Fort Myers, Fla. – The USC Upstate volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Saturday evening in A-Sun play at Alico Arena.

FGCU won the match by scores of 25-23, 16-25, 25-19 and 25-22.

Kayla Eversgerd and Lexi Gober both tallied double-doubles in the loss to Florida Gulf Coast. Eversgerd finished the match with a team-high 18 kills and 11 digs, and Gober added 35 assists and 10 digs. Emily Koelling and Alexa Lagaly added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Morgan Page led the team defensively with 22 digs while Amanda Carroll had 15.

The Eagles opened the match by winning the first set 25-13. FGCU captured five of the set's first six points to lead 5-1 on Shelby Joslin's kill. Upstate fought back to tie the frame at 9-9 on Lagaly's kill. The Eagles answered with an 8-3 run to increase their lead to 17-12. The Spartans never gave up and posted a 10-5 run to tie the set 22-22 following Koelling's kill, and Lagaly then gave them a 23-22 lead on her kill. FGCU recorded the final three points to take the set victory.

Upstate came back in the second set to tie the match 1-1 after a 25-16 win. The teams traded the opening six points to sit tied at 3-3 on a kill by the Eagles' Kaitlin Holm. The Spartans responded with a 5-1 run to lead 8-4 following back-to-back kills by Eversgerd. Upstate stretched its lead to 15-9 after Lagaly's service ace and kept that momentum going the rest of the way. The Spartans led by as many as nine at 22-13 and cruised to the set victory on an attack error by FGCU.

Following intermission, the Eagles came out in the third set and won by a score of 25-19. FGCU jumped out to a 6-2 lead to open the set and held that advantage throughout the opening stages. The Eagles increased their lead to 16-10 on Eversgerd's attack error. Upstate attempted a late rally as it trimmed its deficit to 22-19 on a combination block by Eversgerd and Koelling. FGCU logged the final three points of the set to go on to the victory.

The two teams split the first eight points of the fourth set as the score was tied 4-4. The Eagles then scored six straight points to hold a 10-4 lead on Caroline Jordan's kill. The Spartans made it 11-9 after Eversgerd's kill, but FGCU answered with a 6-1 run to lead 17-10. Despite the seven-point deficit, Upstate cut the score to 20-18 on Eversgerd's kill. Shannon Weiss made it a one-point deficit, 22-21, after her kill. The Spartans kept their margin at one, 23-22, but the Eagles would take the set's final two points to win 25-22.

Olivia Mesner led all FGCU players with 18 kills and Gigi Meyer dished out 54 assists. Whitney Masters contributed 28 digs.

Upstate returns home for two matches next weekend beginning Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. against Northern Kentucky.

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