Savannah, Ga. – Katie Downey finished with 11 kills and three blocks to lead the USC Upstate volleyball team to a dominating three-game sweep of Savannah State Thursday night , with the Spartans claiming wins by scores of 25-12, 25-17 and 25-14.

Upstate improved to 7-12 on the year and will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., tomorrow and Saturday to take on A-Sun foes North Florida and Jacksonville. Savannah State fell to 2-20.

Downey (Belleville, Ill.) was nearly flawless offensively. She collected 11 kills with just one error on 18 attempts for a stout .556 hitting percentage for the match. She also posted three assisted blocks and two digs. Her attacking effort helped pace Upstate to a .324 hitting percentage for the match. The Spartans limited Savannah State to just 20 kills and a .048 hitting percentage.

Downey was one of three Upstate players with double figure kill totals. Mindy Quimby (Keenesburg, (Colo.) collected a match-high 12 kills to go along with four digs. Morgan Thomas (Plantation, Fla.) tallied 10 kills. Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo.) and Morgan Page (Woodstock, Ga.) each totaled 10 digs on the night, while Emily Sanders (Sullivan, Ill.) led the Spartans with 25 assists.

Upstate scored four-straight points, three of which on Quimby's serve, to open a 6-1 lead early in set one. Leading by three, 7-4, Upstate put the set away with 10 straight points to open a commanding 17-4 lead. The Spartans scored nine points in the run on Page's serve. Savannah State would only get as close as 12 the rest of the way as Upstate cruised to the 25-12 win.

Upstate scored the first six points of the second set to grab a strong hold on the lead. After the Spartans opened a 12-4 lead, Savannah State fought back to get within three, 12-9. However, Upstate scored six of the next seven points to open an 18-10 lead and went on for the eight-point victory, 25-17. Downey had five kills on eight attempts with no errors to lead the Spartans in the set. Thomas collected six kills as well. The Spartans hit at a match-high .386 percentage in the frame.

A close third set was broken open with an Upstate run midway through the frame. Upstate opened a 13-10 lead, then scored eight of the next 11 points to take a 21-13 lead. In fact, Upstate scored 12 of the set's final 16 points to take the 25-14 win. Quimby tallied five kills to lead the Spartans in the set.

Four different players led Savannah State with four kills on the night. Kaneisha Hamilton led the Tigers with 12 digs.