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g THE GAMECOCK * Monday, October 28,2002 GAME SCHEDULE ■ 'V ■ 'V fl B ^ / NJ WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. Wofford, 7 p.m. Tuesday I 1/ VI ■fllLl SWIMMING AND DIVING vs. Kentucky, 5 p.m. Friday TIS5 B fl B B J fl MEN’S SOCCER vs. Coastal Carolina in Charleston, 5 p.m. Friday LtUlM 1AI/1 U O ^4 B I B I A I . VOLLEYBALL vs. Ole Miss, 7 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? fl fl fl B fl 111 WOMEN'S TENNIS in Southern Intercollegiate (in Columbia), Friday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com B .. B , B WOMEN’S GOLF at Auburn, Friday v • Third-ranked Gators sweep Gamecocks BY JASON NOLL THE GAMECOCK It was a veritable battle of the SEC titans Sunday at the Volleyball Competition Facility, with two teams, both undefeated in the conference, trying to wres tle control of the top spot. One had to lose and one had to win, and, in the end, a crowd of 1,276 saw the No. 3 Florida Gators sweep the 21st-ranked Gamecocks 3-0. With the victory, the Gators move into sole possession of first place in the SEC East. The Gamecocks (17-4,10-1 SEC) were plagued by er games of the match, committing 17 attack errors and four net errors. “We were try ing so hard. That’s going to cause some 01 me uei ei - unrisiopner rors,” USC head coach Kim Christopher said. “You have to be in a relaxed state.” Christopher also said the offici • ating might have contributed to her team’s high error count. “The officiating was really tight; I’m pretty frustrated with that,” she said. The Gamecocks lost the first two games 30-24 and 30-23. In both, the team had an early lead before being overwhelmed late by Florida’s attack. In the final game, USC con trolled play and held a 25-21 lead before the Gators tied the game at 25. The teams then went point-for point to a 30-30 tie. USC senior Sam Alban tied the game at 29 and 30 with two im pressive kills, displaying the team’s refusal to quit. But, despite the effort, Carolina fell in the third game 32-30. “We didn’t give up; we fought to the very end,” Alban said. The biggest difference for the Gamecocks in the third game was that they committed fewer attack errors, with only three. “We started making some plays at critical times,” Christopher said. “We’ve got some really good athletes on our team, and they worked very hard.” Senior Cally Plummer led the team with 13 kills, and Alban and Sarah Morgan had 10 kills each. The Gators (20-1,10-0) were led by Nicole McCray with 16 kills and Aury Cruz with 15 kills._ Despite losing, Christopher said she was excited that her team could play well against Florida, one of the top teams in the nation. She said playing the Gators helps her team improve. “I wish that a match like today happened every day; we would be a much better team,” Christopher said. “In order to beat a team like Florida, we’ve got to be a great team.” The win extends Florida’s SEC regular season winning streak to 108 matches — an NCAA record. SEC Standings EASTERN CONF. OVERALL Florida10-0 20-1 USC 10-1 17-4 Tennessee6-4 17-6 Georgia4-6 14-11 Kentucky 3-7 9-12 WESTERN CONF. OVERALL Arkansas8-2 17-5 Alabama6-4 15-9 LSU5-4 13-7 Ole Miss2-8 9-13 Mississippi St. 1-9 10-14 Auburn 0-10 1-21 The last time the Gators lost a match to an SEC team in the regu lar season was in 1994, when they fell to USC. Including tournament play, the Gators have won 78 straight matches against confer ence opponents, which is good for fourth in NCAA history. Florida is now 27-6 all-time against USC, but the Gamecocks will meet the Gators in a rematch Nov. 15 in Gainesville. Going into the match against Florida, the Gamecocks were 10-0 in conference play, their best start ever. USC defeated Georgia 3-0 on Friday night for the record break ing 10th straight SEC victory. Its next match will be Friday at home against Ole Miss. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK JSC’s Sarah Morgan rises for a spike during the Gamecocks’ match against Florida on Sunday, rhe Gators came out on top, however, sweeping Carolina 3-0. With the victory, Florida gained sole possession of first place In the SEC Eastern Division and improved its conference record to L0-0. The Gators haven’t lost In the regular season to an SEC team In 108 matches. 28 DAYS TO TIPOFF Getting to the point Gamecocks looking for new point guard after departure of floor leader Aaron Lucas BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK When Phil Petty graduated, it was fairly obvious to the USC football coaching staff that the heir apparent would be Corey Jenkins. Carolina’s men’s basketball coaches, however, have yet to fill their own “quarterback” spot. The Gamecocks' point guard po sition is one of this fall’s hottest races in South Carolina, outside of politics. Aaron Lucas graduated in May after several solid, produc tive seasons at the helm of USC’s offense, but just who will replace him remains unanswered. The leading candidate for the job is senior Chuck Eidson, who has significant playing experi ence at the point. Eidson, at 6 feet 7 inches, is hardly the prototypical point guard, especially compared to Lucas, who was dwarfed by Eidson’s stature. That difference in size, though, could mean a big modification in the'way the Gamecocks play of fense and defense. Eidson is confident about his ability to take over the position. “I’m about as quick as I am, but I do have a lot of steals, so I can get to some places,” he said. “So I’m not worried about that. “What I am worried about is, Aaron always put pressure on the man bringing the ball up, so the first pass was always a tougher pass.... Aaron was a time-eater on the shot clock, and I look at that and think about stopping my guy. I think I can do that.” Eidson said he doesn’t have a preference for playing the point or the wing. “I want to play anywhere, as long as I’m playing,” Eidson said. “I like both. But I also like hav ing the ball and moving it around. When you got someone like Mike Boynton, who’s play ing the point pretty good, and Jarod Gerald, a freshman, who’s playing pretty solid, too, it’s nice to move to the wing.” The starting lineup for the Nov. 24 season opener against East Tennessee State is far from finalized, but both guard spots re main open. Odds are that these positions will fall into place in practice, as well as in the two ex hibition games. Boynton, a 6-foot-2 point L guard, saw minutes last season | as Lucas’ primary backup. Averaging only 1.9 points per g game, Boynton was among learn leaders in assists " and 3-point per- r centage. Though P his performances last year ranged between shaky and poised. Boynton Boynton would have the inside track at the position if the coach es don’t go with Eidson. “We’ve got two natural points in Michael Boynton and Jarod Gerald, and then we’ve got Chuck. So those are the three that we’re working there right now,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. ♦ POINT, SEE PAGE 9 ’ PHOTO BY TRAVIS LYNN/THE GAMECOCK Carolina senior midfielder Dave Moore rockets a shot toward the Furman goaf In the second half of the two teams’ match on Sunday. Furman triumphed 1-0, with a score In the 25th minute. PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN/THE GAMECOCK Senior Chuck Eldson Is one of the leading candidates to replace Aaron Lucas at point guard this season. Odom readies USC for new year BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK In one of his team’s first practices earlier this month, USC men’s basketball head coach Dave Odom thought it was a little too quiet. “This practice was notice ably quieter, and I spoke to a couple of our leaders — upper class guys—tQ try to chime in and take away that void,” Odom explained. “Basketball is a game that’s played sponta neously, but there’s a lot of communication in there.” It might not seem like a ma jor adjustment now, but by en couraging his team to be more vocal, the second-year coach is laying the foundation for what he hopes will be a successful season. The Gamecocks went 22-16 last season, and they saved a mediocre finish by advancing ♦ ODOM, SEE PAGE 9 Men s soccer shut out again BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The scoring drought continues for the USC men’s soccer team. Four days after losing 1-0 at the College of Charleston, the Gamecocks were shut out again Sunday, falling 1-0 to No. 22 Furman at the Graveyard. Carolina (9-5-1) has lost five of its last seven matches $nce, start ing the season 7-0-1. In their last nine matches, the Gamecocks have only managed to score five goals. Head coach Mark Berson can’t explain the team’s offensive woes. “If I knew the reason, if it was easy to fix, it would have been fixed,” he said. “We are creating chances. We aren’t finishing them. It’s just something we need to work on at this point.” In the 25th minute of play, Ricardo Clark scored the game’s only goal. From outside the box, Clark trapped a pass and, in one motion, unleashed a hard shot at USC goalkeeper Michael Bachmeyer. Bachmeyer got a piece of the ball, but it trickled by him for the score. Furman (12-2-1) dominated the first half and had many quality scoring chances. Bachmeyer was forced to come up with some big saves to keep his team in the game, and he also received help from the crossbar on a couple of shots. The Paladins outshot USC 9-5 in the first 45 minutes. The second half, especially the last 25 minutes, was a different story, however. After an unin spired first half and little in the way of creative scoring chances, Carolina came roaring back for the equalizer. The Gamecocks moved forward and challenged Furman’s defense with a lot of deep crosses and headers. f» f ♦ SOCCER, SEE PAGE 9