Spartans Edge PC in Five-Set Thriller
10/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Highlights
Spartanburg, S.C. – Four Spartans finished with double-doubles Tuesday evening as the USC Upstate volleyball team defeated the Presbyterian College Blue Hose 3-2 in its non-conference finale at the G.B. Hodge Center.
The Spartans have now won their last three home matches after defeating Mercer and Kennesaw State in three sets.
Upstate won the match by scores of 25-16, 14-25, 26-24, 22-25 and 15-12.
Kayla Eversgerd, Lexi Gober, Amanda Carroll and Alexa Lagaly recorded double-doubles for Upstate as four players tallied double-figure kills, and five had 10 or more digs. Eversgerd led all Spartans with 17 kills and 15 digs. Gober contributed 40 assists and 15 digs, and Carroll had 14 assists and 14 digs. Lagaly added 14 kills and 16 digs to the effort. Shannon Weiss and Emily Koelling posted 12 and 15 kills, respectively. Morgan Page, the reigning A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week, finished with a team-high 31 digs.
Upstate opened the match by taking the first set 25-16. The Spartans began the set on a 6-3 run and stretched their lead to 10-4 after a kill by Eversgerd. The Blue Hose trimmed their deficit to 11-8, but that would be as close as they got the rest of the set. Upstate posted a 10-6 run to increase its lead to 21-14. PC was held to two more points the remainder of the set as the Spartans captured the frame following back-to-back attack errors by the Blue Hose.
PC answered back in the second set to tie the match at one each following a 25-14 win. Upstate captured four of the first five points to start the set, but the Blue Hose took the lead for good after a 9-2 run gave them a 10-6 lead. PC took its largest lead of the set at 23-14 following an attack error by Weiss, and then picked up the final two points after that.
The third set had to go to extra points as it featured 13 ties and five lead changes. The two teams split the opening 12 points as the score sat at 6-6 after Koelling's kill. After a brief lead by the Blue Hose, the Spartans tied the set at 10-10. PC would go on a 6-2 run to lead 16-12, but Upstate answered with a 6-0 run of its own to go ahead 18-16. The Blue Hose tied the set again at 18-18 on Koelling's attack error. The Spartans responded with four straight points to lead 22-18 after Halle Tripp's attack error following a PC timeout. Trailing 24-22 late in the set, the Blue Hose made it 24-24 on Eversgerd's attack error. Upstate, however, ended the set with back-to-back kills from Eversgerd and Gober to pick up the 26-24 victory.
Despite a late Spartan rally in the fourth set, PC forced a fifth, and deciding, frame after a 25-22 win. The set played out in similar fashion as the third with nine more ties and six lead changes. Both teams exchanged the first 14 points to sit at a 7-7 tie following a kill by Lagaly. The Spartans took a 12-11 lead on Eversgerd's kill, but the Blue Hose tied the score on the next play. PC regained the lead at 19-16 and held on the rest of the set. Rachel Hall gave the Blue Hose the set win on her kill.
The Blue Hose carried that momentum into the opening points of the fifth set. PC took a 5-2 lead and held on to the three-point advantage until Upstate took an 8-7 lead after Gober's second straight service ace. The Spartans led by no more than two points during the middle part of the set. Lena Gavin's kill cut the Blue Hose's deficit to 13-12, but Upstate ended with kills from Lagaly and Gober to win the set, and match, 15-12.
Andrea Barman had a match-high 22 kills for PC while Ashtin Frank had a double-double of 48 assists and 17 digs.
The Spartans hit the road for the final time this weekend as they travel to Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. Upstate begins the weekend Friday night at 6 p.m. against Stetson.
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