Pitt
vs. South Carolina
Volleyball Falls to South Carolina at FSU Invitational
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2005
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Pitt volleyball team dropped the first two games to South Carolina in the first match of the FSU Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., and couldn't recover, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Gamecocks.
Despite outhitting South Carolina (1-0) in the first game, the Panthers (2-2) were unable to earn the victory. The teams shared points and were tied at 8-8 but a kill by Marija Milosevic gave South Carolina a lead it would not relinquish and finished with a 30-26 win.
The Panthers were able to get within one point on six occasions but no closer. In the second game, Pitt scored the first point but that was the team's only lead before the Gamecocks cruised to a 30-17 victory.
A sloppy beginning to the third game had numerous service and attack errors on both sides until Pitt sophomore Diana Andreyko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) was able to put two balls away for a 9-4 Panther lead. A 6-1 run by the Gamecocks tied the third set at 10-10 and it stayed tight the rest of the way. The Panthers scored four of the final five points and won the third game on an ace by Andreyko.
The fourth and final game started out close but a 5-0 run by South Carolina to give the Gamecocks a 14-9 lead turned out to be all they needed and won the set, 30-25.
Senior Gini Ullery (Tracy, Calif./Tracy) led all players with 17 digs and added 15 kills for the double-double. Leading the way offensively for the Panthers was Andreyko, with 21 kills, a career-best four service aces, six digs and a block for a total of 25.5 points. South Carolina was led by Shonda Cole with 15 kills and Nicole Miller, who had seven kills, six digs and eight blocks.
Pitt will take on Mercer tonight in its second game at the FSU Invitational before wrapping things up against host Florida State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
NOTES: In her first action as a Panther, freshman setter Nicole Taurence (Trenton, Mich./Trenton) came off the bench to record 36 assists, two kills, two service aces, five digs and a team-best three blocks...freshman Monica Macellari (Granger, Ind./South Bend Clay) also saw her first action, recording four kills in seven attempts with one error for a .429 hitting percentage...the match was the Panthers' second against the Gamecocks and first since October 27, 1979 (a 2-0 Pitt win).
