University of South Carolina Libraries
GAME SCHEDULE MEN’S SOCCER at Davidson, 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. MEN’S SOCCER USC to battle defense-minded Davidson squad By JAKE BROOM THE GAMECOCK I Fresh off a 1-0 victory over No. 13 Wake Forest in Winston Salem, N.C., the USC men’s soccer team faces another test on the road Wednesday as it travels to face the Davidson Wildcats. Davidson, coming off a year that produced a Southern Conference title and a trip to the NCAA tournament, is a team on the rise. The 2004 Wildcats return plenty of experienced players who have the talent to play multiple positions. The 23 member team features eight freshmen, but they are not relied upon to contribute heavily. The strength of this Davidson team is in its defense. The Wildcats return every starter from a defensive unit that produced a school-best 10 shutouts in 2003. Included in the returning starters is John Latting, a 2003 All-South honoree, and Nahum Navas, an All Conference selection. Latting and Navas are entering their third full year as starters for the Wildcats. While the Davidson defenders are well known in the Southern Conference for shutting down opposing offenses, they can also be a threat to score. Head coach Matt Spear likes to take chances, sending Navas and fellow defender Ben Kittinger forward during fast breaks to capitalize on their excellent passing and shooting. The last line of defense is a strong point for the Wildcats, as they return goalkeeper Bart Creasman. Creasman, a senior, posted a stellar 0.76 goals against average in 2003, a school record. While his ability to stop shots has garnered him consideration for the All-Conference team, he also excels in distributing the ball to offensive players after making a save. This often leads to quick goals on counterattacks. The Davidson offense is without any standout individual performers, but it plays well as a group. Its strength is in its passing, as the 2003 team recorded 31 assists to go with its 35 goals. The offense will count on its talented defenders making runs and helping out on the offensive end of the field. Returning for the offense is midfielder David Sartorio. Sartorio suffered an offseason knee injury that kept him out of the 2003 season. He assisted on nine goals as a freshman and will be counted on to contribute. Also returning is sophomore Cass Baltz, who started off his college career with three goals and five assists in 2003. Former reserve Preston Davis, a junior, could likely move up into a starting position this year at left wing. Freshmen Jon Bassett, Aaron West and Diego Fildes-Torrijos will look to contribute as attacking midfielders. A four-way battle for playing time has begun as juniors Matt Allen and Jeff Davis, along with sophomores Marco Antunez and Mac Wilkie, look to contribute as forwards. Davis is the team’s leading returning scorer after posting eight goals and five assists in 2003. While the Gamecocks might be looking for a break after the upset at Wake Forest, this isn’t the game to provide one. The Wildcats are a heavily experienced team and have already knocked off another SEC team in Vanderbilt, 5-2. Davidson might be a small school in a small town, but if the Gamecocks don’t play their best soccer, they could be the ones getting upset this time around. Comments on this stoiy ? E-mail gamecockspoits@gwm.sc. edu VOLLEYBALL CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore setter Katelyn Panzau serves a ball during Friday’s match against Mississippi State. Carolina takes on Tennessee tonight at 7 p.m. FOOTBALL Offense incorporates committee approach to find winning style By STEPHEN DEMEDIS THE GAMECOCK In USC’s win over Troy University on Saturday, the team featured an offense by committee approach. The coaching staff rotated players in and out of the backfield in search of a spark, and this appears to be a trend the team will continue in search of a successful offense. Quarterbacks Syvelle Newton and Dondrial Pinkins alternated possessions in Saturday’s victory. Newton went 10-of-l4 for 98 yards, while his senior mentor went six-of-10 for 101 yards. Each led the team to touchdowns and threw one interception. While USC head coach Lou Holtz acknowledged that each single caller needs to improve, he said he does not feel that either one has to become the obvious starter. “I really don’t feel that someone really has to emerge. Our two most productive players on offense, other than our receivers, are our quarterbacks, in terms of running the ball,” Holtz said. “And with the amount of pounding they take and all the pressure on them, it might be too much for one guy to take on." Holtz maintained that if one emerged as the better quarterback, than that individual would start and receive most of the snaps. Two concerns the coaching staff has with rotating the quarterbacks is that the team could become predictable with the play calling for each quarterback and that the team could be divided on the issue. “Let’s make sure that we don’t have two teams,” Holtz said. “We may have two quarterbacks, but I don’t want two teams.” As with the quarterback system, the running game is the responsibility of five individuals, not including the quarterbacks. In the game against Troy, four different running backs ran the ball for the Gamecocks. Senior Gonzie Gray led the team with 13 carries for 47 yards, an average of 3.6 yards per carry. Junior Daccus Turman pounded the ball 10 times for 26 yards, including the team long of 13 yards. ' The running game was again handicapped by the absence of sophomore Demetris Summers, who suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play of the Georgia game. Summers’ status for the Alabama game is not known this early in the week, but Holtz did not refute speculation that his prize recruit from a year ago could miss the entire season. Summers said he met with the coach Monday to give him an update and practiced that afternoon. He said he thought that he would be able to play Saturday. Overall, Holtz said he is pleased with the play of their backs and does not question their desire to win, noting their selfless play, but said he feels that the team needs a back that the offense can feature. “I would love to have a guy carry the ball 30 times a game and to have the productivity. Our backs are playing well without the football. These guys want to win, there is no question,” Holtz said. “But we just have not been consistent in gaining yards. A guy that carries the ball 30 times is a guy that is going to move the chains.” One could argue that Summers or Cory Boyd, who was held to seven carries against Troy, has the talent to be the back that Holtz desires. Regardless, the team will travel to Tuscaloosa for its third SEC game of the season, looking for either an individual or combination to jump start an offense ranked 43rd in the nation. Notes Ko Simpson — The coaching staff continues to be impressed by starting safety Ko Simpson. The freshman from Rock Hill was just a two-star recruit coming out of high school but has quickly solidified a secondary said to have many holes. On the year, Simpson has 20 tackles, two interceptions, one touchdown and five passes defended. “It is unbelievable how well Ko Simpson is playing for just a true freshman,” Holtz said. “I have never had a freshman step in ► Please see FOOTBALL, page 14 FILE PHOTO/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore Brandon Wallace goes for a layup during last year’s SEC Tournament. w Canadian matches to give basketball preseason practice By STEPHEN FASTENAU THE GAMECOCK USC men’s basketball head coach Dave Odom met with the media in his first press conference of the season Monday. Odom noted that his team has continued to improve and looks ^ forward to a tougher schedule Pj, this season that includes games at L Kansas and Pittsburgh. The team will travel to Canada Oct. 13-17 to play exhibition games in Ottawa and Montreal. Odom sounded excited about the opportunity, given that it allows his team to begin practice three weeks earlier than usual. USC will be able to practice 10 days before leaving for Canada. “I’ve felt that in-season foreign tours are much better than the out-of-season ones,” 0|bm said. “Your entire te/tn is included — freshman, junior college transfers, everybody.” The Gamecocks will play Carleton University in Ottawa Oct. 14. The school has won the past two Canadian national championships. USC will play the University of Ottawa Oct. 15 before traveling to Montreal to take on Concordia University Oct. 16. “I wanted to go to a place where we could play ‘real’ teams,” Odom said. Odom held the team’s first practice at 6 a.m. Monday. The team also practiced Monday afternoon and will practice again today at 4:30 p.m. Odom said his team would practice Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while conducting individual workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As for the state of his team, Odom noted that the Gamecocks ♦ Please see OlDOM, page 14 Strong Vol offense could be problem for Hull, Carolina By JIM ROCHE THE GAMECOCK While most USC fans are busy drying off from the heavy rains of Tropical Storm Jeanne, the Gamecock volleyball team is preparing for tonight’s match-up against the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers. The Gamecocks are coming off their weekend sweep of the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday, beating them 30-26, 30-26, 30-24, and improving to 1-1 in the SEC and 8-3 overall. Shonda Cole recorded her 10th • double-figure kill match or the season with 14 while Lynae vanaen Hull recorded a season high of four service aces with 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. South Carolina played well defensively, as it held Ole Miss to under a .200 hitting percentage the entire game. We played with conhdence again, and this is ■ an important win as we head into our next match against 24th-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday,” USC head coach Kim Hudson said. The Tennessee Vols are off to their best start in nearly 30 years at 12-1 overall and 2-0 in SEC play. The last time the Volunteers started out this well was in 1973 when the Lady Vols started out 20-0. The Lady Vols are coming off a weekend sweep over the entire state of Mississippi. Tennessee swept Ole Miss 30-20, 30-23, 30-20 Friday, and swept Mississippi State 30-23, 30 23, 30-24 Sunday. Tennessee is loaded with power up front. Kristen Andre Was named SEC Player of the Week for the second time in a month. Andre has 48 kills, 12 blocks, nine digs, and four service aces while sporting a .412 hitting average. “Kristen is a huge reason we had such a successful week,” Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick said. “Often, we were able to go to her to stop runs by the other teams. She is very deserving of the award and has been a quiet leader of our team for the past two years, playing just as hard every day in practice as she does in matches.” Tennessee \ also has weapons in senior Michelle Piantadosi and sophomore Sarah Blum. Both are hitting over .300 and give the Lady Vols stability on defense, combining for 35 digs. South Carolina needs to stop Tennessee’s high-powered offense. Tennessee had a .381 hitting average against Mississippi State, making it the seventh time this year Tennessee has hit above .300. Piantadosi hit .519 (17-3-27), including .500 (5-0-10) in game one against the Bulldogs and .529 (Sj-l-lU; in game two. Junior setter Julie Knytych had 50 assists against Mississippi, which puts her to 629 on the ♦ Please see VOLLEYBALL, page 14 • HAPul .! -Jf p' THE .ir.’Ei 1 Junior Nicole Miller goes down for a dig in last weekend’s series against MSU. 1 “This is an important win as we head into our next match...” KIM HUDSON HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH SEC News & Notes FLORIDA, LSU PLAYERS GARNER WEEKLY HONORS Florida running back Ciatrick Fason has been named SEC offensive player of the week for his performance Saturday against Kentucky. The junior from Neptune Beach, Fla., set career highs with 210 yards rushing on 31 carries and five receptions for 43 yards in the Gators’ 20-3 win. Fason scored rwo touchdowns, one rushing and the other receiving, and became the first Florida back to pass the 200-yard single-game rushing mark since Emmitt Smith in 1989. The SEC defensive player of the week honor went to LSU cornerback Corey Webster. Webster had two tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery all in the first half of the Tigers’ 31-0 trouncing of Mississippi State. Ole Miss kicker Jonathan Nichols earned SEC special teams player of the week honors for totaling 14 points in the Rebels’ 37-32 loss to Wyoming. LSU, GEORGIA MATCH-UP HIGHLIGHTS WEEK 5 Florida takes on SEC West surprise Arkansas at home. Arkansas is 3-1 and is coming off a big win against Alabama. Some preseason publications predicted the inexperienced Razorbacks to finish last in the West. Ole Miss returns ro Oxford after a tough loss to Wyoming to play Arkansas State. This will be the Indians second SEC game this year. They also lost to LSU 53-3 in Baton Rouge. In the SEC’s most anticipated game of the year, LSU goes into Athens already having lost to Auburn to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in a rematch of last year’s SEC championship game. The Gamecocks travel to Alabama in a match-up of 3-1 teams. The winner will have a leg up throughout the rest of its SEC schedule. In another crucial SEC game, Auburn heads into Neyland Stadium 4-0 looking to get past one of its biggest hurdles of the season, is 3-0, and both teams have national title aspirations. Florida running back Ciatrick Fason, right, ' goes through j Kentucky’s Earven A Flowers to score a touchdown in the | first half of Saturday’s I game in Gainesville, | Fla. *