Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Em 02Sl££Q£E South Carolina seeking more than winning conference record by Brock Vergakis The Gamecock After the worst football season in USC history, the Gamecocks find themselves in an unfamiliar postion, first place in the SEC East, ahead of traditional powers Georgia and Tennessee. After defeating Arkansas 27-7 Saturday, USC has al so put itself in a position many thought would be im possible at the beginning of the season. The Gamecocks are vying for the SEC championship and are bowl eli gible. “This was a great win for us,” head coach Lou Holtz said after the victory. “It kept us alive in the con ference. South Carolina has never had a winning record in the SEC.” The Gamecocks are tied with Florida for first place in the SEC East and are bowl eli gible for the first time since 1994. “We’ve wanted to be bowl eligible, and I’ve got to be honest, it means a lot,” Holtz said. After a winless season last year, a lot of fans and play ers would have been thrilled to win five games all sea son, much less be bowl eligible. “There’s a lot of people who thought we’d never be in this position,” said running back Derek Watson. “There were even some players who thought we would n’t be here. But this feels good. It’s an exciting time and we’re having fun. We’re looking forward to playing in a New Year’s Day bowl.” After dominating the Hogs Saturday, the players are finally beginning to become a little more talkative about their holiday plans and their position in the SEC race. “We’ve had a lot of guys peeking at it, but they would n’t say it,” starting quarterback Phil Petty said. “You kind of look at what this team’s doing and what that team’s doing. This was a big game for us. We needed to go ahead and win this one. I think all the guys know what’s go ing on. I know what we’ve got left. I know what Flori da and Georgia have left.” USC finds itself tied for first place in the SEC East with Florida with three conference games remaining,'and Georgia is only'a half-game back. With the Gamecocks facing a probable victory against Vanderbilt this week end, whether the team will represent the SEC East in At lanta for the championship game will depend on how it plays against Tennessee and Florida. Tennessee has gone 0-3 in the SEC this season, while Florida has gone 4-1. To win the SEC East, Florida will have to get past Geor gia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Georgia’s remaining games include Kentucky, Florida, Auburn and Ole Miss. “You check it off and you say, ‘Gee, if we don’t get it by this game, then we may not get one.’ Then after you get it, well, we’re looking at the conference race,” Holtz said. “We’re not in the driver’s seat, but as I told them, at least we’re in the car.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. USC swimmers have easy victory over College of Charleston Cougars by Maneshka Euatamby The Gamecock Friday was a treat for all the Gamecock fans as the USC swim team secured a magnificent victory over the Cougars in their season opener. The USC swim team en tered the arena carrying their mascot, backed by the cheers of a handful of ardent fans that had come to watch the meet. It was clear from the beginning that the home team was going to score a decisive victory over the College of Charleston when, in their first two events, the Game cocks were able to secure first and second positions in both the men’s and women’s 400-yard medley relay. The Gamecock relay teams went on to win the rest of the relays for the day, which included the 400-yard freestyle. The real test of endurance, the 1000-yard freestyle event, didn’t seem to be too much of a test for the Game cock men and women. Sarah Doyle, a USC junior and All-American, was able to secure a clear lead over the rest of the competi tors just a few laps after the event started, and was far ahead of the rest of the competitors at the end of the 40-lap race. Doyle was also a clear winner in the 500-yard freestyle event. She said “There’s more of a team atmosphere this year, and having a bunch of people behind you, cheer ing you on has helped the team tremendously.” Lucia Jimenez, a freshman from Guatemala, did very well in her first competition as a representive of USC, finishing second behind Doyle in both events. Dedekind Bronwyn and Layton Brenna, both USC freshmen from South Africa, placed third and fourth in the 1000-yard event. The men’s 500- and 1000-yard events were won by Cory Conway, who said he was happy with the two wins and hopes to go on and qualify for the NCAA _ _ * this year. The shorter distance events were also dominated by USC, with the Gamecocks taking victory in all but three events. The Gamecocks did not officially participate in the three events won by the College of Charleston, opting to swim them as exhibition events in order to not create too wide a margin in the final point standings. For the Gamecocks, Tricia Rye won the 200-yard breaststroke and came in second in the 200-yard indi vidual medley event behind Caroline Curran. The 200 yardwomen’s butterfly was won by Meg Johnson, while Chris McCrary won the men’s event. Julio Aparecido, one of the few seniors on the team, won the 200-yard freestyle event. He said he felt Fri day was a big turning point for the team, and he is very excited about being part of the Gamecock team. Aparecido said he was still undecided about whether he will continue his swimming career after college. Tm encouraged about the future of the team, since a majority of them are freshmen,” head coach Don Gibb said. “I thought it was a very good starting point for the season.” He also went on to say that the athletes who have same at an international level have had to get accustomed tothe shorter length of the pool. Most of the swimmers are used to swimming a 50 meter pool, and have now got to get used to a 25-yard lap, which is less than half the distance. However, he is confident tha,t as the season progresses, they will no longer be handicapped by this difference. The sports desk can be reached at gamecockspoits@hotnrail.com. Women s soccer team loses two games during road trip through Mississippi by Chris Foy The Gamecock The USC women’s soccer team dropped two more heartbreakers this weekend during their Mississippi road trip and have now dropped all four of their road confer ence matches. On Friday night, the Rebels downed the Lady Gamecocks 3-1 and then, on Sunday, South Car olina fell to the Bulldogs 2-1. The losses make South Carolina 0-6 in the Southeastern Conference as well as 3-13 on the season. The Mississippi Rebels (11-3,4-1) got their first win ever against South Carolina Friday night and their first victory against an SEC East opponent since 1997. The SEC West leading Rebels demonstrated their powerful offense as they outshot the Gamecocks 22-6. The goal keepers for South Carolina on the evening, Elise Matthews and Jessica Freas, combined for 5 saves. Senior forward Sarah Wong put the Rebels up 1-0 with a penalty kick 26 minutes into the game. The penal ty came off a handball. Sophomore midfielder Anna Sanders then made the score 2-0 at 34:07 when she scored off an assist from 10 yards out. Freshman forward Bec ca Epstein had the only goal for the Gamecocks, as she scored late in the first half off an assist from Senior for ward Charlotte Moore. The assist gave Moore her first point of the season. Sanders scored again for the Rebels in the second half, making the final score 3-1 in favor of Mississippi. Ole Miss Head Coach Steve Holeman viewed the game as a tough match-up between two competitive teams. “It was a very physical game. This is a very good South Carolina team, despite their record,” Holeman said. In Starksville, the Gamecocks’ troubles continued. Mississippi State (6-10,2-4) held off the Gamecocks de spite a strong offensive showing from South Carolina. After a strong defensive effort from both teams ini tially in the game, the Bulldogs finally put a point on the scoreboard after 40 minutes of play. Freshman for ward Beth Dreher scored the first goal of the game off a penalty kick, rifling a shot into the left side of the net, just missed by a diving Jessica Freas. The penalty was on a hold. Six minutes into the second half, junior forward Mor gan McIntyre responded to the Bulldogs lead with a score off an assist from senior defender Jessica Workman and tied the game at one. After McIntyre’s goal, both teams fell short on many scoring opportunities as the ball kept going across the field. Finally, MSU’s senior mid fielder Michelle Provenzano made what would be the fi nal goal of the game with 28 minutes left in the game making the final score 2-1 in favor of Mississippi State. Goalkeeper Jessica Freas put up only one save on the evening. Despite the loss, USC did manage to outshoot the Bulldogs 11-9. After the game, Mississippi State head coach Neil McGuire was also very complementary of the strength the Gamecocks exhibited in their loss. “South Caroli na played with great poise and passion in a game that could have gone either way,” McGuire said. The Gamecocks return to Stone Stadium Friday evening to take on Auburn in hopes of their first con ference win._ The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Television Notices: SOUTH CAROLINA'S HOME FOOTBALL GAME AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE ON OCT. 28 IN COLUMBIA HAS BEEN SELECTED AS THE SEC GAME OF THE WEEK AND WILL TELEVISED BY JEFFERSON-PILOT SPORTS. KICKOFF IS SET FOR 12:37 p.m. SOUTH CAROLINA'S GAME THIS SATURDAY AGAINST VANDERBILT IN NASHVILLE WILL BE TELEVISED BACK TO SOUTH CAROLINA ON A PAY-PER-VIEW BASIS. Volleyball team sweeps series against Alabama, Auburn by Rick Johnson The Gamecock The Carolina volleyball team swept through an SEC weekend se ries, downing both Alabama and Auburn. On Saturday, the Gamecotks faced the Alabama Crimson Tide, who hold first place in the SEC West. The Tide were picked in the presea son to be a SEC West power, as they returned all 6 starters and 14 letter winners from last year’s team, which finished slightly below .500. Although the game looked to be a tough one in a very hostile envi ronment, the Gamecocks won three straight games 15-6, 15-4 and 15-7. The Gamecocks were led by red shirt sophomore Cally Plummer, who hit .423 for the match, notching 14 kills, seven digs, two block assists and a service ace. Sophomore setter Megan Hosp had 40 assists in the effort, adding eight kills of her own, hitting .889 for the match. “I was pleased with how hard Megan Hosp and Cally Plummer competed tonight. They showed great. leadership, and we passed and served well,” Carolina head coach Kim Christopher said. Final game statistics show USC I-" hitting .282 for the match to Alaba ma’s .095. USC also dominated in digs, tal lying 56 to Alabama’s 30. The Game cocks were also able to hold Alaba- • ma’s star outside hitter Michelle Green to a .167 hitting percentage for the match. The Gamecocks then traveled to Auburn on Sunday to take on the Tigers in their second straight tele vised match. Carolina dominated the match winning 15-6, 15-7 and 15-4 to take their twelth win in 13 match es at Auburn. The Gamecocks were led by sophomore Bema Dwyer. Dwyer hit .571 for the match, adding 13 kills and two block assists. Plummer continued her spectac ular play, adding eight kills, eight digs, two aces and four block as sists on her way to hitting .300 for the match. Hosp also contributed another 40 assists in the victory. Another key . contributor was junior Milica Per ovic, who notched 10 kills in the match, giving her a total of 20 for the weekend series. The victories boost Caroli na’s record to 16-4 (7-1 SEC). Alabama is now 15-5 (5-2 SEC) and Auburn fell to 10-9 (1-6 SEC). -1 The Gamecocks will return home for the first time in two weeks for weekend matches against Ole Miss on Friday and Mississippi State on Saturday. “We have been on two long road trips the past two weeks. Wex came away 3-1 and we are happy about that,” Christopher said. “I wish we would have played sharper (against Auburn). We need to take it to the next level the next few weeks.” Friday’s game against Ole Miss will start at 7 p.m., and the first 200 kids will receive a free Beanie Baby. All games are played at the Volley ball Competition facility next to the Carolina Coliseum and are free for USC students. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports©hotmaiLcom. Athlete of the Week • Scored first touchdown in USC's 27-7 victory over Arkansas • Caught four passes for a team leading 86 yards and one touchdown • Leads team with 389 total receiving yards For more information visit us at www.amtrak.com ‘Discount not applicable on Canadian portion of join! 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