Upstate Volleyball Set for A-Sun Home-Opener and Spike-Out Cancer Match
10/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team (4-11, 0-3 A-Sun) is set to host two Atlantic Sun Conference foes this weekend, taking on North Florida (8-10, 2-2 A-Sun) Friday at 7 p.m. for the Spartans conference home-opener and Jacksonville (9-10, 2-2 A-Sun) Saturday at 3 p.m. for the Spike-Out Cancer event.
North Florida leads the Spartans in the overall series 26-4 and holds a 10-3 advantage when playing at the Hodge Center. In the teams' last meeting Oct. 15, 2010, Upstate dropped a 3-1 decision at UNF. The Ospreys are fresh off of a 3-0 loss at Georgia Southern on Tuesday. They are led by Paige Pridgeon with 225 kills this season and Casey Giovanazzi with 526 assists. On the defensive side, Carolyne Jenkins has a team-best 61 blocks, while Nicole Baran has 289 digs.
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Spartans' Spike-Out Cancer event is set for Upstate's match against Jacksonville Saturday. Upstate has partnered with the Gibbs Cancer Center at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center as the recipient of all of the athletic department's cancer awareness fundraising efforts. The Spartans encourage fans to paint the Hodge Center pink by dressing in pink to show support for the breast cancer awareness initiatives.
Jacksonville leads the all-time series against Upstate 6-0, including a 3-0 mark in Spartanburg. Last time out, the Spartans fell to the Dolphins 3-1 Oct. 16, 2010 at JU. The Dolphins are coming off of a 3-1 loss to Kennesaw State Oct. 1. Jacksonville is led by Alliya Drzewiecki with 168 kills and Kendall Courtney with 777 assists. Alison Loeppky leads the Dolphin defensive with 56 blocks, while Ashley August tallies 295 digs this season.
Prior to Upstate's 3 p.m. match against the Dolphins, there will be a Spike-Out Cancer tailgate in the Hodge Center parking lot beginning at 1 p.m. Tailgate festivities will include a bake sale hosted by Zeta Tau Alpha and a cornhole tournament. ZTA sisters will also be on hand to distribute pink ribbons to those in attendance.
Inside the Hodge Center, volleyball t-shirts with the pink Spartan logo will be on sale for $8. Donation buckets will be available at the entrances and passed throughout the stands during the match. A Gibbs Center guest speaker will address the crowd in between the second and third sets. Proceeds from the t-shirt and bake sales along with all donations will benefit the Gibbs Cancer Center. Fans are encouraged to pick up a bright pink drink koozie when leaving a donation.
Seniors Morgan Thomas and Kelsie Queen lead the Spartans with 144 and 104 kills, respectively. Junior Emily Sanders has dished out 356 assists, averaging 6.98 per set. Defensively, sophomore Morgan Page has a team-best with 212 digs, followed by Sanders with 160. Thomas leads the defensive charge at the net with 35 total blocks on the season, while freshman Kayla McAvoy tallies 31.
After registering 18 assists against Belmont Oct. 1, Sanders ranks seventh in Upstate history with 1,954 career assists, passing Monica Henderson's (1988-89) mark of 1,947. The junior is 91 assists away from Holly Mauldin's (2005-08) sixth-place notch of 2,045.
Thomas is also tracking down a school record this weekend. After recording five block assists last week, the senior remains sixth in Spartan history with 221 block assists. Thomas is just one shy of Maggie Smith's (1985-86) fifth ranking career record of 222 assisted rejections. Thomas sits just outside of the school record books with 284 total career denials. She is 18 blocks away from tying Trina Beaty's (1990-91) 10th-best mark of 302.
Both matches this weekend will be streamed live on ASun.TV and live statistics links will be available here. Follow the Spartans this season on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
