Sept. 25, 2009

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Once again, the USC Upstate volleyball team found itself in a back-and-forth battle in Atlantic Sun Conference action. This time, it was Campbell nefariously sneaking away with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23) win at the Hodge Center, as the Camels won two sets that were tied at 23 by scoring the next two points.

Upstate (3-12 overall, 0-7 A-Sun) used a balanced attack that put three players in double-figures in kills, with freshman Paige Weiland (Atlanta, Ga./Marist School) posting her second career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Junior Erin Jacobsen (Virginia, Minn./Iowa Lakes C.C.) notched a match-high 13 kills, adding four digs and three blocks and sophomore Morgan Thomas (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) added 10 kills. Freshman Emily Sanders (Sullivan, Ill./Sullivan) notched her fifth double-double with 28 assists and 14 digs and junior Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) added a match-high 16 digs.

The Spartans and Camels (9-5 overall, 4-1 A-Sun) posted rather similar stat lines, with both teams notching 54 kills and 50 assists. Upstate even held a 68-65 advantage in digs, but the Campbell front row posted 11 blocks to Upstate's four and the Camels also had three more aces in the match.

Upstate rolled out to an 11-7 lead in the fourth set after a Camels' attack error, but the Camels fought back with a 7-3 run to tie the match at 14. From there, the teams battled evenly until a kill by Weiland and a Campbell attack error gave Upstate a 20-18 lead. The Camels fought back to tie it at 21 before kills by freshman Megan Quimby (Keenesburg, Colo./Weld Central) and junior Katie Downey (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) put Upstate up 23-21. However, Campbell stormed back with four straight points, as Caroline Hammersley tied the set with a kill before assisting on a block to make it 24-23 before Allyson Goldbach notched the match-clinching kill.

The Camels hit a hot .340 in the third set, rolling out to a six point lead at 23-17 before Upstate could start to chip away. A Downey kill was followed by a block by Weiland and Jacobsen and the strong serve of Quimby reeled off five more points with a service ace tying the set at 23. Hammersley posted two straight kills, though, to close the set with Campbell taking the 25-23 win.

The Spartans got the best of the Camels in the first set as the two teams battled to a tie at 11 before Campbell scored the next two points. Upstate fought back with three straight points and after the match was tied at 14, Upstate went on a 6-2 run to take a 20-16 lead, as kills by Sanders and Weiland keyed the run. Upstate's lead grew to five after a Weiland kill made it 22-17 before three straight Camels points cut the lead to two points. However, Upstate allowed just one more Camels point and two kills from Jacobsen helped Upstate take the set, 25-21.

Campbell took a 12-5 lead in the second set and never looked back en route to the 25-13 win, taking advantage of three points off blocks in the set.

Goldbach finished with 11 kills, 10 digs and two aces and Emily Werner added 12 kills and 12 digs to lead the Camels. Hammersley finished with 11 kills, nine digs and four blocks and Caitlin Bendy added six kills and six blocks. Lauren Garza posted 15 digs and Paige Tortorello added a match-high 29 assists.

The Spartans will get back on the court on Tuesday as they host crosstown rival Wofford in a 7 p.m. non-conference match at the Hodge Center. The match is also Upstate's Dig Pink event, with donations going to the Side-Out Foundation, a volleyball consortium dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.