Spartans Welcome Mercer for Dig Pink Tuesday Night
11/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team (11-16, 6-9 A-Sun) is set to host Atlantic Sun Conference foe Mercer (9-17, 5-11 A-Sun) Tuesday at 6 p.m. for Upstate's Dig Pink Night.
DIG PINK:
Every year, the Spartan volleyball team designates one match to raise awareness about breast cancer and to honor those impacted by the disease. Fans are encouraged to show their support for the event by wearing pink. The Spartans will be wearing pink jerseys, while the Mercer players will wear black jerseys trimmed in pink. The Upstate Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will have a bake sale with proceeds going to the Gibbs Cancer Center in Spartanburg, S.C. Hats with a pink U-Spartans logo will also be available for purchase at the event. There will also be other fundraising activities at Dig Pink to benefit the local cancer center.
THE COMPETITION:
Bear Bullets: Earlier this season, the Spartans picked-up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14) victory at Mercer Oct. 16. The Bears lead the all-time series against Upstate 6-2 with a 3-1 mark in Spartanburg. Mercer is on a four-match losing-streak and has lost six of its last seven contests.
Digging Divas: Tuesday's contest will be a battle of defenses as the teams are the top two in the A-Sun in digs per set. The Bears lead the A-Sun in all matches this season, averaging 17.67 digs per set, while the Spartans are second in overall play with 17.63 digs per set. However, Upstate paces the league in conference only matches, collecting 17.53 digs per set, while Mercer averages 16.94 digs per set in A-Sun competition. MU's Emily Rochefort tops the league in A-Sun play with 4.85 digs per set, but Upstate's Emily Sanders is a close second with 4.80 digs per set.
QUICK HITS:
• The Spartans recorded their 11th win this season Friday with a 3-0 victory over Stetson for the most wins in a season in three years for Upstate. The Spartans turned in an 11-23 record in 2008. The program went 8-22 in 2009, 10-18 in 2010 and 8-21 in 2011.
• Upstate paces the league in service aces in all matches and in A-Sun play, averaging 1.48 aces per set against all opponents and 1.51 aces per set in conference competition.
• The Spartans rank 21st in digs per set in the most recent NCAA National Ranking Summary and 43rd in aces per set.
• Freshman Lexi Gober leads the conference in A-Sun play in service aces with 0.40 per set, while senior Sanders ranks second in league play in digs per set with 4.80.
The contest between the Spartans and Bears will be streamed live on ASun.TV for free and will be available on live stats here. Follow Upstate volleyball this season on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
