Nov. 21, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate volleyball team hit a season-high .427 in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-14) sweep of Winston-Salem State on Friday afternoon before falling to Central Arkansas, 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-23), in the nightcap at the Hodge Center, earning the Mr. Gatti's Provisional Invitational Pool B No. 2 seed. The Spartans will face North Carolina Central, Pool A's No. 1 seed, at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Hodge Center in the first of two quarterfinal matches as the tournament moves into elimination play.

Both Presbyterian and Central Arkansas won their respective pools and byes to the semifinals of the tournament. North Florida will face Winston-Salem State in the other quarterfinal match at 11 a.m. The winner of Upstate's match with N.C. Central will face Presbyterian at 1 p.m. in the first semifinal and Central Arkansas will face the winner of the North Florida-Winston-Salem State game at 3 p.m. A third-place game at 5 p.m. will be followed by the championship at 7 p.m.

Upstate (9-21) used a 10-2 run midway through the first set to take control of the match en route to its sweep of Winston-Salem State. The Spartans were led by 15 kills and nine digs from senior Jovana Lubura (Belgrade, Sebia/New Mexico Military Institute) in the match, as freshman Morgan Thomas (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) added nine digs and two blocks. Senior Holly Mauldin (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) posted 19 assists and five aces and junior Morgan Bucciferro (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community) added 17 assists and two aces. Sophomore Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) added eight digs.

Down 6-4 in the first set, the Spartans used a kill from freshman Kelsie Queen (Blythewood, S.C./Irmo) to ignite a 10-2 run that gave them a commanding 14-8 lead. Thomas posted two aces and sophomore Sandra Campbell (Orlando, Fla./Pilot Point (Texas)) had two kills during the run. Bucciferro ended the set with two aces, giving the Spartans a 25-13 win.

The Spartans battled out to a 12-10 lead in the second set before a kill from senior Angie Varnum (Salinas, Puerto Rico/New Mexico Military Institute) started a 10-0 run that left the Rams (4-27 overall) in a 23-10 hole. Mauldin served for two aces and added a kill in the run.

Up 6-4 in the third set, a kill from Thomas ignited the Spartans on a string of eight straight points off the serve of junior Karla Andree (Cypress, Calif./Cypress C.C.), helping lead the Spartans to the 25-14 third-set win. Lubura had six kills in the final set.

Ashley Harris had six kills and five digs for the Rams and Valentina Pushkina added 15 assists and four digs. Jasmine Frazier posted two blocks.

Chloe Smith, a 6-3 hitter, posted 16 kills and hit .406 to pace the Sugar Bears (22-7 overall) past the Spartans in the second match of pool play, with the Bears narrowly defeating the Spartans in all three sets.

The Spartans featured a balanced hitting attack with Lubura, Thomas, Campbell and Queen each posting eight kills in the match. Mauldin added 20 assists and nine digs and Bucciferro had 14 assists and three digs. Healey led the defense with 14 digs and freshman Jane Hawryliw (North Battleford, Saskatchewan/North Battleford) added seven digs and three kills. Senior Jenna Leslie (Houston, Texas/Westfield) led the team with five blocks and Thomas added four. Campbell had three blocks.

Jessica Hays notched nine kills and eight digs and Amicha Williams had eight kills and eight digs. Robyn Smith notched 44 assists and 10 digs and Kelly Bence had 15 digs for the Sugar Bears.

The Sugar Bears took an early 4-1 lead in the first set and fought the Spartans off until a Leslie kill tied the set at 18. From there, the teams traded sideouts until they each had 20 when kills from Natalie Lundquist and Jessica Hays helped Central Arkansas finish the set on a 5-0 run.

Upstate took an 12-6 lead in the second set thanks to two kills from Lubura and a block and a kill from Campbell, but the Bears fought back, igniting on a 11-1 run to take an 18-14 lead. The Spartans fought back to tie the set at 22 and 23, the second tie coming on a kill from senior Tijana Knezevic (Indija, Serbia/New Mexico Military Institute). However, a Spartan service error and a Chloe Smith kill ended the set.

Upstate had a 13-9 lead in the third set before the Sugar Bears fought back to take a 17-16 lead thanks to two straight kills from Chloe Smith. With the set tied at 19, the Spartans scored three straight points to take a 22-19 lead, but the Bears answered back by closing the set on a 6-1 run thanks to two kills from Ashley Plyant in the run.

If the Spartans win their first round match with N.C. Central on Saturday morning, it will be the 300th win for the club at the historic Hodge Center.