Sept. 25, 2005

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The South Carolina Gamecock volleyball team is still looking for its first SEC win of the season after losing a heartbreaker to Arkansas 3-2 Sunday afternoon. In a see-saw effort, game scores were 30-25, 27-30, 30-22, 29-31, 18-20. USC falls to 7-5 and 0-2 in SEC play, while Arkansas improves to 8-5 and 1-1 in the SEC.

The Gamecocks hit .198 as a team to Arkansas’ .123. Shonda Cole led USC with 20 kills but had 10 errors for a .164 average. Lauren Ford was second with 13 kills but led the team in hitting with .310. Sarah Morgan recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Iris Santos had a double-double as well with 39 assists and 23 digs. Freshman Dinelia Concepcion posted a career high 21 digs.

“It is good that we keep getting ourselves in these tight matches and give ourselves opportunities to win but we need to learn how to close them out. We need to get more comfortable with being in close, tight situations and know what it takes to finish,” said head coach Nancy Somera. “I am very pleased with our competitveness and our effort. We were more consistent and steady with our emotions out there. We were able to get out there and keep playing, keep focusing and that is a good thing.”

USC recorded 19 kills and hit .222 to take game one from Arkansas 30-25. After a 4-0 run by Arkansas late in the game, USC was up by two, 27-25 before the Gamecocks regained composure and went on a 3-0 run to clinch the win. A service error by the Lady `Backs gave the ball back to USC at 28-25, and block assists by Sarah Morgan and Nicole Miller had USC within one of the win. Game point came on a slam by Cole and the Gamecocks took the 1-0 lead in the match.

Arkansas evened the score in game two, but not without a dogfight by the Gamecocks. Tied 14-14, Arkansas went on an 8-1 run and led 15-22 before an out of bounds play by Amy Allison awarded the Gamecocks a point. After another Lady `Back error, Arkansas took a timeout and South Carolina seized the opportunity to scrap its way back into the game. A relentless Gamecock team went 5-0 to come within two, 22-24, and eventually tied the game 27-27 on a kill by Morgan. But the Garnet and Black’s run would end there as Arkansas took advantage of three straight USC errors to win the game 27-30.

Game three was close in the beginning, but the Gamecocks shifted into gear and established a lead and maintained it throughout. Up by as much as 12 at one point, Arkansas had a small surge at the end of the game after being down 26-17. Allison registered three consecutive kills to pull Arkansas within seven, but an attack error by the Lady `Backs provided game point for USC, 30-22. USC held the Razorbacks to .024 attack percentage with 13 kills and 12 errors. The Gamecocks connected on 12 kills with only two errors and hit .286. Once again, service errors were a problem as USC had six in game three alone.

Tied 23-23 in game four, the Gamecocks pushed out to a 28-25 lead after block assists by Iris Santos, Crystal Johnson and Cole. Just two points away, the Gamecocks were not able to contain Arkansas as a kill by Kele Brewer and block assists by Kristin Seaton and Karla Crose brought UA to within one, 28-27. USC went up by two again on a kill by Cole and put the Gamecocks within match point. Arkansas responded with a kill by Seaton, but back-to-back attack errors by Cole not only tied the game 29-29 but, put Arkansas in the lead 29-30. The Lady `Backs then posted a kill by Crose to award UA the come from behind win, 29-31, and tied the match 2-2.

USC fought back from being down 11-14 in game five and tied it 14-14 on a kill by Morgan. Arkansas went up one but Johnson came through with a kill down the middle to tie it 15-all. The game would be tied three more times as Arkansas would pull ahead and USC managed to find a way to keep the game alive. A service error awarded USC its 16th point and kills by Cole allowed the Garnet and Black to reach 18. Arkansas’ last four points came on kills by Seaton and Koleva, but match point was awarded after the Gamecocks’ Lauren Ford hit the ball out of bounds and UA won 18-20 and the match 3-2.

“We keep giving it our all. We gave good effort all weekend long and played hard in both matches. We will learn how to win those close matches,” said Somera.

The Gamecocks return home for their next match. USC will host Mississippi State and Ole Miss next weekend at the Volleyball Competition Facility.