Sept. 10, 2005
Chapel Hill, N.C. – In a match between two undefeated teams, the South Carolina volleyball team (5-1) suffered its first defeat of the season with a 3-0 loss to Purdue (7-0) on Saturday afternoon at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game scores were 24-30, 25-30, and 12-30. USC concludes tournament action this evening at 7:30 p.m. when the Gamecocks face the host North Carolina Tar Heels.
Shonda Cole had 10 kills and Lynae VandenHull had nine to lead the Gamecocks on the offensive attack. Samantha Mader finished with 11 kills and Leah Wischmeier added eight for Purdue.
South Carolina went ahead early of Purdue in the first game opening up a 10-4 lead against the Boilermakers. Lynae VandenHull and Lauren Ford each had two kills early as the Gamecocks opened up a six-point edge. Down 14-8, Purdue began to mount its comeback on the serve of Elizabeth Jaques. The Boilermkaers used a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the match at 17-16. Purdue would only trail once more and earn a 30-24 win in the first game. Purdue hit .243 with 15 kills in the first game with the Gamecocks finishing at .152 with 14 kills but nine errors.
Game two was tight as well with five lead changes and several ties. South Carolina again got off to a fast start with a 9-6 lead as Nicole Miller led the way with two kills. Purdue again battled back with six straight points to go ahead 12-9. The match would begin to seesaw in the middle part with Carolina mounting a small comeback and going ahead late at 23-22 on a block from by Iris Santos. Purdue would score two consecutive points before the Gamecocks tied it back at 24 apiece on a kill form Shonda Cole. However, the Boilermakers would score six of the last seven points and take advantage of three Gamecock errors to win 30-25 and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Purdue hit .239 in game two with 17 kills while the Gamecocks finished with .098 with 14 kills but 10 errors.
Purdue used its momentum from the first two game wins to defeat Carolina 30-12 in the final game. Purdue had 14 kills in the final game with a hitting percentage of .650 while the Gamecocks had just seven kills and nine errors hitting -.091.
