The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 19, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
Volleyball squad
taking on SEC foes
BY COURTNEY KELLER
THE OAMECtfcK
The South Carolina volleyball
team (12-3,5-3 SEC) will play host
to Tennessee at 7 tonight and
Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday. The
No. 22 Gamecocks are coming off
a big 3-1 win against LSU. The vic
tory helped the Gamecocks re
main on the USA Today/AVCA
poll for the seventh straight week,
checking in at No. 22.
USC will be looking for re
venge when the Lady Volunteers
(9-7, 3-4) come into town.
Tennessee gave USC its second
conference loss of the season ear
lier this month, sweeping the
Lady Gamecocks 3-0. That loss
marked the first time USC had
fallen to the Volunteers since
1993.
The Lady Volunteers are com
ing off a weekend where they end
GamecocKs, goaiKeeper Mise
Matthews has posted 33 saves and
has blocked .868 percent of shots
on the goal. Carolyn Ortega has
Baines
Pros are difficult
sell in Deep South
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
the game. People were left at con
cessions or behind a curtain that
blocks half the stadium.
But Atlanta isn’t the only city
in the South that has this prob
lem. You don’t even have to go
very far east to find a city just like
it.
The Queen City to the north of
Columbia, Charlotte, has the
same problem. Twice in the last
15 years, the mayor, city council
men and other officials were
duped into thinking there was a
place for pro sports in Charlotte.
First, it was the Hornets in the
late 1980s. For about six or seven
years, the Hornets continually
sold out the newly built “Hive.”
But after that, it didn’t take long
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didn’t sell out a single game dur
ing the regular season.
Even last year, the Hornets
had a pretty good team and
caught momentum after upset
ting the Bucks at Milwaukee in
the first round. The Hornets ac
tually sold out their first game
back in the playoffs against the
Bucks.
At the time, the Hornets’ own
ership wanted a new coliseum
and said they were going to move
to Memphis if they didn’t get it.
The Charlotte citizens voted
against a referendum that would
build a new arena.
Stupidly, the owners thought
that since the Hornets sold out
the playoff game, it meant the en
thusiasm was back. Of course, on
cue, the Hornets didn’t sell out
any more games in the playoffs.
The Vancouver Grizzlies won out
on the Memphis bid.
were led by junior Anne Koester,
who posted a career-best .900 hit
ting percentage.
Lady Vol head coach Rob
Patrick is concerned to be play
ing a team at Carolina’s level.
“South Carolina is a tough place
to play, but I think our team is
ready,” Patrick said. “We have to
stay focused and stick to the game
plan. We know that USC will be
really up to play us because we
beat them last time, so we have
been talking a lot about keeping
our energy level high.”
Carolina posted a 3-1 win
against the Wildcats in Lexington
on Oct. 5.
USC has earned its high rank
ing from its strong offensive play.
Carolina is averaging 16.2 kills a
game along with 14.6 assists.
They have also notched in an av
erage of 14.6 digs per game and 2.2
blocks per game.
The Lady Gamecocks are led
by junior Cally Plummer, who
has posted double-digit kills in 13
of the teams’ 15 matches. She also
tied her own school record for
aces against Clemson last week
when she made eight. Nadia
Sefferovich is right behind
Plummer in kills, as she is aver
aging 3.02 kills per game. Megan
Hosp remains the team’s dig
leader with a 2.79 average, while
Sam Alban has been pivotal for
the defense with 41 blocks this
year.
Both of this weekend’s match
es will be played at the Volleyball
Competition Facility.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
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Matthews, but is credited with a
3-0 record and has put up 12 saves
this far into the season. The goal
keepers have only allowed one
second-period goal through 13
games. The two have also posted
six shutouts on the season.
The Lady Gamecocks will re
turn home next week to face
Mississippi on Friday night at
Stone Stadium.
This brings me to one of the
most pathetic sights I have ever
seen.
This past Sunday, the
Charlotte Panthers (who in the
Palmetto State lays claim to them
anyway?) had a less than half-full
stadium against one of the best
teams in the NFL, the New
Orleans Saints. This is the team
everyone was crazy about when
they began their franchise a few
years ago.
Most fans in the area were
Redskins fans, and the arrival of
the Panthers only infuriated
them because the Panthers start
ed being televised on Fox instead.
It’s not a new problem, either.
The Panthers started getting hor
rible crowds in their state-of-the
art stadium two years ago.
How can these teams get un
popular so fast?
The answer lies in where they
are located. These teams are right
in the heart of the Deep South,
where almost everybody is inter
ested in college sports.
Atlanta is full of Georgia fans
and the occasional Georgia Tech
fan. Charlotte is full of Tar Heel
and Gamecock fans.
These professional teams
would be much better off if they
packed their bags and left. Then
these popular colleges could
make better use of their stadi
ums.
This most logical thing to do
would be to renew one of the
fiercest rivalries in the country:
the rivalry between the
Gamecocks and Tar Heels. USC
students probably don’t remem
ber it, but many Gamecock fans
hated the Tar Heels more than
Clemson in the pre-80s. The cam
paign should begin now.
This way Ericsson Stadium
and maybe even the Charlotte
Coliseum can be used to its full
extent.
ed their four-match winning
streak. The streak came to an end
Sunday at the hands of Alabama.
With the 3-1 victory, the Crimson
Tide also ended its seven-match
losing streak. It is only the sec
ond time Alabama has beaten
Tennessee in Knoxville.
Tennessee was led by Ariana
Wilson, who averaged 4.3 kills per
game and a .459 hitting percent
age this past weekend.
Kentucky also suffered a defeat
last Friday to Alabama. The
Wildcats (9-7, 3-4) had a season
low hitting percentage (.069)
against the Crimson Tide.
However, the Lady Wildcats
made a comeback by sweeping
Auburn on Sunday, reaching a
season-high hitting percentage
(.333) in the win. The Wildcats
Soccer
Gamecocks visit
SEC opponents
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
Defensively for the Lady
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Gamecock
Sports
Challenge
Tournament
Carolina to face
Marylandfirst
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
the second half of its regular
season, Berson is hoping for
positive results.
“This is a beginning of an
other stretch for us,” he said.
“We’ve got eight games now
and two tournaments that are
very important for our team on
a national level.”
Friday’s game will be only
the team’s second since the
Clemson loss Oct. 7. Berson
said the time off following that
loss has helped the team recov
er from a flurry of games in late
September.
“They came out of last week
really banged up,” he said. “But
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able to regenerate a little bit. I
think we’re coming into this in
pretty good shape.”
USC and Maryland will play
at 7 p.m. Friday, following the
tournament’s opening game at
5 p.m. between Rutgers and
Charleston. Play will resume
Sunday at 11 a.m. with
Maryland and Charleston fac
ing off, and after that game USC
and
Rutgers will take the field at
1:30 p.m. to conclude tourna
ment play.
“This is a real opportunity,”
Berson said. “Not only for our
players to line up against some
of the best programs in colle
giate soccer, but also for our
fans to see good teams from
other areas.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com.
_ _ _ _ _ _
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Sports Asst.Sports Sports Defending Gl,lnetL& Reader of
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Carolina hopes Vanderbilt will cough the ball up easily, photo by aaron hark
Football
Gamecocks looking
to jump-start season
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
given up several big rushing per
formances this year, though no
team has managed to break the
Gamecock defense wide open (ex
cept for one play at Kentucky).
USC still could have trouble con
taining Thomas and Williams,
whose presence complements
Zolman’s passing attack extreme
ly well.
ADVANTAGE: VANDERBILT
Special Teams:
Kicking game: Dan Weaver
probably had more difficulty swal
lowing last week’s loss than any
one else did. But make no mistake
— the blocked field goal (which
was on target) came as a result of
Razorback Carlos Hall’s incredi
ble leap, not because of any errors
by the kicking team. Weaver’s
consistency has been excellent (on
field goals) to this point. Tyeler
Dean, likewise, has shown terrific
distance on some clutch punts
from deep in Gamecock territory.
Vanderbilt’s Chuck Folino has
only three field goals on the year,
which is odd considering the
Commodores’ tendency to sputter
in the red zone.
ADVANTAGE: CAROLINA
Returns: Kick returns have not
been USC’s strong suit. The
Gamecocks rank at the bottom of
the SEC in punt returns and kick
off coverage, but Vanderbilt is not
much better. Despite the team’s
low average in return yardage,
Derek Watson has the highest
kickoff return average in the con
ferencevat 40.3 yards per return.
Anyone who saw last year’s game
against Mississippi State knows
Watson is capable of bringing a re
turn all the way backhand it’s only
a matter of time before he does it
again.
ADVANTAGE: CAROLINA
Outlook:
Vanderbilt’s 0-3 conference
record is deceiving at best. The
Commodores held Alabama with
out a touchdown and only lost by
three. Auburn — who managed to
upset No. 2 Florida — only beat
Vandy with a field goal late in the
fourth quarter. Vanderbilt’s 30-14
loss to Georgia was closer than the
score indicates. The ‘Dores are
hungry for a conference win, and
they will likely upset someone in
the very near future. USC, though,
will be on guard after last week’s
loss, and Holtz will make ab
solutely sure there is no lack of fo
cus anywhere. It will be closer
than most Carolina fans would
like, but, in the end, the
Gamecocks will bounce back to
take the W.
FINAL SCORE: USC 28, VANDY 24
v ^
If you are ready for a REAL Tailgate Party, then come on by!
the Homecoming Great Gamecock
of
October 20 (USC vs. VANDERBILT) 4:00 - 6:30 PM
featuring music by the: FROGMOORES
Seawell's Parking Lot - 1125 Rosewood Drive
across the street from "the ROCKET" at the State Fairgrounds.
The best part is that it is all FREE: Music, Lots of Great Food, Drinks & Door Prizes.
Souvenirs for the first 250 USC students in attendance at each Tailgate Party.
General Parking is available at Seawell's for $10 per vehicle.
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