Upstate Closes Four-Match Home Stand against FGCU, Stetson
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team hosts the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and Stetson Hatters this weekend as it wraps up a four-match A-Sun home stand from the Hodge Center.
The Spartans open the weekend Friday night when they host Florida Gulf Coast at 6 p.m. and follow Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. versus Stetson.
Upstate currently sits at 9-10 overall and 0-3 in the A-Sun after falling to Lipscomb and Northern Kentucky at home last weekend. Kayla Eversgerd and Kayla McAvoy sit one and two on the team in kills as Eversgerd has a team-best 181 with McAvoy sitting at 180. The duo are two of five Spartans with triple-digit kills along with Shannon Weiss (163), Emily Koelling (115) and Alexa Lagaly (103). Lexi Gober has dished out a team-best 680 assists on the season while Kaleigh Kelley leads the team in digs with 277. Koelling is first on the team in blocks with 36 total (12 solo, 24 assisted).
The Eagles are under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Botsford. FGCU is 9-7 heading into the weekend and one of two teams 3-0 in conference play. Jessica Barnes leads the team in kills with 201 and Gigi Meyer tops the league with 713 assists. Whitney Masters has 262 digs on the season while Lauren Tutwiler adds 43 total blocks.
The Hatters are led by head coach Kristina Hernandez, who is in her first season with the indoor program. Stetson sits at 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the league, and is paced on offense by Madison Akins with 195 kills for an average of 3.25 per set. Kayla Weller tops the team with 634 assists with Alexa Drost recording 226 digs through 16 matches. Shelby Connors sits just one block ahead of Erika West for the team lead with 54.
USC Upstate trails in the all-time series to Florida Gulf Coast 10-0, but lead Stetson 7-4.
The Spartans begin a three-match road trip next weekend when they travel to Jacksonville and North Florida.
Fans will be able to follow this weekend's matches on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats, with both matches being televised on ESPN3. Live updates can also be found on the Upstate volleyball twitter page (@UpstateVB).
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