The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 11, 1996, Page 7, Image 7
Monday, November 11, 1996
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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
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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
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Junior Heather Larkln led the Lad
Georgia for the first time In scfio<
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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 (
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Fogler says that this year the j
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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
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y Gamecock attack at Georgia Saturd
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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.
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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
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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,
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FILE PHOTO
ay with 13 kills. Carolina won at
ocks host Tennessee at 7 p.m.
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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.
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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
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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.