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Monday, November 11, 1996 BasKeiDc LARRY WILLIAMS Staff Writer University of South Carolina men's basketball, coach Eddie Fogler may have taken Saturday's exhibition game against the Charlotte Royals with a grain of salt. After USC's 85-70 win that was anything but comfortable for the Gamecocks, Fogler wasn't pointing any E- ,M I jpp fiMBf J Senior Larry Davis Is seen here d< last year. Head coach Eddie I Gamecocks need to focus more or Carolina voile DWAYNE MCUEMORE Asst Sports Editor The Carolina volleyball team traveled to Athens Saturday to play the University of Georgia and did something it had never done before. Win. The victory was the Lady Gamecocks' third straight against the Lady Bulldogs, and the first-ever on Georgia's home court. The last, and only, time Carolina defeated Georgia on the road was at the West Georgia Invitational in 1978. The Lady Gamecocks won 6-15,156,16-14 and 15-9, and improved to 197 (8-4 SEC), while Georgia fell to 11-15 (3-11 SEC). Carolina head coach Kim Hudson i a e! 9 *^?j IBM Junior Heather Larkln led the Lad Georgia for the first time In scfio< I 4#*^. When M\ ? \ ~ wars t<Kvfe <oCU\ ?? 1 ASSC ill team w hngers. I A message from the fourth-year coach to Gamecocks fans? Don't lose any sleep ? over it. s Tm kind of glad (it was close)," Fogler said. "I'd rather play this competitive- i type of game than if it was, say, we were t up 20 at the half... I think this will be ( c m 1 \ m-fifr M c ' *^^iffssP^^ W k >$ ^ ' I 'war ~?? JSS. ?i?,i ,i,,i,j>. i.hiMt^: : t File Photo ^ C af ending against Georgia Southern y Fogler says that this year the j i defense yball wins thirc was especially pleased with the victory, a "Tfs fllwavs crrpnt to win on tVio nonH and especially against Georgia," Hudson tl said. "I was pleased with the way we came back after the first game. I "We played well when we needed to n play well," she said. A Georgia exploded out of the gate, s taking a 7-0 lead in game one. The Lady Gamecocks couldn't mount a solid attack f< and eventually fell 15-6. s< Carolina senior Kelly Morrow then served up a 3-0 lead in the second game, ti The team went up 7-1, and later 12-5, G and would hit .417 for the game. Junior Heather Larkin put the Lady G Gamecocks up 13-5 with an ace. Sophomore Ashley Edlund then served G ^ mL * WJLJ BP) 15 lirflb& ^BOIkBI \] y Gamecock attack at Georgia Saturd >1 history. On Nov. 15, the Lady Gamec your child has a neuromuscular ;e, you have a million questions, answers them all through special 3 and brochures, and just by being SPO ins first i nore beneficial for us." TTio flcimo/w>lfo cVinu/oH aitmo nf mot igainst a team they beat 99-63 in their lecond exhibition game last season. The Royals, down by as much as 20 n the first half, rallied in the second on he heels of solid three-point shooting. Charlotte made 13 of 32 shots from >utside the arc, with guard Tracy Armstrong nailing five of 12. They (Charlotte) shot the ball very veil," Fogler said. Thirteen of 32 from hree (point range) makes up for a lot of hings." The Gamecocks' heralded "Triple rhreat" trio of guards (BJ McKie, Larry )avis, Melvin Watson) never quite got iff the ground, or at least two thirds of he trio didn't, Davis, who averaged 18 points per fame last season, was held to four points in one-of-nine shooting. Davis's first points came with six ninutes remaining in the game, while Vatson scored 10 points on three-ofleven shooting in his 24 minutes of play. McKie, who didn't start the game, icored more than Watson and McKie :ombined, scoring a team-high 23 points in seven-of-13 shooting. Fogler said the reason McKie sat to >egin the game was because of the team's leed for improvement on defense. j xircn: r?_ii rugici Diancu ?y mituu uaiiiiiaiiii forward), Ryan Stack(forward), Nate Wilbourne (center), Davis (guard) and Watson (guard). "We're pretty much starting what ve are considering the five best defensive )layers from practice," Fogler said. "Well tart the five best defensive players next Saturday (Puerto Rico, Nov. 16), who ve think are the best between this Saturday and next Saturday. "There's a priority on defense. I've ilways wanted to do it. I've never done t," Fogler said. "I don't think starting s that important, but ifs important to he kids, though... so if they want to start hey can guard and think and compete ?n that part of the court ? we need to >e a better defensive team than we were ast year." McKie said he wasn't affected by 1 straight ovei n ace of her own to win the game. Game three had fans on the edge of heir seats. Georgia went up 3-0, but junior Lori )rost's kill for a side-out shifted lomentum Carolina's way. Junior Shani Jbshier steDDed ud and served three I 1 X traight points to tie the game. The Lady Gamecocks pulled away )r a 10-6 lead, but Georgia rallied for even straight to lead 13-10. The teams then battled to a 14-14 ie, and Carolina took advantage of leorgia errors to pull off the victory. The fourth game would see the. Lady lamecocks showcase their blocking skills, rhich they used to take a 5-0 lead, leorgia managed to stay in the game, mm . m: Ml FILE PHOTO ay with 13 kills. Carolina won at ocks host Tennessee at 7 p.m. ARll HCeep IX yij movir wn I NO U ~ TURN J 1800 RTS dress rehi being the sixth man coming off the bench against the Royals. "I pretty much knew I wasn't starting coming in today," McKie said. "I'm definitely not one of the five-best defensive players at this point. I don't think starting is really a key factor. It really matters who finishes a game...those players deserved to start tonight." McKie and USC, who enjoyed a 4633 lead at the half, were pressed to the limit in the second stanza. In the first 8:53, the Royals outscored the Gamecocks 23-15 to close to within two points at 61-59 with 11:29 left. After battling Carolina to a draw for the next three minutes, the Royals ran out of steam, as the Gamecocks found clutch baskets by McKie and Davis to pull away for the final 85-70 score. Game Notes: Fogler announced after the game that senior center George Formanek, who hails from the Czech Republic, will be red-shirted this season. USC's second and final exhibition game will be Saturday, Nov. 16 against Puerto Rico. The Gamecocks then travel to Hawaii for the Maui Classic Nov. 25. The first game will be against Virginia, while the remaining possible opponents are: UMASS, Chaminade, Iowa, Cal, LSU and Kansas. n Eight of nine preseason magazines to date list Carolina in the top 40, with five of those ranking the Gamecocks in the Top 25. USC is picked as high as No. 18 by Street and Smith's and is a Sweet 16 selection by Athlon Sports. Carolina's listings average out to a No. 22 preseason ranking, according to the publications. In the recently-released USA Today/CNN Top 25, Carolina is just outside of the listing with enough votes to rank 28th. The Gamecock basketball team has not been ranked since the 1989 season when George Felton was still head basketball coach. Georgia, 3-1 trailing 10-7. Abshier then ignited Carolina with a kill, followed by a block solo, to score two points. A Larkin kill put the team up 14-7. Georgia responded with two consecutive aces, but lost the game on a net violation, hitting -.041 for the game. . Larkin led the Lady Gamecocks with , 13 kills, two service aces, five block assists and a block solo. Freshman Fernanda Laires added 12 kills and four block assists. Abshier finished with 14 digs and seven kills. Edlund, who recorded 26 assists and j six kills, said she was happy with the , way the team rebounded from the slow start. . "We started off really sluggish in the , first game," Edlund said. "Then we got j after it and started digging balls and < hitting harder. 1 "We started blocking and playing i better as the match went along." The team outblocked Georgia 11-5. Drost finished with five kills and five block assists. Sophomore Cindy Robarge added four block assists. Carolina also held Georgia to .082 hitting. The Lady Bulldogs' top hitter, Rebecca Dady, had 17 kills on 47 attempts, hitting .234. Hudson credited Georgia's serving, which resulted in nine aces. She said Carolina did a good job | adjusting to the Lady Bulldogs' style of | setting the ball very high. "It was a tempo we haven't seen in i a long time," Hudson said "A lot of times ( it throws off your blockers and your defense gets sucked in. j "We just made the necessary adjustments," she said. Hudson also said she was pleased with the fan support on the road. "The fan support was great," she said. j "Our fans out-yelled Georgia's, even the dog barking." Carolina returns home this weekend J for its final regular season matches. The team will play Tennessee at 7 p.m. Friday, and then Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday. s no time to turn back. MDA's lifesaving research lg forward. BA Dystrophy Association -572-1717 t aI ;di5di ui R., IVLWHsii wl&JiiP^lfU^ ;>* vim* 1^ - m m \ The Gamecock basketball team bes play of senior Larry Davis. Davis w coach Eddie Fogler to lead the 1 Gamecocks will play their next hoi on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Fran the regular season at the Maul Virginia at 4:30 p.m. The tourname Gamecocks pic second in SEC atan Ke ports The University of South Carolina men's basketball team picked Thursday to finish second in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division for the 1996-97 season. A panel of media at the3 league's annual SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., made the selections. The preseason pick is the highest for Carolina since the Gamecocks joined the league prior to the 1991-92 season. The previous best was a No. 4 on two previous occasions. Carolina is picked 3econd behind Kentucky in the East, followed by Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Florida. The Wildcats and Gamecocks were unanimous first and second place choices Moritz sidelin shoulder ligai ACHIM HUNT Sports Editor First it was Duce with a sprained ankle and now it is his backup junior Scott Moritz with a torn ligament in his shoulder. Morit? filled in well for Staley at ^anderbilt were he scored two touchdowns. Then against the No. 6 Volunteers be scored another touchdown on 74 yards rushing. Then Moritz on Thursday as the Gamecocks were preparing for Georgia suffered a torn ligament in his right shoulder. On Sunday he underwent surgery at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia The injuiy will sideline Moritz for the remainder of the season. Senior tailback Duce Staley, the SEC's leading rusher, continues to rehabilitate his right ankle which was severely sprained early in the Vanderbilt , 7 the year 1;;' JBH * / ?* 4: -A File Photo it the Charlotte Royals behind the III be called on this year by hpad team In shooting this year. The me game against the Puerto Rico ik McGuIre Arena. Carolina starts Invitational on Nov. 25, against nt will last three days. :ked to finish East Division by the SEC media for first and second place, respectively. In the Western Division, Arkansas received 11 of 14 first place votes and was the media's choice to win the division. Auburn was picked second, followed by Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Louisiana State. For the first time in Carolina's SEC history, the Gamecocks had someone named to the Preseason All-SEC team, and Carolina is the only team to have two players named to the squad. Senior guard Larry Davis and junior guard Melvin Watson made the fiveman team. Also on the squad were Kentucky's Ron Mercer, a unanimous selection, Eric Washington of Alabama and Auburn Pat Burke. ed with torn nent surgery game two weeks ago. The injury forced him to miss most of the Vanderbilt game, and all of the Tennessee game. The football coaching staff is still unsure of when Stale/s return will be. They are hoping to get him in practice this week, however, that does not mean he will be ready to face Florida. Florida struggled with league cellar dweller Vanderbilt on Saturday as they squeaked out a 28-21 victory. The Tennessee Volunteers were defeated by Memphis Saturday 21-17 when Peyton Manning threw an interception late in the ball game. That game is significant because the offensive coordinator of the Memphis Tigers is former Carolina head coach Sparky Woods. Woods biggest win at Carolina was 24-23 victory over the Volunteers in 1992.