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«THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, October 6, 2003 y r' GAME SCHEDULE CONTACT US MEN’S SOCCER vs. Elon, 7 p.m. Wednesday VOLLEYBALL vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. Wednesday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? FOOTBALL vs. Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. Thursday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Georgia, 7 p.m. Friday ' * Volleyball wins 2 at home BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team had a different look on Sunday after winning two matches against SEC opponents at home. The Gamecocks (9-7,3-1) were relaxed and confident, racking up con secutive 3-0 sweeps over Ole Miss (2-14, 1-2) on Friday and Mississippi State (1-13, 0-4) on Sunday. USC 3-Ole MissO Carolina ran past the Rebels easily Friday night with 30-19,30 16 and 30»24 thrashings. Lynae Vanden Hull and Nicole Miller collected 12 kills each while three other players finished with nine. The team ended with a .342 hitting average and had nine team blocks. “I’m really pleased with our win tonight,” USC head coach Kim Christopher said. “We showed good rhythm and good tempo.” In the first game, the Gamecocks struggled a bit offen sively, but Ole Miss had even more problems. Carolina jumped out to a 6-1 lead before the Rebels fought back, but never led the game. The Gamecocks had eight errors and only 14 kills. Carolina controlled the sec ond game much like the first, never allowing Ole Miss to get into the game. The Rebels com mitted seven errors and netted a .061 hitting average compared to USC’s .500 mark. In the final game, the Gamecocks held off an early ef _ fort from Ole Miss to dominate another game and won 30-24. USC 3—MSU 0 The Gamecocks used the win Friday to carry over to another dominating performance Sunday against the Bulldogs. Carolina made quick work of MSU, dis posing the Bulldogs 3-0 in just one hour and 20 minutes. Lauren Ford and Shonda Cole carried the team with nine kills each as the team finished with a .276 hit ting percentage. Nicole Broome led Mississippi State in kills with 10. USC took control in the first game, but after going up 20-16, Mississippi State fought back and got within two at 22-20. Nine ties and five lead changes took place, but Carolina took the game 30-24 and finished with a .324 hitting percentage. The second game proved to be a little easier for Carolina as the Bulldogs shot itself in the foot with 10 errors and .000 hitting per centage. Ford collected five of her kills, and Sarah Morgan had five digs in the 30-17 win. The Gamecocks showed signs of giving up the final game, but came on strong at the end to pull out the 30-27 win. MSU didn’t die easily and tied the game at 19-19. After a terrific save by Amy Benson and a Ford kill, Carolina went up 24-20 and cruised to the three-game victory. Although Christopher used the final game to rest several of her players for the two tough up coming games, Katelyn Panzau injured an ankle in the third game, and her status for Wednesday against Kentucky is unknown. Christopher said her team was able to enjoy playing at home this weekend and got a chance to get into a rhythm for the SEC games this week. “We just played real relaxed to day,” Christopher said. “They were more confident because we played well Friday night, and I think that moved us for today.” The Gamecocks will take on Kentucky Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home before heading to Tennessee Friday. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK USC’s Lauren Ford goes for the kill against Mississippi State in Sunday’s 3-0 win. Ford racked up nine kills, with five coming in the second game to help Carolina go to 3-1 in the SEC. Women’s soccer ties Auburn, beats Alabama PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK USC’s Jackie Welch, right, fights for the ball with Alabama’s Emily Pltek during Sunday’s game against the Crimson Tide. BY WES WOLFE THK l.'AMKCOCK The USC women’s soccer team (8-3-2,1-0-1 SEC) played to a score less tie with the Auburn Tigers (7 ■ l'2' °-0-l) at Eugene E. Stone III y Stadium on Friday night, and beat the Crimson Tide of Alabama (7 5,0-2) 2-0 Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks’ unbeaten streak now is at eight games, beating the pre vious win streak of seven games set in 2001. Carolina’s tie with Auburn marks the second consecutive year the teams have tied and keeps the overall series record tied at 2-2-3. Both teams had chances to score during the match, but neither squad was able to put the ball into the net. In the first half Friday, Auburn outshot Carolina 9-2 and added three more shots in the sec ond half plus two in overtime. USC goalkeeper Elise Matthews made five saves on the night to seal the shutout. The Gamecocks had four shots in the second half, but each shot missed the goal. Forward Camille Toney and de fender Jackie Welch led USC with two shots each. “I thought we played a much bette. second half, kept the pres sure on their end and did a good job to shut down their offense,” USC head coach Shelley Smith said. “We did not turn the ball over as xnuch and did a better job competing and to find our oppor tunities. Our back four played well tonight and contained three very dangerous forwards from Auburn.” Auburn’s star forward Sarah Steinmann lived up to her billing, leading both teams with four shots on the night. Six other Tigers also had shots on the night, with no success. Carolina maintained its strong defense but managed to step up its offensive play in the Gamecocks’ win over Alabama. It looked like USC was headed into another overtime game, but with just under five minutes left in the game, midfielder Shelly Hoddeson, who now leads USC in goals, hit a shot past the Alabama goalkeeper to score the game-win ning goal. With less than two minutes to go, defender Ashley Williams put in the insurance goal for Carolina by scoring her first goal of the season. Goalkeeper Elise Matthews earned her third consecutive shutout and her fifth shutout of ■ the season. Eight Gamecocks had shots against the Crimson Tide and four Carolina players had shots on goal. Forward Amanda Thurber was the only USC player to earn an assist, contributing on Hoddeson’s goal. “We wanted to play to our strengths, get the ball deep and behind them and keep their play ers out of the air,” Smith said. “We are definitely happy with the start to our season in the SEC, and we took advantage of being at home. Now we have to go on the road and maintain our play.” USC will play Georgia in Athens at 7 p.m. Friday and Tennessee in Knoxville at 2 p.m. Sunday. Comments onthis story? E-mail gamecocksportst3iEotmail.com BRIEFLY Equestrian loses meet in Georgia The USC equestrian team battled Georgia to the end but eventually'lost in the final class of the competition, and Georgia took the meet 1072-1053.25. The meet was held at the Animal Science Arena in Athens, Ga. The Gamecocks started strong in the Hunt Seat compe tition with sophomore Tara Brothers leading the flat class event by posting a score of 78 points. USC handled Georgia in the English equitation event, knocking off the Bulldogs 271 259. However, Carolina could not pull out a win in the equitation over fences class, with Georgia winning by five points, 272-267. Georgia solidified its win in the Western competition. Carolina started off well, only losing by two to the Bulldogs in the horsemanship competition. Freshman Rachel Sternoff placed the highest for USC in the reining and horsemanship classes, but Sternoff and the rest of the Gamecocks couldn’t hold off Georgia in the reining competition. The Bulldogs took the class 270-246.25, winning the meet. USC next goes up against Berry College in Rome, Ga., on Oct. 18 and 19. Men’s golf finishes No. 7 at The Farm The USC men’s golf team shot 13-over-par to finish in sev enth place on Sunday at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm in Rocky Face, Ga. Florida took first place, fol lowed by Auburn and Texas, who tied for second. This is the third time Carolina has placed in the top 10 this season. Sophomore Eirik Johansen had the best individual finish of any Gamecock this season, placing second in the competi tion and ending the Carpet Capital Collegiate shooting 8 under-par, including a 12-un der-par run in the last two rounds. Each of the other four Carolina golfers finished over par. Junior Alex Hamilton fin ished 2-over-par and tied for 25th, while junior Martin Rominger tied for 52nd at eight over, redshirt sophomore West Streib finished tied at 71st with 14 over and redshirt sopho more Matt Robinson ended the three-round tournament tied at 83rd and 22-over-par. Texas’ Jason Hartwick won the individual competition after going 13-Under-par. Men’s soccer falls 1-0 at Clemson The USC men’s soccer team (7-3) lost its third straight game on Sunday, falling to Clemson (5-4-2) 1-0 on a penalty kick at the 77-minute mark. The shot by Clemson midfielder Paul Souders went to the right of Gamecock goalkeeper Brad Guzon and won the game for the Tigers. Guzon ended the game with four saves. The win by Clemson extends its unbeaten streak against Carolina to nine games, with Clemson winning eight games and tying USC once. The shot by Souders came when Carolina defender Makan Hislop fouled Clemson midfielder Stuart Holden in the penalty box. The Gamecocks had chances to score in the game, including five shots and a free kick, but failed to convert on any of these opportunities. USC plays Elon on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Eugene E. Stone HI Stadium. “It was a hard-fought game,” head coach Mark Berson said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game; there were a lot of mistakes, but the fighting power was there, and that is what you expect in a game like this.” Winston scoring system needs an overhaul BEN SINCLAIR GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Newman, not Kenseth, is real racing champion. This is a great time to be a sports fan. Championships are on the line in baseball, professional football is sorting out its con tenders from pretenders, and col lege football teams are fighting for BCS births. Clemson is fighting for a spot in the Humanitarian or Tangerine bowls by beating up on teams like Furman, Duke, and Middle Tennessee State. NBA and NHL seasons are on the horizon. Today, however I want to take a break from all that and tell you about the one championship that will be given out that is not de served — the Winston Cup Points Championship. With just a few races to go, it is all but a mathematical certainty that Matt Kenseth will walk away with the championship. How could this be? Out of a 36 race sea son, 30 races will be completed by the time you read this. Even if Kenseth wins this week’s race at Kansas Motor Speedway, he will have only won two races out of 36. Would we give the SEC Conference Championship to Vanderbilt when they win one conference game out of 36? Ryan Newman has been in a few wrecks and had some poor finishes early in the season, but he has been the better driver this year. Kenseth has won two poles because quali fying was rained out and the field was lined up by points. There are certainly more de serving candidates for the cham pionship. All Newman has done is win seven times this year. In two of those he not only won the race but started the race from the first position. This is the kind of domination you see in video games, not real competition. I also would like to thank Mr. Newman for keeping me in first place in my fantasy NASCAR league, for with out you, it would not have been possible. Newman has won seven poles, none of which were given to him by default. in theory, a very consistent mediocre driver like Kenseth who comes nowhere close to winning several races can steal a champi onship . from someone like Newman, who has dominated the majority of the season. Kenseth can choose not to pit when everyone else does, thus gaining points in each race. Kenseth can drive around like the pace car and finish in 25th because 15 cars are already out of a race because of a major wreck. Even though Newman might win 10 races this year, he will have no shot at Kenseth unless Kenseth and several others col lapse down the stretch. This is not meant to blast Kenseth. Certainly he has been consistent and deserves some recognition for always being out on the racetrack. I am just not sure that a championship is the kind of reward that should be given. Also, nothing better illustrates the flaws of this system than comparing the first- and fifth-ranked drivers. If wins are what fans want and drivers are really aiming for, then they should be weighted more heavily and determine the Winston Cup Points Champion. In the meantime, I’ll watch Newman pass Kenseth several times over the last six races and laugh. I know that no matter what happens on the track, Newman will not pass Kenseth under the current point system. Sinclair is a graduate student in the College of Education.