Sept. 9, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – South Carolina volleyball improved to 5-0 on the year as they defeated Coastal Carolina (2-3) 3-0 at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game scores were 30-19, 30-24, 30-18. The Gamecocks recorded a season high in hitting with .380 and had a season low of 11 errors for the match.
South Carolina dominated in game one as USC recorded 16 kills and had four errors for an attack percentage of .387, while Coastal hit only .088 with 10 kills and seven errors. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 9-1 start and jumped out to a 15-point lead before Coastal scored their fifth point of the game. CCU struggled to score and USC lead 24-18 before CCU’s final point of the game came on an attack error by USC. That would be all the Chanticleer’s would see in the game as the Gamecocks went on a 6-0 run to close out the 30-19 win. Katherine Jensen had four of CCU’s 10 kills in the game.
The Gamecocks continued to control the pace in game two, but Coastal fought back and rallied late in the game. USC was at game point, 29-18 before Coastal went on a 6-0 run with four kills and two service aces to hold the Gamecocks from clinching the game. South Carolina ended the run on a kill by Shonda Cole to win 30-24 and took a 2-0 lead into the break. In game two, the Gamecocks hit .350 with 17 kills and three errors while Coastal posted their best game of the match, 16 kills, six errors and hit .263.
South Carolina returned after the break and shut down Coastal as they hit a season high .414 (16 kills, four errors) and held Coastal to .026 (10 kills, nine errors). Game three was played close however, until the 11-10 mark where USC then pulled away with the lead. The Garnet and Black established a five-point lead and never looked back. USC took the game by 12 points, to win 30-18 and the match 3-0.
The victory extends the Gamecocks streak against Coastal to 7-0. For the fifth straight match, Cole led the team in kills with 12 and hit a career high .524. Freshman outside hitter Marija Milosevic led the team in hitting with .500 as she had eight kills and zero errors.
South Carolina concludes tournament action Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. match against Purdue and a 7:30 p.m. match against North Carolina. All matches can be followed live via Gametracker on uscsports.com. The USC vs. Purdue match can be heard live via Internet audio cast on either uscsports.com or purduesports.com.
