digs per game have also gone up to 2.76 in conference play, 0.40 digs more per frame. Moorhead has played well since her return from an injury suffered against Troy during the 2007 Nike Gamecock Invitational. The Charlotte, N.C., product has hit at a .265 during SEC matches, better than her .231 average during the non-conference slate. She collected double-digit kills in four of her first five outings in league play and returned to that level in the LSU win. Defensive specialist/libero Sarah Cline has gotten five starts duing the league slate, including in wins over Mississippi State and Tennessee. She also came in at the libero spot in game two against LSU and helped the Gamecocks with three crucial digs in the last game of that match to help the squad to the victory.