Mississippi State
South Carolina
MSU Volleyball Falls At South Carolina, 3-0
November 23, 2008 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina (21-8, 12-7 SEC) hit at a red-hot .536 clip Sunday afternoon en route to a convincing straight-sets win (25-10, 25-14, 25-8) win over Mississippi State (6-24, 1-18 SEC) at USC's Volleyball Competition Center. The win gave the Gamecocks a sweep of this season's two-match MSU-USC series. Belita Salters and Ivana Kujundzic proved to be an unstoppable one-two punch for the Gamecocks, combining for 29 kills. Salters drove home 15 kills in 19 error-free attempts for a .789 attack percentage. The Bulldogs got a team-best nine-kill performance from junior Ioana Demian, who hit .296 for the match. Freshman Mandy Mellencamp was next with four kills. USC set the tone early, hitting at a .577 clip and did not have a hitting error in claiming the opening set. Kujundzic tallied seven kills as USC pulled away from a 4-4 deadlock to take a 25-10 win. The Gamecocks were only slightly less impressive in the second set, leading from start to finish and "cooling off" to a .500 hitting percentage in a 25-14 win that gave USC a 2-0 advantage at the break. Freshman Grace Hoyt served up an ace to open the third set and give the Bulldogs their first lead of the afternoon. It was a short-lived lead, as the Gamecocks went on an 11-0 spree and finished the match with 10 straight points in a lopsided 25-8 win. The 32 points scored on the afternoon by the Bulldogs was the lowest MSU point production in a match this for State, which is struggling to overcome a 16-match losing skid. USC led MSU 48-20 in kills, while the Gamecocks out-hit MSU .536 to .114. USC also held a 10-2 edge in service aces. Mississippi State closes out its current three-match road run and its 2008 volleyball schedule Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with a 7 p.m. match against Alabama (15-13, 8-11 SEC), which dropped a 3-0 decision Sunday at Florida.
? Official Statistics (PDF)
