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^Volleyball to start SEC play with Mississippi opponents By MIQUELJACOBS THE GAMECOCK The state teams of Mississippi will be in town as the USC volleyball team opens up SEC play this weekend after a promising non-conference roundup. Carolina (7-2) will take on Mississippi State on Friday night in the conference opener and conclude the weekend with a match against Ole Miss on Sunday. i The Gamecocks are 6-0 against the JMississippi teams in the past three years and are preparing to keep that streak alive when the Lady Bulldogs arrive in Columbia on Friday. Mississippi State (7 5) also opens conference play on the heels of a victory against UAB on Tuesday. The hot players for the Bulldogs have been junior outside hitter Rachel Cooper and senior libero Ashley Sledge, both all tournament selections in the MSU Classic last weekend. Sledge is third in the SEC with 139 digs, while junior setter Andrea Mead leads the conference with 25 aces — just a few of the bright spots for a team with a first-year coach who has already doubled last season’s win total of three. Also traveling from the Magnolia State are the Rebels of Ole Miss, the second match of a four-game home stand for the Gamecocks. The Rebels (7-4) are hoping to rebound from a disappointing season last year and make the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2000. The addition of Nikki Hill, a two-time junior-college All-American, and Ashleigh Shear, a Columbia native and junior college transfer, have propelled the Rebels to equal their season total of wins from last year. Freshman Tara Langley has also contributed, gaining a career high 20 digs in a victory over the University of Illinois at Chicago last weekend. The key to this season’s turnaround can be attributed to more aggressive play with seven players averaging over two kills per game. Much like their two opponents, Carolina has seen a vast improvement over last season, a year in which USC saw its first losing season since 1993. A team that has no seniors on the roster, the Gamecocks have been led by a core group of players including juniors Sarah Morgan and Lauren Ford, team leaders in digs and kills, respectively. These two, along with sophomore Shonda Cole, were named to last weekend’s all-tournament team in the much-anticipated Gamecock Invitational. “This was a great weekend for us,” USC head coach Kim Hudson said following a sweep at the invitational. “We played s6me good teams in Michigan State and Notre Dame, and to come out with two wins is a good accomplishment. ” Indeed, last week’s performance brings the Gamecocks high aspirations entering conference play, and the latest attendance rankings indicate that a nice sized crowd should be on hand to cheer the team to conference victories. South Carolina is ranked 16th in the nation in average home crowds at 1,110 fans per match. This ranking is second in the SEC to Florida, the reigning SEC Tournament champions. This weekend’s action begins Friday night against Mississippi State at 7 p.m. and concludes against Ole Miss on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Gamecocks will then prepare to take on SEC East rival and 24th-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Games are played at the Volleyball Competition Facility next to the Carolina Coliseum. Comments on this story ? E-mail gamecockspojts@gwm.se. edn J GAMECOCK CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE' Every week Jonathan Adam David Wes Steven Dimitri The Gamecock's readers and ’ Hil|yard Beam stagg Wolfe Van Haren Najim staff test their sports knowledge SP°rts Edit°r t Ues'gn Viewpoints Copy Reader of nraHi^innc editor in chief director editor editor the week with game predictions. (15_n) (19,7) (19,7) (14.12) (21-5) (16-10) Clemson at 8 Florida State FSUFSUFSUFSUFSUFSU Syracuse at 12 VirginiaVirginia Virginia Virginia Virginia Virginia Virginia Air Force at 14 UtahUtahUtahUtahUtahUtahUtah Kentucky at 16 Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida Iowa at 18 MichiganIowaIowaMichigan Michigan Michigan Michigan Penn. State at 20 Wisconsin Penn St. Wisconsin Wisconsin Penn St. Wisconsin Wisconsin Vanderbilt at NavyNavyVanderbilt NavyNavyNavyNavy Alabama at ArkansasArkansas Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Arkansas NC State at Virginia TechNC State NC State Va.Tech Va.Tech Va.Tech Va.Tech Troy at USC USC USC USC USC USC USC 28-7 42-7 14-7 24-10 21-7 31-10 WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Beam reemerged as a contender with a week of 8-2. Van Haren continues to clean house with another solid 8-2 week. ■ TROY Continued from page 8 Troy also looked impressive in its opening 17-15 win against Marshall. The Thundering Herd are now 0-3, but had close losses against Ohio State and Georgia. Defensively, Troy held Marshall to its lowest offensive output in history. The Herd gained just 177 yards, including only 25 yards rushing. Defensive end Demarcus Ware had three sacks for a loss of 25 yards and forced three fumbles in the game. Leak gave Troy the first lead of the game with a 15-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Marshall took the lead on three-straight field goals but the Trojans grabbed it back with a field goal in the third quarter. Betterson scored on a one-yard run to provide the final margin. The ability of the Trojan defense to come up with big plays was key in their two upsets. The defense combined to sack Marshall quarterback Stan Hill eight times. They also sacked Tiger Heisman Trophy hopeful Smith twice. The two Trojan opponents combined to punt 13 times in the two games while holding them to 15 points or less. Troy slipped last week in a loss to conference foe New Mexico State, as low offensive output finally caught up with them. Despite the loss, Holtz and the Gamecocks are prepared for the upset-minded Trojan team of the first two games. “I expect to see the same team we saw against Marshall and against Missouri,” Holtz said. “Our players better be ready, and I think they will be ready.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edn ■ MEN’S SOCCER Continued from page 8 South Carolina draws the struggling Deacons at the right time, and an upset could be in the cards. “Throughout the years, South Carolina-Wake Forest has been one of the bigger games in the South region, and this year is no exception,” Berson said of the rivalry. “We certainly have a challenge ahead of us traveling to their place.” Despite two disappointing outcomes, Berson was encouraged by his team’s effort in Philadelphia and hopes it will carry into Friday’s contest. “We showed real character to come back, but we let the games get away from us, and we need to change that. “ The Gamecocks will certainly need added character to take on this Demon Deacons squad, but judging from the Deacons’ play of late, the Gamecocks should be able to compete for the full 90 minutes. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu ■ FRISBY a Continued from page 8 Ranger is married with six children, the oldest of whom is in high school and the youngest, who is less than a veal . old. He said that as many members of his family that are physically able will be at the game Saturday. “I don’t about the whole family because that’s quite a bit of tickets,” Frisby said, chuckling. “As many as can make it out will be here.” When asked if getting in the game would make his sacrifices worth while Frisby said, “It’ll be worth it, but again I’m all for the team. As long as the team is doing great, then I’m satisfied.” Frisby is not only drawing interest from the local media, as his story was portrayed two weeks ago during ESPN’s College GameDay. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockspoits®gu.msc. edu ; ’Mk J WWW. dailygamecoek Co/VhMAwh4 AN HISTORIC RESIDENCE Efficiency $525 One Bedroom $585 Two Bedroom $620 Rent includes all utilities and cable TV. All rates quoted are month to month. (Leases available, prices subject to change) Located across from t|ie University Of South Carolina Horseshoe and the State Capital, Cornell Arms offers the premier location for downtown living. (803) 799-1442 1230 PENDLETON STREET ^ COLUMBlA.SC 29201 . KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECO USC freshman midfielder Sara Jane Harris, left, gets a foot on the ball before an opponent can rear it in last week’s victory. The team will face two tough Alabama opponents this weekend on the road Women’s soccer team to take on Alabama foes By BRIAN SAAL THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s soccer team opens up its conference play this weekend with a pair of matches against opponents from the Yellowhammer State — Auburn and Alabama. Auburn is 5-2 and is trying to bounce back from a two-game losing streak. The Gamecocks have their work cut out for them, as the Tigers were ranked as high as No. 17 in the country. USC will need to stop the Tigers’ high-powered attack of Sarah Steinmann and Chrissy Culver. Steinmann is a senior who had 12 goals last season, making her a first team All 1 SEC member. Culver is also a senior who has three goals and two assists to lead her team. Last year’s Auburn match-up ended in a double-overtime tie at Stone Stadium in Columbia. After facing the Tigers on Friday night, the Gamecocks will stay in the Yellowhammer State to face the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide is 4 4 this season and is on a three-game losing streak. The Tide have one of the best scorers in the SEC in freshman forward Jordan O’Banion. O’Banion already has six goals in eight games. Last year, Carolina ended on top of a 2 0 final against Alabama. Big news was delivered to Carolina’s Sarah Lentz when she was told that she was the SEC defensive player of the week. The senior co-captain had game winning goals in the Clemson and Charlotte games. Patterns have seemed to set in on USC lately. Whenever the Gamecocks win, they win close. Whenever the Gamecocks lose, they lose big. The difference in goals scored in the six wins is 1.6, and 2.3 in the three losses. The Gamecocks rely on their defense. They are 1-3 in games that have more than five goals. Auburn also relies heavily on its defense. This game should be a cl< battle, one in which one goal could all a team needs. The Tigers h< opponents to just under one goal ] game. Auburn has been shut out tw this season, resulting in their 01 losses. The game will begin at Aubi at 8 p.m. Alabama, however, is quite i opposite. The Tide average about r and a half goals per game wl allowing 1.59. The lowest amount goals scored in an Alabama game \ three when the Tide lost to Jan Madison by a count of 2-1. This i classic match-up of stellar defei versus stellar offense. Carolina m stop Alabama’s attack in order to p out the victory in Tuscaloosa Sunday. Starting time for Sunday’s game Alabama is 2 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gW7n.sc. edit Gamecocks .Connection! 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