Nov. 8, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Senior Holly Mauldin (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) became the first player in the USC Upstate volleyball team's Division I era to reach 1,000 assists, but a hot-hitting Belmont team used a .348 hitting percentage to defeat Upstate, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19), in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Hodge Center on Saturday afternoon.

Mauldin, who has posted 1,004 assists at the Division I level and is currently sixth in school history with 1,840 career assists, notched 18 assists and eight digs to lead the Spartans. She is the first player since Upstate (7-20 overall, 3-15 A-Sun) moved to Division I in 2007 to reach the 1,000-assist mark and also has a Division-I-era best 16 career double-doubles.

Senior Jovana Lubura (Belgrade, Serbia/New Mexico Military Institute) led the Spartan attack with 11 kills and a hefty .476 hitting percentage. Sophomore Sandra Campbell (Orlando, Fla./Pilot Point (Texas)) added six kills and freshman Morgan Thomas (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) added five kills. Sophomore Morgan Bucciferro (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community) added seven assists and four digs.

The Spartans took a 13-11 lead in the first set after a kill from Campbell forced a Belmont timeout. After the timeout, the teams battled to a 16-16 tie before back-to-back kills by Jenny Gray helped spur the Bruins (21-7 overall, 14-4 A-Sun) on a 9-1 run to close the set.

With the score tied at 11 in the second set, the Bruins used a Channin Salava service ace to go on a 14-4 run to close out the set. In the third set, the Spartans took a 3-0 lead thanks to a kill from senior Tijana Knezevic (Indija, Serbia/New Mexico Military Institute) and back-to-back Bruin attack errors. The Bruins fought back to tie the set at eight before kills from Salava and Mundy were followed by three straight aces by Gray. The aces gave Belmont a 12-8 lead and the lead never shrunk lower than three points as the Bruins closed out the 25-19 win.

Mundy posted 12 kills and nine digs to lead the Bruins while Maggie Johnson added 10 kills, five digs and three aces. Gray posted nine kills, three aces, seven digs and two blocks. Salava posted four kills, 35 assists and five digs and Kayla Albritton posted three aces and five digs.

The Spartans get back in action on Tuesday when they host A-Sun foe ETSU at 7 p.m. in a Veterans Day matchup at the Hodge Center. Upstate bested the Lady Bucs, 3-2, in their first meeting of the year in Johnson City, Tenn., on Sept. 9.