Nov. 15, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (14-13, 5-12 SEC) dropped a three-set match to No. 19 LSU (22-5, 16-2 SEC), 25-20, 25-16, 25-15, on Sunday afternoon at the Volleyball Competition Facility.
Senior Sarah Cline continued her streak of double-digit dig matches, getting 12 while also landing two aces against the Tigers to lead the Gamecocks. Redshirt freshman Olivia Ryder posted a career-best eight kills to top South Carolina. Marina Skender claimed match-best honors with 10 kills, while Lauren Waclawczyk made 16 digs. Tiger setter Sam Dabbs posted a double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs. Michele Williams had eight kills and seven blocks.
After Senior Day festivities ended, the Gamecocks opened up strong, eventually taking a 16-12 lead. But LSU stormed back to tie it at 16-16, getting kills from Skender, Dabbs and Williams and a block from Williams and Angela Bensend. The Gamecocks stayed ahead until Lauren DeGirolamo followed a Bensend kill with one of her own to make it 19-18. Laughlin made it a one-point set again with a kill at 21-20, but the Tigers would finish off the set, with kills from DeGirolamo and Williams coming around a Waclawszyk ace. Britnee Cooper and Williams both had four kills in the frame.
LSU jumped on top in the second set, 9-5, behind a four-point run that included kills by Skender and Bensend. The Tiger lead grew to 17-10 after a four-point run. An LSU service error was the only thing kept the Tigers from a nine-point skein, as the Tigers posted four more points after the errant serve. The Gamecocks made a stand after that, getting two kills from junior Hannah Lawing around a pair of Tiger errors to make it 21-15. But LSU closed it at 25-16 with kills by Williams, Bensend and Cooper. Williams had three blocks in the second while tying Cooper with four kills again in the second.
Both teams had early three-point runs in the third before LSU took five of six points in a span to make it 9-5. Bensend had two kills to cap that run. The Tigers stretched the lead to 18-9 on Dabbs’ serve, as she landed one ace in the string. After LSU got to 21 points again, South Carolina tried to make a stand, with Laughlin getting a kill and an ace in a three-point skein. But the Tigers would put it away with their ninth block of the match, ending the third at 25-15.
The Gamecocks honored their four seniors, Sarah Cline, Bridget Denson-Dorman, Ivana Kujundzic and Meredith Moorhead, prior to the match.
South Carolina ends the season on the road, playing first at No. 11 Kentucky on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.
