FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu

Box Score (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team (7-13, 2-6 A-Sun) dropped a 3-2 decision Friday night to Atlantic Sun  Conference foe North Florida (11-9, 3-5 A-Sun) by scores of 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21 and 16-14 inside the Hodge Center.

The Ospreys jumped ahead early taking the first set 25-23, but the Spartans fought back, claiming the second set 25-23. Both teams went into intermission with things knotted up at one set each.

Upstate kept the momentum on their side in the third set jumping to an early 5-1 lead. North Florida tied things up at 12-12, but the Spartans came charging back. Upstate took an 18-14 lead off of a service ace from freshman Jaina Jackson (Huntley, Ill.), causing the Ospreys to take a timeout and regroup.

The timeout did the trick for UNF as North Florida chipped away at the deficit and took a 24-22 advantage. An Upstate timeout helped the Spartans refocus as they evened things out at 24-24 thanks to a kill and a service ace from freshman Kayla Eversgerd (Breese, Ill.). Upstate went on to win the third set 26-24 off of back-to-back North Florida attack errors.

The momentum flipped to the Ospreys in the fourth set as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead. The Spartans tried to battle back to a 23-21 deficit, but could never seem to catch UNF. North Florida went on to take the fourth set 25-21.

Upstate and UNF kept things nail-bitingly close in the fifth set as the score was tied nine times. The team exchanged points throughout the first nine points, until the Ospreys strung together three-straight points to take a 12-9 advantage. The Spartans exchanged a few more points and things looked good for North Florida as the Ospreys took a 14-12 lead. However, Upstate rattled off two-straight kills courtesy of sophomore Kayla McAvoy (Boiling Springs, S.C.) and Eversgerd, knotting the fifth set up at 14-14. Back-to-back kills from UNF's Carolyn Jenkins gave the Ospreys the 15-14 set victory and match win.

The Spartans were led by the Kaylas once again as Eversgerd recorded 16 kills and McAvoy tallied 13. Defensively, McAvoy had three total blocks, including two solo rejections. Eversgerd completed the double-double, scooping up 11 digs, while freshman Lexi Gober (Edwardsville, Ill.) posted a double-double with a career-high 50 assists and 11 digs. Gober recorded a match-high three service aces and three kills.

Jackson added nine kills for the Upstate offense to go along with two service aces and three total blocks. Senior Emily Bingham (St. Petersburg, Fla.) registered eight kills, five digs and one block.

Defensively, the Spartans were anchored by senior Libero Emily Sanders (Sullivan, Ill.), gathering 20 digs. Freshman Shannon Weiss (Highland, Ill.) was second on the squad with a career-high 16 digs. She also added five kills. Upstate junior Morgan Page (Woodstock, Ga.) also got in on the digging action, collecting 15 digs, while senior Mindy Quimby (Keenesburg, Colo.) added five digs.

The Ospreys were led by five hitters with double-figure kills as Jenkins paced the team with a match-high 19 kills to go along with six assisted blocks. Anna Budinska and Marija Pantovic helped with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Paige Pridgeon and Dagnija Medina added double-doubles for UNF. Pridgeon had 11 kills and 13 digs, while Medina tallied 10 kills and 12 digs.

Britt Claessens quarterbacked the North Florida offense, handing out 58 assists. She completed the double-double with 14 digs. Nicole Baran posted a match-high of 23 digs for the Ospreys, while Cari Whitmire added 11 digs.  

The Spartans return to A-Sun action Saturday, hosting Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Follow Upstate volleyball this season on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.