The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 13, 2004, Page 11, Image 11
>1-1
GAMECOCK CHALLENGE
THE CHALLENGE: Every week,
The Gamecock’s readers and
staff test their sports knowledge
with game predictions.
18 Louisville at 3 Miami
25 Ohio State at Iowa
15 Arizona State at 1 So. Cal
NC State at Maryland
10 Wisconsin at 5 Purdue
6 Virginia at 7 Florida State
k Missouri at 9 Texas_
* Arkansas at 4 Auburn_
24 Southern Miss at Alabama
USC at Kentucky
Jonathan
Hillyard
Sports
editor
(37-19)
Miami
Iowa
ASU
Maryland
Wisconsin
Virginia
Texas
Auburn
So. Miss
use"
35-6
Adam
Beam
Editor
in chief
(41-15)
Miami
OSU
So. Cal.
NC State
Purdue
FSU
Texas
Auburn
So. Miss -
use
21-3
David
Stagg
Design
director
(38-18)
Miami
Iowa
So. Cal.
NC State
Purdue
FSU
Texas
Auburn
Alabama
use
28-21
Wes
Wolfe
Viewpoint:
editor
(32-24)
Miami
OSU
So. Cal.
NC State
Purdue
FSU
Texas
Arkansas
Alabama
Uk
16-13
Steven
Van Haren
; Copy
editor
(41-15)
Miami
OSU
So. Cal.
NC State
Purdue
FSU
Texas
Auburn
So. Miss
use
21-7
Jason
Hennessy
Reader of
the week
(35-21)
Miami
OSU
So. Cal.
Maryland
Purdue
Virginia
Texas
Auburn
Alabama
use
24-10
WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO
GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Editor Adam Beam returned to
his usual form and tied Van Haren for the overall lead. Beam sported a week-high seven wins.
USC to face Mississippi teams
■ Womens soccer
looks to break into
SEC win column
By MATT NAGY
THE GAMECOCK
^ The slumping USC women’s soccer
team will look for its first win in SEC
play this week as the team hosts contests
with Mississippi State and Mississippi.
Carolina will face the Rebels on Friday
evening and then wrap up the weekend
against the Bulldogs on Sunday
afternoon at Eugene E. Stone III
Stadium.
Both are SEC conference foes and
will pose a tough test to the Gamecocks.
Mississippi (6-8-0, 2-4-0 SEC) is
coming off two-straight overtime losses,
with the most recent coming at the
hands of No. 23 Auburn.
Rebel senior Karen Hall scored her
seventh goal of the season in the loss and
has proved to be dangerous for defenders
» all season. Hall is tied for most goals on
& the team with fellow senior Kristal
w Menard, who also leads the team in
points and is second on the team in
assists with eight.
The two seniors will pose a difficult
challenge for a Gamecock defense that
has been playing strongly, allowing
only two goals last weekend in a loss to
Kentucky and a draw against
Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks must rely
on senior Ashley Williams as well as
Courtney Cobbs and Ashley Kirk in
order to score more goals for the
defense. As for the offense, it has
scored one goal or less in its past four
contests and has only scored more then
three in two games this season. The
team is 0-4-2 in the SEC thus far this
season.
The going does not get any easier
Sunday as Carolina then faces a second
team from the Magnolia State, the
Mississippi State Bulldogs. The
Bulldogs are 5-6-2 on the season and
' III pidy. L/C5pilC U1C11
record, the Bulldogs have endured a
tough schedule facing both Southern
Cal and perennial national champions
UNC.
The Bulldogs have also had issues
getting the bail in the back of the net
and have only scored two goals or more
five times this season.
The Bulldogs, much like South
Carolina, have relied on a plethora of
players to score goals this season. Nine
Bulldogs have scored this year for the
team, and none have more than three
goals.
Strong goalkeeping has been a story
this year for#MSU. Emily Meyers and
Stephanie Dallas are averaging a
combined 1.56 goals allowed per game.
Carolina has also seen strong play from
its two freshman keepers Laura
Armstrong and Lindsay Thorstenson,
whose combined goals allowed average
stands at a respectable 1.70. The
Gamecock defense continues to play
strong in the back, and senior defender
Sarah Lentz has also found time to score
four goals this season.
Carolina has been stellar at home this
season, with only a single loss to last
year’s SEC champion Tennessee. The
team will look to capitalize on the home
field advantage at the Graveyard, as the
Gamecocks look for their first SEC win
of the season.
1 lie <111 iet-uv.ua iidve udu uea niui
Georgia and Vanderbilt but have
dropped their other SEC games to
Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and, most
recently, Kentucky. If the Gamecocks
can score more easily this weekend, they
will have a great chance to grab victories
in both games.
Williams has not scored a goal since
conference play has begun, and her play
is crucial this weekend in order for the
Gamecocks to be successful. Game times
are set for 7 p.m. Friday evening against
Mississippi and 1 p.m. Sunday
afternoon against the Bulldogs.
Comments on this stony ? E-mail
gamecocksports@givm.sc. edu
Ford leads Gamecocks
toward SEC West foes
By MIQUEL JACOBS
THE GAMECOCK
The USC Volleyball team, returns
to action fall break for a road trip to
the state of Alabama. In two matches
against SEC West rivals, Carolina will
battle a strong Alabama team Friday at
7 p.m. and conclude the road trip with
a Sunday match against the Auburn
Tigers.
Carolina (10-5, 3-3 SEC) is fresh
off a weekend sweep against
Mississippi State and Ole Miss in
which USC head coach Kim Hudson
praised her team for rebounding
mentally after its first losing streak of
the season.
The Gamecocks will have a
challenge ahead of them as they look to
prove they are indeed back on track
against an Alabama team that has
rolled to a 13-4 start on the season.
However, the Crimson Tide is in the
midst of a midseason slump, losing
their first home match of the season
last Sunday to go along with three
losses in their last four games.
A trip to Auburn on Sunday at
■
1:30 p.m. to finish off the weekend is
an important match in a conference
where road wins are important. The
Tigers have struggled this season to
reach a 6-8 record. With a four-game
losing streak on their back, the
Tigers are in need of a confidence
booster to get through the conference
better than last season’s 1-15 SEC
record.
A date with No. 17 Tennessee
before taking on the Gamecocks
might not be the ideal situation to
allow Auburn to mentally prepare for
Sunday’s match.
In Carolina’s last two wins, the
drive and determination of earlier in
the season was present as the
Gamecocks played as close to complete
games as they could. Blocking and
defense were key as Carolina out
blocked Ole Miss 21-7 and edged
Mississippi State in all major statistical
categories, including keeping the
Bulldogs to a season-low .073 kill
percentage and no blocks for the entire
match.
Strong play by Lauren Ford, Iris
Santos, Lynae Vanden / Hull and
Lauren Ford was
named the SEC’s
defensive player of
the week on Monday,
a first this year for a
Gamecock.
Shonda Cole during the past week has
been just what Carolina needed to get
back on track. Ford was named the
SEC’s defensive player of the week on
Monday, a first this year for a
Gamecock.
Along with the increasing levels of
comfort and playing time given to less
experienced players, USC is starting to
return to form as the tough SEC
schedule continues. The next home
match will feature the Georgia
Bulldogs on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. before
the Gamecocks host the defending
SEC Champion, No. 10 Florida
Gators.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
■
Teach English in junior and senior high schools in Japan
Learn about Japanese culture and people
Gain international experience
• Have an excellent command of the English language
• Obtain a bachelor’s degree by July 1,2005
• Be a U.S. citizen r '
• Be willing to relocate to Japan for.one year
Gamecocks
Connection!
Your source for
Gamecocks news alerts
right on your
wireless phone!
Get up-to-the-minute news
about the Gamecocks,
from the Gamecocks,
on your wireless phone.
Log on to www.vtext.com
and select "Coaches Comer!"
Subject to Customer Agreement and Calling Plan. $35 activation fee may apply. $175 early termination fee applies. Requires
credit approval. Subject to taxes, charges and other restrictions. See verizonwireless.com/bestnetwork for network claim details.
Digital phone required. Verizon Wireless post pay customers charged 20 per message received and 100 per message sent. Verizon
Wireless prepay customers charged 50 for messages received and sent. Network not available in all areas. ©2004 Verizon Wireless