Box Score Match Highlights
Spartanburg, S.C. – Three Spartans recorded double-doubles Friday evening as USC Upstate dropped a 3-1 decision to Jacksonville on Senior Night at the Hodge Center.
Prior to the match, Upstate held its Senior Night festivities honoring libero Morgan Page and setter Amanda Carroll.
Jacksonville won the match by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-19.
Kayla Eversgerd led all Spartans with 17 kills and 18 digs for her team-leading 17th double-double of the season. Lexi Gober and Alexa Lagaly also added double-doubles against the Dolphins. Gober finished the night with 39 assists and 11 digs, and Lagaly tallied 12 kills and 11 digs. Shannon Weiss contributed 11 kills and Emily Koelling 10, while Page had 16 digs.
Upstate trailed by as many as four through the opening stages of the first set as Jacksonville led 9-5 on Taylor Nyquist's kill. The Spartans answered with a 4-1 run to cut their deficit to 10-9 following an attack error by Gabriela Roman. The Dolphins countered with a 5-2 run to lead 15-11 and would lead the rest of the way. Upstate was down two points twice during the middle stages, but Jacksonville stretched its lead to 22-16 after Koelling's attack error. The Dolphins would go on to win the first set 25-20.
The Spartans jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the second set and held the advantage until Jacksonville tied it at 11-11 on Alyssa Robertson's kill. The Dolphins took their first lead of the set at 12-11 and led by no more than four points the rest of the way. After falling behind by four late in the set, Upstate rallied to trim Jacksonville's lead to 21-20 on Carroll's service ace. The Dolphins held off the rally to win the set 25-22.
The Spartans responded by winning the third set 25-19. Upstate captured eight of the first 11 points of the set highlighted by Shannon Weiss' kill to make the score 8-3. Jacksonville fought back to make the score 8-7 on Eversgerd's attack error, but the Spartans extended their lead to 14-9 following Lagaly's kill. Sammie Strausbaugh's kill put the Dolphins back down by one at 16-15, but from there Upstate finished on a 9-4 run to take the set victory.
The two teams split the first 14 points of the fourth set as the score sat tied at 7-7 on Koelling's kill. The Spartans posted the next three points to take a 10-7 lead until Jacksonville compiled a 5-2 run to tie the frame at 12-12. After Upstate took the lead back on the next play, the Dolphins went on an 11-5 run to hold a 23-18 advantage. Jacksonville would win the set 25-19 and earn the match victory.
Strausbaugh had a double-double on a match-high 18 kills and 20 digs to lead the Dolphins offensively.
The Spartans will host North Florida on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. in their regular season finale.
Follow Upstate volleyball on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
