Oct. 19, 2008
AUBURN - Freshman Kelly Fidero and senior Jessica Glover combined for 21 kills, but it was not enough as the Auburn volleyball team (5-16, 0-10 SEC) fell to South Carolina (15-4, 7-3 SEC) in four sets Sunday at the Student Activities Center.
The Gamecocks handed Auburn its most lopsided loss in the first set with the Tigers coming back in the second set for their most lopsided win. USC picked up wins in the third and fourth sets to leave with the 3-1 (25-11, 13-25, 25-18, 25-17) win.
"It is a process, we are not evaluating our team on wins and losses right now," said assistant coach Chris Campbell. "We are evaluating on steps they are taking along the way. The wins will come eventually, today was kind of a letdown after playing well against Florida, but there were some positive things.
"Kelly Fidero had a break-out match, she did a nice job for us. Jessica Glover was steady as always. Now that we are starting to find a few more pistons to fire to help Jess out on offense, we have to get more people comfortable."
Fidero led the Tigers with 11 kills in the match, her best offensive performance since tallying 13 kills on Sept. 13 against Oakland. Glover was right behind her with 10 kills, chipping in nine digs and three blocks along the way.
Defensively for Auburn, sophomore outside hitter Milena Bukinac led the team with 11 digs, followed by Glover, Liz Crouch and Sara Shanks with nine each. Freshman Jyoti Ruffin picked up three blocks in the match, tying Glover for most on the team.
In the first set, Auburn and USC stayed together until the 7-11 mark when Bridget Denson-Dorman served eight strait points, opening up an 18-7 lead. Megan Laughlin served out the final four points as South Carolina cruised to a 25-11 win.
In the second set, it was Auburn jumping out to the quick lead, forcing the Gamecocks to take timeouts at the 7-3 and 14-6 marks. The Tigers were able to capitalize on five Kelly Fidero kills and USC errors for the 25-13 win.
The teams stayed close early in the third set, but errors and back-to-back service aces opened up a 17-10 lead that turned into a 25-18 victory. The Gamecocks rode the momentum into the fourth and final set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Errors plagued the Tigers through the set as Auburn hit .079, handing South Carolina a 25-17 set and match victory.
Laughlin led South Carolina with 14 kills, hitting .393 in the match. Ivana Kujundzic posted 11 kills and a team-best 14 digs, leading a pack of four Gamecocks that finished with double-digit digs. Kujundzic and setter Denson-Dorman also led USC with three blocks each.
The Auburn volleyball team hits the road next weekend, traveling to Ole Miss and Arkansas. Action in the weekend series begins at 7 p.m., Friday against the Rebels in Oxford, Miss.