Oct. 15, 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The South Carolina volleyball team dropped its second-consecutive contest to a ranked team this season, falling 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 to eighth-ranked Florida on Wednesday evening in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gamecocks fall to 14-4 on the season and 6-3 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Gators improve to 15-1 overall and 9-0 in league play.
Junior outside hitter Meredith Moorhead topped the Gamecocks with nine kills while hitting at a .471 clip. Redshirt senior middle blocker Belita Salters had eight kills. Junior libero Sarah Cline had 11 digs, leading all players. For the Gators, Kelly Murphy had 13 kills and 22 assists, while Colleen Ward added 10 kills. Callie Rivers collected nine, while Kelsey Bowers added eight on a match-best .636 hitting percentage. Elyse Cusack led Florida with 10 digs, while Cindy Bathelt added 21 assists.
The squads went back and forth in the first set, with the Gamecocks hanging within three points of the Gators till the end of the frame. After falling behind, 7-4, South Carolina got an ace and a back-row kill from junior outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic to knot up the frame. Florida got a 17-14 advantage when Murphy had three kills inside of four points, but Carolina got within one after a Moorhead kill and a Florida attack error. After trading side-outs, the Gators took four points in a five-point stretch to get to set point. South Carolina did not go out quietly, forcing an attacking error and getting a block from Moorhead and Tory Anderson to cause Florida to call a timeout at 24-22. On the next point, the Gators got a block from Murphy and Kristina Johnson to close out the frame. Five service errors in the first set, matching South Carolina’s total in three matches this year, spoiled a .276 hitting percentage by the squad.
The Gators came out on fire in the second set, getting 10 out of 11 points in one stretch, including a seven-point string, to take an 11-3 lead. The Gamecocks would twice get within seven points, the final time at 20-13 after kills by Moorhead and Anderson. After that, the squads traded sideouts till Ward ended the frame, 25-17, with a cross-court smash. Murphy had eight kills in 10 tries in the second, leading the Gators to a .366 hitting percentage.
The Gamecocks came back from an early 5-2 deficit to tie up the third frame at 6-6. Four-consecutive Gator points, including kills from Rivers, Bowers and Murphy, put the Florida lead to 10-6. That advantage grew to 16-9 after a three-point skein that included a block from Ward and Cassandra Anderson. Back-to-back kills by Kujundzic got the Gamecocks within five at 16-11, but that would be as close as they got. Florida got six of the next seven points to get a 22-12 lead. The squads swapped side-outs till the end, when Bowers powered down a shot to close out the frame, 25-15. Rivers tallied six kills in the final set, while the Gators hit .500 in the frame.
Florida had advantages in every category, including out-hitting South Carolina, .381 to .186.
South Carolina plays on Sunday at Auburn, with match time set for 1:30 p.m. CDT.
