The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 29, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
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.
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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.
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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
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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.;
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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
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