BOONE, N.C. – In the opening match of the Appalachian Tournament, USC Upstate was able to pick off one set from the Crusaders, but ultimately fell to Valparaiso, 3-1 (12-25, 25-20, 11-25, 12-25) Friday night on the campus of Appalachian State University.

USC Upstate (1-3) was paced offensively by Mindy Quimby who found the floor on 11 kills. Teammate Morgan Thomas did her part on seven kills while Katie Downey found six of her own. Emily Sanders put up 30 assists and found 15 digs for the Spartans, picking up her fourth double-double of the season in the process, while Megan Healey and Morgan Page added another 13 and 11 digs, respectively.

Valparaiso (4-1) was led by Katie Britton and Tara Diebler who each put away 11 kills apiece. Also playing a big roll for the Crusaders was Jenny Pokorny who put up 43 helpers and registered 13 digs.

Valpo jumped out to an early lead in the first set with a pair of kills by Britton while an attack error by Upstate's Sanders and the ensuing block by Diebler would put the Crusaders up 3-0. Valpo took the lead and ran with it, up by as many as 12 points following a 20-7 offensive push before closing out the first set up 13, 25-12.

Attack errors did not help the Crusaders who started off the second set down to the Spartans, 1-3, after a trio of players, Katie Layman, Mary Dent and Amy Groesbeck, could not convert their opportunities into points. Upstate took advantage of the lead and found a 5-0 spurt off additional Valpo errors and kills by Downey, Quimby and Kelsie Queen.  While Valparaiso would fight to take the lead for the remainder of the second set, it was Upstate who would hold on to outlast the Crusaders in the second, 25-20.

With both teams tied at one set a piece, the third was anyone's for the taking. Valpo found an early 1-0 lead with a service ace by Taylor Root but the attack error by Britton that followed immediately put Upstate on level ground, 1-1. With a chance to take the lead in sight, the Crusaders denied Upstate the chance to tie it up again, picking up 24 of the final 34 points to lead the match 2-1, 25-11.

With the end in sight it was the Crusaders who led through the fourth set, up 9-3 following a pair of Spartan attack errors. Valpo would find three more points, as Layman and Sarah Dooms found the floor on a pair of kills and Ariel Cudney recorded an ace to lead by nine, 12-3. Upstate took a time out in order to regroup, and immediately hit the court to find three of the next five points off a Sanders kill and a pair of errors by the Crusaders. However, the Valparaiso lead proved to be too much of a hurdle and the Spartans fell in the fifth set and its first game of the Appalachian Invitational, 25-12.

Upstate will play in two contests Saturday at the Appalachian Invitational, set to face host Appalachian State (4-0) at 12:30 p.m. and Eastern Kentucky (1-2) at 4:30 p.m.