Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Men’s soccer at Winthrop, Wed., 7 p.m. ■ Women's Soccer vs. Georgia, Fri., 7 p.m. ■ Volleyball vs. Kentucky, Fri., 7 p.m. r< -W '• ■; . . \ r \.<‘b' I ... H , ■ ■■ ■. _ • V Page 11 lEflC 03H1CCOCR Wednesday, September 27,2000 Petty questionable for game Sean Rayford The Gamecock USC quarterback Phil Petty is recovering from a high ankle sprain he received in the Gamecocks’ win over Mississippi State. ■ Quarterback suffered ankle sprain Saturday in Miss. St. game by Jared Kelowitz The Gamecock After spraining his ankle in Saturday’s 23-19 victory over Mis sissippi State, quarterback Phil Petty did not practice on Monday and still remains questionable for this weekend’s contest in Tuscaloosa. After not being able to walk at all on Sunday, Petty was able to walk with limited pain and a healthy limp Monday. “Depending upon Phil’s response to treatments he’ll receive this week, there is a chance he could be ready to play Saturday against Alabama,” said University of South Carolina athletics trainer Rod Walters. Petty injured his ankle in the fourth quarter, when Mississippi State safety Pig Prather hit him on a safe ty blitz. Petty’s foot got caught be hind the rest of his body and he drove his toes straight into the ground, stretching many ligaments in the process. Part of Petty’s rehabilitation reg iment this week has included both hot and cold treatments in the whirlpool, and lately has been work ing his foot in different directions. In case Petty cannot return this weekend, the offensive units have been working with both Erik Kim rey and Dondrial Pinkins. At the beginning of the season, USC head coach Lou Holtz ex pected to give Pinkins some playing time, but a partial tear in his left me dial collateral ligament had kept him on the sidelines to this point. Pinkins is a true freshman with a stronger arm and better running ability then any of the other backup candidates. Right now, the decision « seems to be between Kimrey, the hero of the Mississippi St. game, and the talented newcomer Pinkins. Physically, Pinkins appears ready to start, as the knee is no longer ham pering him at all. Right now Holtz’s biggest concern in with the mental aspects. Kimrey and Pinkins are also com peting with Carlos Spikes for the backup position. Spikes is a wide re ceiver by nature, but has played quar terback at various times in his ca reer. Spikes is primarily an option quarterback and the Gamecocks would have to change the scope of their offense if they had to use him. “We are definitely a different team with Phil Petty in there,” Holtz said. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. USC not top 25 team, says Holtz by Michael Haney The Gamecock South Carolina is 4-0. That’s right: 4-0. It’s hard to believe a team coming off of a 21-game losing streak could come out and start the 2000 campaign in a fashion not even the most diehard fan would have predicted. But they have, and are currently ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll. “If we’re 23rd, there’s a lot of bad football teams, because I don’t think we are the 23rd best football team in the country by any stretch of the imagination,” Holtz said. “We’re just trying to get better, and I don’t think we played particularly well against Mississippi State.” Holtz might be one of the few that feel this way after what happened Saturday, when the Gamecocks wrapped up a four-game homes tand with an impressive come-from-behind victory over then-No. 25 Mississippi State. “I think they (sports writers and voters) had such low expectations of us that they’re just sort of surprised, you know, ‘Wow, let’s put them in the Top 25.’” Holtz said. “I’ve been with some Top 25 teams, and you have to prove some more things than what we have. I just don’t think we are a Top 25 football team right now,” Holtz added. When asked if the possibility of a bowl game was a distraction for his team, the coach said it isn’t a distraction until they become eli gible for a bowl. “We aren’t guaranteed another win,” he said. “You look at our schedule and everyone that is left is either ranked in the top 15 or we play them on the road,” Holtz said. After looking adversity square in the face on Saturday, Carolina looks to upend the struggling Alabama Crimson Tide in their first road game of the season. The Crimson Tide are coming off a 28-21 loss at Arkansas. This week’s game isn’t the Tide’s first home game, but it is their first game in Tuscaloosa. Their previous home games were played in Birmingham. 1 Alabama started the season ranked 3rd in the country in both polls, but has quickly fall en out after starting with a dismal 1-3 record. Despite the Tide’s fall from grace, Holtz feels the defending SEC champs are just as talented as they were a year ago. “The one thing about them is they’re so big upfront and so strong physically. I think their quarterback Tyler Watts is really playing well. He scrambles and runs very well, and (wide receiver) Freddie Milons scares you to death,” Holtz said. “Defensively their secondary is outstanding and their front is very big. The other thing that worries me is they run a multiple set on defense. They can come at us with a combina tion of what other teams have done to us, so that could cause some problems for us offen sively,” Holtz added. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. 'I don’t think we are the 23rd best team in the country by any stretch of the imagina tion.’ Lou Holtz Head Football Coach Alban’s vocal influence, spirited leadership leads volleyball team to new heights in 2000 by Mackenzie Craven The Gamecock Every team has a player that stands out dur ing a match. Whether it’s for their outstanding play or because they yell louder than any other player on the court, they capture the fans’ atten tion. The Gamecocks’ volleyball team is no ex ception. No. 11, Sam Alban, brings her compet itive attitude along with her outstanding com munication skills to the court every match. Alban is not difficult to find during a match. She stands right in the center of the court and yells throughout the game. Many fans might not know what she is say ing, but the other players know she is spilling out vital information. She is identifying blockers and telling her teammates where to keep guard. Alban first heard of USC during her junior year of high school. After visiting campus as a high school senior, she immediately decided that this was where she wanted to play. Looking back on her high school years in Michigan, Alban can easily recall her involvement in many sports. She competed at the All-State level many times and remembers having a lot of fun during those years. Now, as a sophomore on the USC team, she has learned a lot more about her sport. She ad mits it is more of a mental game. Alban be lieves the team is successful not just because they average six feet tall, but because everyone can play. “Everyone on the team is a die-hard com petitor,” Alban said. The team takes time to review scouting re ports to get the feel of the other team’s defense. The team has lost two seniors and returns one from last season. Alban says the team is more fo cused and more experienced compared to a year ago. Alban feels she brings excitement to the court along with good communication skills. Some of the plays during the game have special names, including the “flyer” and the “slide”. A “flyer” is when a player gets two or three feet behind the setter. The “slide” is performed behind the setter and the player moves forward. There are also plays called the “A and D” and the “middle block er”. The team has several ways of staying pumped throughout the match. One way is to chant cheers before the game starts. Another important boost er are the fans who attempt to cheer the players to victory. Before the last point is scored, USC fans stand and show their support. “After playing two away games in a row, it is really nice to come home and have that extra sup port system. The cheerleaders also perform throughout the match,” Alban said. After the game, the players sign autographs for their young fans. This is very important to both herself and the team, according to Alban. She feels people see athletes as positive role mod els. Alban can relate to the importance of athlet ics as a child. When she was six, she played soc cer. Throughout her youth, her uniform number would always be the same as her age. When she reached 11, she decided to stick with that num ber because she found it to be “solid”. Alban plans to attend medical school after she completes her undergraduate degree. She hopes to become an emergency room doctor or pursue a career in psychology. But, for now, Alban has her heart set on winning the SEC Championship. The Gamecocks currently have a record of 11-2 and are in good position to reach that goal. The spans desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Trammell wins silver in Sydney .by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Former South Carolina track star Ter rence Trammell became only the second athlete in USC history to win a medal at the Summer Olympics when he won a silver medal Monday night in the 1 IO meter hurdles. Trammell, a five-time NCAA cham pion for the Gamecocks, ran a lifetime best 13.16 seconds in the finals of the event to finish a close second behind Cu ba’s Anier Garcia, who ran a 13.00. Kevin Joyce, a member of the 1972 USA men’s basketball team, is the only other Game cock to win a medal at the Summer Games. "It’s finally starting to sink in," Tram mell said a day after the race. "A silver medalist... wow." In front of a capacity crowd of 102,000 at Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia, Trammell started slowly out of the blocks. But in the second half of the race, he gained enough speed to surge into second place and into Gamecock his tory. "By hurdle No. 5,1 noticed I was out of medal contention," Trammell said. "I wanted to really focus and dig deep and I was able to do it. I made-everything a bit quicker and was more aggressive to the hurdles." The race took two starts to complete, as Great Britain’s Colin Jackson was charged with a false start on the race’s first attempt. "My start would have been a lot faster if the first start hadn’t been a false start," Trammell said. "I told myself to keep my composure because I thought the next one was going to be live." Trammell's instincts were right. The next start was clean, and the former Game cock was up to the, task. "Terrence is one of the best hurdlers in the world," USC track and field head coach Curtis Frye said. "He is now the second best hurdler in the world. He and Allen Johnson are going to put up some great duels in America over the next few years." Johnson, the defending Olympic champion in the event, finished a disap pointing fourth in the final. He is a vol unteer coach at Carolina and a training partner of Trammell’s. He finished just one one-hundredth of a second out of third place, behind American Mark Crear. Johnson also cleared every hurdle in the final. "It was a shocker that Allen Johnson wasn’t up there [on the medal stand]," Trammell said. "I didn’t know what to say to him afterwards because he’s always up there. It was kind of hard. I didn’t know how to respond. So many times it has been the other way around." There were no tears for Trammell on the podium. "Getting up on the medal stand I was just happy," he said. "No tears came out. I thought that they might, but maybe that’s something gold medalists get to ex perience." "But I am glad I was able to get up Trammell see page 13 L : Sean Rayford The Gamecock Terrence Trammell, a five-time NCAA champion with South Carolina, won an Olympic silver medal in the 110m hurdles Monday. Men’s soccer ready to face Winthrop by Andrew Festa The Gamecock The Gamecock men’s soccer team will travel to Rock Hill, S.C., this evening hoping to continue their six-game un beaten streak against the Winthrop Ea gles. Carolina is coming off a 2-2 tie with No. 20 Wake Forest on Saturday, which brought their record to 6-1 -1. The USC men were ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA poll, but they moved up to fifth with their effort against Wake Forest. Winthrop was ranked second over all in the Big South Conference going in to theirgiune against High Point at home Monday night. The Eagles, undefeated at home and 4-2 overall, are scoring on 19 per cent of their shots and had 15 total goals heading into the High Point game. The Gamecocks have 17 goals on the sea son. USC is undefeated away from home, with one tie. Sophomore forward Jordan Quinn leads USC with six goals through eight games, and freshman standout Ryan Da ley has scored four. Senior Henry Ring is showing signs of another All-American season at goalkeeper. The former All-American Soccer see pagers