The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 02, 2001, Page 8, Image 8
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, November 2, 2001
GAME SCHEDULE
VOLLEYBALL at Georgia, 7 p.m. Friday
WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. UNC-G, 7 p.m. Friday
FOOTBALL vs. Wofford, 1 p.m. Saturday
MEN’S SOCCER vs. Drury, 2 p.m. Sunday
VOLLEYBALL at Florida, 2 p.m. Sunday
Hopes high for Gamecocks
■
w
BBS
Wofford at (JSC
Time: 1 p.m. Saturday
Place: Wiliams Brice Stadium
TV: none
Radio: 560 AM WVOC
Wofford game is
preparation for
end of season
Clemson match
BY PRESTON BAINES
THE GAMECOCK
The 17th-ranked Carolina foot
ball team is preparing for its SEC
East showdown with the fourth
ranked Florida Gators and the
end of the season matchup with
rival Clemson to finish out the
“orange crush.”
This season, though, there is
an opponent between them. The
Division I-AA Wofford Terriers
(3-4,2-3 Southern Conference) vis
it Williams-Brice Stadium at 1
p.m. Saturday to take on USC (6
2,5-2 SEC). The game was sched
uled after the Sept. 15 game with
Bowling Green was canceled be
cause of the Sept. 11 terrorist at
tacks.
Wofford head coach Mike
Ayers comes into the game as the
Terriers’ all-time leader in victo
ries.
Wofford finished last season at
No. 24 in the Division I-AA poll
and was ranked in this year’s pre
season poll.
This won’t be the first time this
season the Terriers have played
in-state before a crowd of more
than 80,000. Earlier this year,
Wofford fell at Clemson 38-14
while rushing for more than 200
yards against the Tigers. Wofford
led 14-7 in the second quarter in
Death Valley.
USC offense vs. Wofford
defense
RUSHING: Expect the
Gamecocks to come out and run
it, then run it Some more.
Carolina ranks second in the
SEC in rushing yards per game
and was one of the very few teams
to have success running against
Tennessee.
Carolina has gone to a lot of op
tions on the ground this year and
has three different players that
average over five yards per car
■ry: juniors Derek Watson,
Skip Holtz discusses strategy with the Gamecock offense, photo by aaron hark
Andrew Pinnock and quarter
back Corey Jenkins.
Wofford strong safety Matt
Nelson is quite a run-stopper with
73 tackles in seven games.
Linebackers Robert Mathis and
Hondre McNeil also lead the rush
defense for the Terriers. Wofford
has been impressive against the
rush this year, only allowing 3.1
yards per carry.
Look for USC to control the
line of scrimmage against an un
dermanned Wofford defensive
line.
ADVANTAGE: USC
PASSING: Most of the yardage
Wofford’s stingy defense allows
is in the air.
Carolina will be missing fresh
man receiver Andrea Gause, who
is suspended indefinitely.
Carolina should have an ad
vantage against the Terrier de
fensive backs.
Cornerback Roland Harris
leads the Terriers with two inter
ceptions but is considerably
shorter than senior Brian Scott,
Carolina’s leading receiver.
Senior quarterback Phil Petty
♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 9
Volleyball winds down season on road
Lady Gamecocks
to face Bulldogs
before showdown
with Gators
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 19 Lady Gamecock vol
leyball team (16-3,9-3) will hit the
road this weekend as they wind
down their regular SEC season.
USC will play at Georgia at 7 p.m.
today and then travel to
Gainesville on Sunday to face the
No. 9 Florida Gators at 2 p.m.
USC head coach Kim
Christopher is excited about hav
ing her team back on the road.
“After being at home for a
while, it will be nice to head out
on the road again,” Christopher
said. But the coach remains wary
that her team might not be fo
cused on its match with the Lady
Bulldogs by looking ahead to
Florida.
“We always have a tough
match at Georgia, and I don’t
want the team thinking ahead to
the Florida match. Georgia is too
talented to worry about Sunday.”
Last season USC won both of
its regular season matches
against the Lady Bulldogs before
losing to them in the quarterfi
nals of the SEC tournament. In
Carolina’s last match against
them Sept. 23, the Lady
Gamecocks walked away with a
decisive 3-0 win. Now they will
try to repeat the task in Athens.
Leading the way for Georgia is
outside hitter Stacy Buerger, who
has been averaging 4.48 kills per
game and has a hitting percent
age of .274. Setter Margot Wallace
has been notching about 12 as
sists per game. Defensively, out
side hitter Luresa Forsyth has
been tallying 2.86 digs per game.
But regardless of how the
Gamecocks face off against the
Bulldogs on Friday, Christopher
knows the team will be poised to
take on its longtime rivals in
Gainesville on Sunday.
“Our ladies have been both
ered by the loss to Florida at
home since September 21.1 hope
we are better prepared to face
them on the road now. Florida
has proven they are a very good
team. I expect it to be as good a
match as it was in September. I
just hope there will be a different
outcome.”
The Lady Gamecocks will be
trying to accomplish a task that
has eluded them for some time.
South Carolina hasn’t beaten
Florida since 1994. The job will
not be easy, as the Lady Gators
are riding high on a 15-match
winning streak. The star of their
team is outside hitter Aury Crus,
who has been averaging an im
pressive 5.2 kills per game. Crus
also leads the defense as she racks
in 3.21 digs per game. Setter Kris
Bova is the assist leader for
Florida with 12.43 per game.
For the Lady Gamecocks,
rightside hitter Cally Plummer
has had another phenomenal sea
son. In addition to her team-lead
ing 3.56 kills per game, Plummer
is also the team’s best server with
34 aces this season. Setter Megan
Hosp is also contributing to the
potent Gamecock offense, aver
aging 11.53 assists per game. Hosp
has also helped out defensively,
bringing in 2.65 digs per game.
Middle blocker Sam Alban has a
team-leading 56 blocks this year,
while junior outside hitter Nadia
Sefferovich is third on the team
in digs with 2.23 per game.
South Carolina will be at home
Nov. 24 for a late-season match
against North Carolina.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksportsQiJiotmail.com.
Last game of season
for Lady Gamecocks
Gamecocks take
on second place
Mississippi
State Spartans
BY CARLA WYNN
THE GAMECOCK
The use women’s soccer
team (7-7-3,2-6-1) hopes to finish
its season on a good note when
it takes on the UNC Greensboro
Spartans (12-6-0, 8-2-0) at 7:00
p.m. today at Stone Stadium.
This will be the last game of
the season for the Lady
Gamecocks, whose SEC tourna
ment hopes were thwarted after
Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss to
Mississippi State.
The Lady Spartans, the 2000
Southern Conference champi
ons, are coming off a 3-0 victory
over Davidson on Wednesday.
The win extended their season
best winning streak to six and
keeps them in second place in
their conference.
Spartan head coach Eddie
Radwanski says he has an expe
rienced team, with nine starters
returning this season.
Leading the Spartans offen
sively is senior forward Kate
Dylag, this week’s Southern
Conference Player of the Week.
Dylag has scored 32 points
this season on 13 goals and six
assists. Seven of those goals
have occurred in the past three
matches, setting a new three
match record at UNCG.
“Kate is a tremendous offen
sive threat,” Radwanski said.
“She can be difficult for other
teams to handle.”
The Lady Gamecocks will
also be on the lookout for
Spartan freshman Jaime
Ableman, who has racked up 22
points on eight goals and six as
sists this season.
Ableman and Dylag are two
of five Spartan players who have
at least 12 points this season.
The USC defense will be
counting on juiyor goalkeeper
Elise Matthews, who has start
ed in 11 of the 14 games she’s
played in this season.
Matthews has 59 saves and
three shutouts. Matthews con
tributed to both conference wins
this season, shutting out both
Arkansas and Mississippi.
Redshirt junior Carolyn
Ortega has started in six of her
10 games this season and regis
tered 12 saves and two shutouts.
Sophomore Becca Epstein
leads the Gamecock offense with
13 points on four goals and five
assists.
Freshman Ashley Gosnell
has also been an offensive key
this yea,; with 10 points on five
♦ W. SOCCER, SEE PAGE 9
MEN’S SOCCER
I____I
Goalkeeper #0 Michael Bachmeyer. photo courtesy media guide
Goalkeeper dominates game
BY KYLE ALMOND
TIIK UAMECOCK
When Henry Ring graduated
this past season, Michael
Bachmeyer finally got the chance
he had waited three years for —.
the chance to be USC’s full-time
starting goalkeeper.
Since coming to USC in 1998,
he had played behind Ring, an
All-American considered one of
Carolina’s best keepers ever..
Now, one could make a case
that Bachmeyer, a redshirt ju
nior from Charlotte, N.C., is do
ing an even better job than his
predecessor did.
With nine wins, five shutouts
and a miniscule 0.86 goals
against-average, Bachmeyer
has been a solid force guarding
the net for the No. 19
Gamecocks.
Forget filling Ring’s shoes.
Bachmeyer is making a name
for himself.
“At first, I sort of felt like I
had to live up to what he did,”
Bachmeyer said of Ring. “But
then I figured, I can only do
what I can do. Henry’s gone, and
I have to make my own pres
ence felt.”
Bachmeyer definitely made
his presence felt this past week
end, notching a pair of shutouts
over Cal State Fullerton and
UCLA. In the scoreless tie
against UCLA, he had 15 saves.
“I don’t know who voted on
the tournament’s Most Valuable
Defensive Player, but they
l
♦ M. SOCCER, SEE PAGE 9
Officials
in SEC
fail to do
theirjob
PRESTON BAINES
PBAINES@GAMECOCKS.COM
Officials should be
repremanded for
continuous bad calls.
So the Gamecocks dropped
another game to a team in
orange, and Gamecock fans
everywhere are upset. Not at
some failure by the team, and
not at a coaching decision.
Once again, fans are upset at
the officiating.
As has been the case in many
games over the past few seasons,
teams are wondering whether
they should have won games.
Besides the many
questionable calls at last
Saturday’s game in Knoxville,
other teams’ fans were upset
after games.
At the world’s largest cocktail
party in Jacksonville, Fla.,
Florida head coach Steve
Spurrier was very displeased
with the officiating in the game
against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Florida won fairly easily
against the Dawgs but was still
frustrated with the calls.
Spurrier said officials were
“out for the Gators.” The funny
thing is that Florida has
probably gotten more calls than
just about every school in the
t/uuiiu ji auu capcuauj U1C
in the past ten years. It’s sort of
like the Duke basketball
officiating rule — if in doubt,
give it to Duke.
As many Gamecock fans
know, it’s not a new problem.
Many fans feel the officials were
the main reason for the loss at
Clemson last year.
SEC officials also cost Georgia
its game at rival Georgia Tech
two years ago in Atlanta with a
fumble call. The UGA running
back was obviously already in
the end zone for the victory. Tech
came back and won that game.
Last year, the officials cost
Tennessee against Florida. They
missed a call when a Gator
receiver didn’t hold onto a ball
in the end zone. It was called a
touchdown anyway, and the
Gators won.
What was the common thing
between all of these incidents?
The SEC “heads” knew of the
criticism, reviewed the tape and
didn’t see anything wrong with
the calls.
Here’s a solution: How about
doing something about it?
The director of SEC
officiating, Bobby Gaston, will
not do anything about it.
Teams get penalized for
ill mnmrr nffpioc onH rnarhPS
J —-r-o
get fined for complaining about
officials. How about listening to
those complaints?
Officials must get some kind
of reprimand for continually
making obvious bad calls. If this
doesn’t happen, then there is no
way the officiating will improve.
I’ve heard the slogan “coaches
don’t win or lose games, players
do.” Well, what about the
officials?
Imagine if something happens
next week in a game that could
decide the SEC East
championship. What if the game
comes down to one play, the
Gator’s Earnest Graham runs to
the sidelines and... the Gator
right guard holds Rashad Faison
at the point of contact, it’s
blatant and no yellow hankie
comes out? The Gators win the
championship.
Believe it or not, this is
something that could happen
since the SEC hasn’t put out a
warning or told the officials they
screwed tip.
♦ BAINES, SEE PAGE 9