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PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK USC right-side blocker Lynae Vanden Hull lunges for the ball In Wednesday night’s game against Kentucky. Vanden Hull had 27 kills in Carolina’s 3-2 win against the Wildcats. Volleyball stays tough, wins close versus 'Cats ► BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team (10-7, 4-1) played one of its closest match es to date, squeaking out a 3-2 vic tory over Kentucky (10-7,2-3) on Wednesday night at the Volleyball Competition Facility. “Tonight we played well at all the right times," USC head coach Kim Christopher said. “This team is young, and we can do so many things. We’ve been working on taking good shots when we have the right opportunities, and we definitely did that tonight.” Carolina beat Kentucky at its own game, being aggressive on of fense and outkilling the Wildcats ■ 77-68. Two USC players, right-side ' blocker Lynae Vanden Hull and outside hitter Shonda Cole, led both squads in kills with 27 and 19, respectively. Cole’s kill total was a career high for the freshman from Kings Mountain, N.C. Vanden Hull also set a career-high kill mark and earned her third 20-kill match. Previous to this game, Kentucky had mercilessly out killed its opponents. “Lynae is a coach’s dream. She is really coming into her own and is a clutch player. We rely on her every day,” Christopher said Wednesday night. Christopher also had good things to say about setter Alexeis Thomson, the Canadian freshman that made her first start in Wednesday’s game. “Lexci-did a very good job. She made the right decisions at the right time.” Carolina started the game with a convincing 30-23 victory in the first set. Although .Kentucky grabbed the lead early in the game, tight play by USC and mis takes by the Wildcats-allowed the Gamecocks to build their seven point lead. The Gamecocks had a .333 hitting average to Kentucky’s .146 average. Kentucky stepped ahead again in the second game, fending off a couple USC attempts to close the point deficit. The Wildcats seemed to correct some of the mistakes they made in the first game and took the second game 30-26. The third game proved to be a grudge match between the two teams. Kentucky jumped ahead again, but USC closed to tie the game at 26-26. The two teams con tinued to go back and forth until Carolina finally pulled it out 34-32. As usual Kentucky took the lead early in the fourth game. However, this time the Gamecocks did not hit back and the Wildcats racked up nine-point leads several times before putting together a 24-13 lead. After a freak shot off of Cole’s head yielded a . point for USC, Carolina began to turn things around. The Gamecocks fought back and actu ally led 29-27, one point away from putting the match away after falling behind by 11 points. Kentucky still stuck to it and pushed the match to a fifth game by winning 31-29. Carolina led early in the fifth game and kept a slight edge, tak ing the game 15-13 and winning the match. Next up for USC is the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The Lady Vols (12-4, 2-2) are coming off two conference road losses, at Georgia and at Florida. Tennessee’s two conference wins came against two teams that USC has also beaten, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The Gamecocks will look to contain middle blocker Kristen Andre and middle blocker Sarah Blum. Andre leads the Lady Vols in kills with 193, while Blum is first in blocks with 10 and third in kills with 173. USC takes on Tennessee at 7 p.m. tonight in Knoxville, Tenn. The Gamecocks’ next home games will come against Arkansas on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. and LSU on Oct. 19 at 1:30 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail. com SPORTS CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: The Gamecock's readers and staff test their sports knowledge with predictions of the weekend’s games. (Rankings are from The Associated Press.) 13 Tennessee at 8 Georgia 1 Oklahoma at 11 Texas 2 Miami at 5 Florida St. _ Auburn at 7 Arkansas Florida at 6 LSU 3 Ohio St. at 23 Wisconsin 20 Michigan at 17 Minnesota Georgia Tech at Wake Forest 25 Virginia at Clemson Kentucky at USC Brad Wes Senklw Wolfe Sports Asst. Sports Editor Editor (35-25) (35-25) Georgia Georgia Oklahoma Oklahoma Florida St. Miami Arkansas Arkansas LSU LSU Wisconsin Ohio St. Michigan Michigan Tech Tech Virginia Virginia..... use use 28-17 17-14 Charles Adam Tomlinson Beam Editor in Managing Chief Editor (37-23) (43-17) Georgia Georgia^ Oklahoma Oklahoma Miami __ FloridaJ>t. Arkansas Arkansas LSU LSU Ohio St. Ohio St. Minnesota Michigan_ Tech Wake Virginia Virginia use use 21-17 24-21 Gabrielle Jonathan Sinclair DuPre Viewpoints Reader of Editor the Week (39-21) (29-29) Tennessee Georgia Texas Oklahorna Florida St. Florida St. Auburn Arkansas Florida_LSU Ohio St. Ohio St. Michigan Michigan Tech Tech Virginia Virginia use use 17-14 27-14 I SPORTS CHALLENGE’S SEVENTH-WEEK OUTLOOK: Managing Editor Adam Beam blew away the competition last week on a 7-3 record. Beam now has a commanding lead, leading the next-closest person, the selected staff member, by four games. Reader of the Week Peter Farr posted one of the best reader scores yet, going 6-4 and moving the Reader of the Week position back to a .500 record. Editor in Chief Charles Tomlinson showed promise early but tanked last week by going 3-7 and falling far behind. Be sure to get your picks in by Thursday at 2 p.m. WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mail yourselectionsnextweektogamecocksports@hotmail.com. If you’re picked and have the best record, you’ll win a free Gamecock T-shirt and be able to talk all the trash you want. Men’s soccer drops 4th in a row BY STEPHEN DEMEDIS THEUAMBCOCK The faces of the USC men’s soccer team (7-4) said it all Wednesday night as the players left the field after suffering their fourth straight loss by falling to Elon 1-0. It was the team’s first home loss this season, but the fourth straight shutout, the others coming against Portland, Washington and Clemson. This marks the first time in the team’s 25-year history where it has failed to score in four consecu tive games. Ironically, the team also got off to its second-best start in history earlier this year by winning its first seven games. The Elon game mirrored the previous three losses. Carolina out-shot its opponent 13-5 and played solid defense throughout the game, but failed to score. Most of Carolina’s attempts came in the last 10 minutes of play. Its best chance to score came with 14 seconds left in the game when midfielder Jack Cummings shot across the field, but Elon goalkeeper Saxe Taylor blocked it. “Our struggles offensively are a definite concern,” USC head coach Mark Berson said. “It has a lot to do with our confidence and execution. We started off the sea son strong on offense, and we are going to have to work hard at it to get back to where we were.” The Gamecocks nearly scored in the 60th minute when forward Ayo Akinsete crossed to forvPard Anthony Stovall right in front of the opposing goal. The Columbia native’s header sailed over the crossbar. Five minutes later, Akinsete found forward Ben Link in the box, but his shot was again denied. Elon’s goal came in the 70th minute. Elon’s Paul Bellacqua slipped through a retreating de fense on a counterplay and beat USC goalkeeper Brad Guzon to give Elon the lead. The Phoenix then dropped into a defensive for mation making a Carolina goal nearly impossible. Six yellow cards were issued during the 90 minutes of play. The final whistle ended a dis appointing loss for the Gamecocks. In a game where they had hoped to walk away with a win, the effort was marred with sloppy ball control and con fusion at the back in the first half. While the second half was an im provement from the first, the re sult was a loss. “We need to put together two solid halves. The first half we were not as alert and precise. I thought that in the second half we stepped it up,” Berson said. “This is another opportunity for us to learn and improve.” In the losing effort, Carolina received strong performances from Cummings and midfielder Eric Szeszycki. Defender Josh Alcala also had a solid game, lending a hand on offense from his defensive position. Coming into the Elon game, USC was ranked 25th in the na tion in one poll, but was ranked as high as seventh prior to its West Coast swing. The four straight losses concern the USC coaching staff. The team is not only in need ofp win but a goal. It has played 350 minutes of soccer since it last scored in the 10th minute against Appalachian State. “You know, nothing improves a team’s morale like a win,” Berson said. “Weneed to step up, keep working hard and just stay focused. Tonight’s loss was not a lack of effort.” That turnaround could come Sunday when the Wake Forrest Demon Deacons (6-3) come to town. They are ranked seventh in the nation and have won 24 straight home games, including victories over N.C. State and Virginia Tech. A win over the Deacons would put the Gamecocks back on track, but that will be no easy feat. In reference to the Wake Forest matchup, Berson said, “Winning Sunday is not going to be easy. It is going to be a big job, but this is a capable group and they can pull it off. Yes, a win would be just what the doctor or dered.” Carolina will take on Wake Forest at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium at 2 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com BRIEFLY Women’s soccer to head to Athens The USC women’s soccer team (8-3-2,1-0-1 SEC) takes its eight-game winning streak on the road against the Georgia Bulldogs tonight (8-4,1-1 SEC). Carolina’s eight-game streak is the team’s longest-ever win ning streak, set Oct. 5 in a 2-0 victory at home against Alabama. . Georgia won' last year’s game against Carolina 2-1 in double overtime. Georgia leads the overall series by 5-2-1. In Georgia’s two SEC matches this season, the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss 2-1 and lost to Mississippi State 2-0. USC plays the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. tonight in Athens, Ga. Swim team starts season against CofC The USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams start their seasons in a meet against the College of Charleston today. Last season the men’s team finished 20th in the nation and the women’s team finished 24th. Both teams are undefeated against the Cougars, with the men’s team going 13-0 and the women’s team 14-0. Carolina won last season’s meets at home, where the men won 143 125 and the women won 153- . 127. GET FIT. GET PAID. For Part-time Package Handlers at FedEx Ground, ' it'S like a paid workout. The work’s demanding, . .. , :> ' • l! • . - ■ ; ' ' • ’ ■ get a weekly paypheck, tuition assistance and break a sweat with the nation's package delivery leader. Two Part-time shifts available, (evening and early morning) Up to $8.50/hr. to start, scheduled raises. uualmcations: 18 years or older Must be able to work Monday thru Friday Must be able to lift 50 lbs. Ability to lead, unload, sort packages Fedex.com/us/careers 1180 First Street South Columbia, SC 29209 803-776-0227 Women and minorities are encouraged to join the team.