University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
East Tennessee State
Upstate Comes Just Short In Emotional Five-Setter With ETSU
11/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In front of one of the largest crowds at the Hodge Center this season, the USC Upstate volleyball team had four players finish with double-digit kills in the DI era and outhit their opponent, ETSU, by 43 points, but a 9-3 run to open the fifth set for the Buccaneers was enough to hold off the Spartans, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 33-31, 22-25, 15-9), in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Tuesday night.
Sophomore Sandra Campbell (Orlando, Fla./Pilot Point (Texas)) posted a career-high 22 kills to go with a .395 hitting percentage to lead the Spartan attack, which finished the match with a .246 (63-19-179) hitting percentage, besting the Bucs (10-19 overall, 6-13 A-Sun), who hit .202 (72-33-192). The Bucs made up for their attack errors, though, with stellar defense, digging up 90 balls, including 35 from freshman Jen Neice.
Campbell also became the first Spartan in the DI era and the 29th in school history to reach 500 career kills with her 16th of the night. The sophomore middle blocker has 16 double-digit kill efforts this season and bested her previous career-high of 19 kills, which she had done twice previously, by the start of the fifth set.
The Spartans (7-21 overall, 3-16 A-Sun) got double-doubles from both seniors Holly Mauldin (Columbia, S.C./Irmo), who posted a career-high 42 assists to go with 11 digs, and Jovana Lubura (Belgrade, Serbia/New Mexico Military Institute), who added 11 kills, 15 digs and two blocks. The double-doubles were the 10th of the year for Mauldin and the eighth for Lubura.
Upstate also got solid contributions from freshmen Morgan Thomas (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), who notched a career-high 12 kills to go with two assists, two aces, three digs and two blocks, and Kelsie Queen (Blythewood, S.C./Ridge View), who posted 10 kills and six digs. Sophomore Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) posted 13 digs to go with three aces and two kills and senior Jenna Leslie (Houston, Texas/Westfield) posted three kills and eight digs.
After a kill from Leslie started the set, the Bucs used two kills from Jamie Stancliff to build a 7-1 lead. The Spartans charged back, as kills from Lubura and Campbell brought the Spartans within four points at 12-8, but Stancliff was able to regain control for ETSU with a kill, as they went on for the 15-9 win.
The Spartans took a 12-10 lead in the fourth set but saw the lead get turned around as an ace from Mallory Kiley gave the Bucs a 17-14 lead. The Spartans fought back, tying the match at 19 when a Healey service ace gave the Spartans the lead for good. Three Buc attack errors and a kill from Thomas helped Upstate take a 24-20 lead. After two Buc points, libero Healey closed the set with a sinking back-row kill.
The Spartans fell behind 12-9 in the first set before fighting back to take a 20-16 lead after back-to-back Buccaneer attack errors. With a 21-17 advantage, though, Erin Ryan led the Bucs back into the set with three kills, her final one tying the set at 21 before a ball handling error gave the Bucs the lead. Upstate responded with a kill by Lubura to tie the set at 22 before the teams traded sideouts. A service ace from Healey propelled Upstate to the slim 25-23 margin.
In the second set, the Spartans hit a stellar .452 (15-1-31) but fell 25-20 to ETSU, who hit a hefty .378 (18-4-37) on their own. With the set tied at 11, the Bucs went on a 8-2 run to take control.
The third set became a battle of wills, as ETSU had six set points and Upstate had three before a kill from Stancliff gave the Bucs the 33-31 win. The Spartans fell behind 13-7 in the set before a kill from Campbell ignited the Spartans on a 8-3 run capped by another Campbell kill. The Bucs tried to hold off the Spartans but after taking a 20-17 lead, the Bucs fell victim to a service ace from freshman Jane Hawryliw (North Battleford, Saskatchewan/North Battleford) and a kill from Lubura which tied the match at 20.
After a sideout, a kill from Campbell and Thomas service ace gave Upstate a 23-21 lead. The Bucs answered back with back-to-back kills but a Campbell kill gave Upstate a 24-23 lead and the first shot to close out the set. From there, the Bucs had six chances and Upstate had three chances before Stancliff's kill ended the set.
Erin Ryan led the Bucs with 21 kills and Lauren Baufield added 13 kills and 13 digs. Whitney Cogburn added 11 kills and 14 digs and Stancliff posted 11 kills and three blocks. Amanda Youell notched 55 assists, 12 digs, three aces and three blocks and Dani Howe notched five aces and eight digs.
The Spartans wrap up their regular season by hosting A-Sun foe Campbell at the Hodge Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. The match will be preceded by a short ceremony honoring the team's five seniors, Tijana Knezevic (Indija, Serbia/New Mexico Military Institute), Leslie, Lubura, Mauldin and Angie Varnum (Salinas, Puerto Rico/New Mexico Military Institute).
