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No. 21 volleyball stays hot in SEC Lady Gamecocks beat Alabama, Auburn BY PRESTON BAINES THE GAMECOCK The 21st-ranked Carolina vol leyball team continued to stay hot in the SEC, as it dominated two matches against western foes Auburn and Alabama at the vol leyball competition center. The Lady Gamecocks improved to 16-3 overall and 9-3 in the SEC with the win. USC 3, Auburn 0 Nadia Sefferovich led the Gamecocks’ charge for the entire weekend. Sefferovich ripped 11 kills to lead the Carolina attack. The Gamecocks knocked down 47 kills total. “Nadia continued to play well tonight,” Carolina coach Kim Christopher said. Berna Dwyer powered Carolina’s service attack with a career-high six aces. Yajaira Cadet also set a new ca reer-high with 12 digs. She fin ished with eight kills. “It was also good to see Yajaira put up double digit digs,” Christopher said. “We blocked much better tonight than we have in the past. "After the two teams swapped scores for a while in the first game, the Gamecocks took the lead 12-11 on a Tiger error. USC dominated the rest of the game to win 30-25. Carolina continued its run in the second game, and the Tigers never posed a threat. The Gamecocks led by as many as 11 points, at 27-16, after three straight aces by Dwyer. USC won the game easily, 30-21. Auburn didn’t prove to be up to the task in the third and final game. USC dominated from the start to finish en route to a 30-18 victory. The hitting percentages told it all for Friday’s match; Carolina hit at .326 and Auburn was held to .024. Cally Plummer recorded only five kills. Plummer had been held below double digits in kills only four times. Plummer did manage to get 10 digs on the night. USC 3, Alabama 0 Nadia Sefferovich continued to lead the Gamecocks in Sunday’s match. Sefferovich blasted 13 kills and nine digs. USC beat the Crimson Tide 30-23,30-28 and 30 25. “We beat a good Alabama team today,” Christopher said. Carolina got off to a good start serving in the first game, holding off a feisty Bama squad. USC knocked in five straight aces, three of them by Plummer. The Tide stayed in the first game despite a good offense attack by the Gamecocks. But Carolina stifled ’Bama, took a 26-22 lead and cruised the rest of the way. The second game was nip and tuck. Carolina got off to a good start, but ’Bama stormed back. As the Gamecocks seemed to be pulling away towards the end of the game, at 29-25, Bama saved three straight game points to close the lead to 29 28. Cadet ended the suspense with a kill, to put the Gamecocks closer to the sweep. It looked as if Carolina were in jeopardy of looking at a fourth game early on in the third. The Tide built a 17-12 advantage and had the near-capacity crowd on the edges of their seats. Then the Gamecocks turned it on, putting together a 15-4 run started by five straight points to knot the game at 17. The Tide saved on match point, but couldn’t hold the Gamecocks again. Dwyer capped off the week end with a kill to win the final game 30-25. Coach Christopher thought the blocking was the key to the suc cessful weekend. “We did a good job of blocking this weekend, as we blocked eight balls today,” Christopher said. “We played well with a 6’1 offense and a 5’2 offense. I liked what we did today.” The Gamecocks will go on the road for a long trip starting this weekend. USC takes on eastern di vision rivals Florida and Georgia. USC will visit the Gators on Friday at 7 p.m., and will visit Athens, Ga., to take on the Bulldogs on Sunday at 2 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotma il. com. Women’s soccer won’t make tournament BY CHRIS FOY ’ THE GAMECOCK South Carolina’s women’s soc cer team (7-7-3,2-6-2) went 1-1 this past weekend in SEC play against Mississippi and Mississippi State. Its loss yesterday to the Bulldogs eliminated the Gamecocks’ chances of getting into the SEC tournament. USC 1, MISSISSIPPI 0 Jessica Julin picked up her sec ond goal of the season as the Lady Gamecocks knocked off SEC West division leader Mississippi 1-0. After the match, USC head coach Shelley Smith was happy with her team’s performance. “I’m proud of how our team finished and played Mississippi State into overtime be fore dropping the match 2-1. “We were able to take it to them in the middle of the first half and for the majority of the game,” Smith said. “We got unlucky on a couple of opportunities, and MSU capitalized. We are still growing as a team, and we must take what we learn from each game. We have to be able to move forward.” USC was on top in the first half when sophomore forward Erica Bowie notched her first collegiate goal 42 minutes into the match. Julin assisted Bowie on the score. The Lady Bulldogs came back 11 minutes into the second half when Kristin Peterson came up big on a Gamecock error, as she shot a goal past Matthews to tie the match 1-1. Lydia Bienias got a shot on goal in the final minutes of the half, but MSU goalkeeper Krystal Werges made the save. Once the game went into over time, Lady Bulldog midfielder April Berry scored a goal within two minutes. The Lady Gamecocks wrap up their 2001 season this Friday at Stone Stadium when USC takes on UNC-Greensboro. Seniors Lydia Bienias and Jessica Ward will be honored before the game. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com. SEC How the East could be won by USC, UT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 yards, while quarterback Phil Petty picked up 31 yards on the ground. Tennessee picked up 211 yards in the air against the No. 15 pass ing defense in the nation, which had surrendered an average of only 171 yards before coming to Knoxville. USC picked up 108 yards pass ing against a team that had al lowed an average of 202. Tennessee gained 131 yards on the ground. The game was part of a week end that was crucial to deciding the competition for the SEC crown. No. 4 Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) de feated No. 18 Georgia (5-2, 4-2), ---j knocking Georgia out of competi tion for the division’s top spot. If there’s a tie at the top of the SEC East at season’s end, the first tiebreaker would compare a team’s record against the other tied teams. Should Florida get defeated by USC and in turn beat Tennessee, that would leave Florida, USC, Tennessee and Georgia all tied with two SEC losses. Because Georgia is 1-2 against these teams — having defeated only Tennessee — it would fall out first. The second tie breaker — a team’s record against division teams — would remove Tennessee from the running because both of Tennessee’s losses would come from East teams (Georgia, Florida). The tie-breaking procedure then goes back to the two-team tie format. The first tie breaker com pares head-to-head play. Under this scenario, with USC having beat Florida, USC would be the di vision champ, going on to face the Western division’s top team in the 1“ SEC championship. If USC loses to Florida, there’s practically no chance the Gamecocks would be able to win the division. But the Gamecocks’ fate is not entirely in their own hands. If Florida loses to Tennessee after being defeated by USC, Tennessee wins the division outright. The winner in the East will play the winner in the West, a di vision that became more competi tive Saturday as division leader Auburn (6-2,4-1) suffered its first loss at the hands of Mississippi (6 1, 3-1). Mississippi next faces Arkansas (2-3, 4-3), a team that started slow but has won its last three games, beginning with an upset of USC. The SEC Championship will be played Dec. 8 in the Georgia Dome. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com. RANKINGS ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll 1. Miami 2. Nebraska 3. Florida 4. Oklahoma 5. Texas 6. Michigan 7. Tennessee 8. Brigham Young 9. Oregon 10. Washington 11. UCLA 12. Virginia Tech 13. Stanford 14. Florida State 15. Purdue 16. Maryland 17. Texas A&M 18. Illinois 19. Washington State 20. SOUTH CAROLINA 21. Georgia Tech 22. Syracuse 23. Georgia 24. Clemson 25. Colorado Associated Press Top 25 1. Miami 2. Nebraska 3. Oklahoma 4. Florida 5. Texas 6. Michigan 7. Tennessee 8. Oregon 9. UCLA 10. Stanford 11. Washington 12. Virginia Tech 13. Brigham Young 14. Florida State 15. Maryland 16. Washington State 17. SOUTH CAROLINA 18. Georgia 19. Syracuse 20. Purdue 21. Illinois 22. North Carolina 23. Georgia Tech 24. Texas A&M 25. Colorado MORE GAMECOCK SPORTS ONLINE FOR MORE RANKINGS AND STANDINGS, AND TO SEE THE GAMES FOR THIS WEEK S SPORTS CHALLENGE, GOTO WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM GAMEi^J)ISCWNTCOUra Maurice's BBQ Bucks! A"V Purchase "Andye shall know the truth **riy Of and the truth shall make you Maurice'S tee" ...John 8:32^I locations! ^ One coupon per visit. iwwuwwim. WSSiSSgg: JobOpportuniUes this game,” Smith said. “Our team never gave up. We have been in this position before in several other matches this year, but our team stayed in the match the entire time.” USC goalkeeper Elise Matthews posted another shutout with three saves in the match. Her last save came with five seconds remaining in the game off a shot by Ole Miss defender Kristin Chapman. “Elise had a great match, and her save at the end was key,” Smith said. “Melissa Hutson and Jess Julin also had great games and controlled the midfield.” MSU 2, USC 1 USC, struggling for a chance at the SEC tournament, took Men’s soccer wins one, ties another UCLA named tournament champion BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK V The Gamecock men’s soccer team might not have won the UCLA Pacific Soccer Classic, but it can’t be ashamed with getting a win and a tie against two of the nation’s better collegiate teams. No. 17 USC defeated Cal State Fullerton 2-0 Friday and battled the host Bruins to a scoreless tie Sunday to improve its sea son record to 9-3-2. It was UCLA, however, not Carolina, that was named tournament champion. Like the Gamecocks, the Bruins won their other game. But they were awarded the tour nament title based on goal dif ferential. UCLA thumped St. Mary’s 5-1 on Friday. It was the 12th time the Bruins had won the Classic, which started 16 years ago. USC goalkeeper Michael Bachmeyer had a tremendous game Sunday for Carolina, with 15 saves? It was his fifth shutout of the season. « Gamecock midfielder Dave Moore also played a solid game, with a team-high five shots on goal. UCLA still outshot USC, 25 17. The scoreless tie followed a two-goal win over Cal State Fullerton. Jordan Quinn and Ryan Daley scored a pair of late goals to lift the Gamecocks to victory. Quinn opened the scoring in the 80th minute with a header. Daley was credited with the as sist, his sixth of the season. Daley went on to add an in surance goal in the 87th minute off an assist from freshman Kolby Runager. Daley, Moore and defender Tim Glowienka were the Gamecocks named to the all tournament team. USC will return to the Graveyard on Sunday to take on Drury. After Sunday, there will be one more regular-season home game. USC will play host to Elon in a rescheduled game on Nov. 11 before finishing the reg ular season on the road with a pair of games against North Carolina and Florida International.; Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Tennessee USC misses out on chances to tie UT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 fore finally getting in to put the Volunteers up 17-10. Carolina had two more • chances to try to tie the game, but wasn’t able to capitalize cm either. On their final drive, the Gamecocks made it to the Tennessee 43-yard line. On first down, Petty found Thomas for five yards. Petty tried to hit Carlos Spikes on second down and Watson on third, but he couldn’t find either. On fourth down, Petty threw to Corey Alexander, who was unable to come down with the ball. Tennessee reclaimed possession with 58 seconds remaining in the game and ran down the clock to hold onto its 17-10 victory. With Georgia’s loss to Florida, South Carolina is now in third place in the SEC East. Comments on this story?E-mail %amecocksports@hotmail.com. WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM -f COME CELEBRATE FREEDOM WITH LOVE Wednesday, October 31 10 till 3 in front of the Russell House EREE STUEE!?! BE THERE...