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Highland Heights, Ky. – Kayla Eversgerd became the sixth USC Upstate volleyball player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career as the Spartans closed their season out Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 (15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 10-25) defeat to the Northern Kentucky Norse from Regents Hall.
Upstate finishes its season with a 10-20 overall record and 1-13 mark in conference play, while Northern Kentucky improves to 18-10 on the season and 7-7 in the league.
Eversgerd is the first Spartan to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in the Division I era and first since Mandy Rupert, who played for Upstate from 2003-06. The junior joins a group that also consists of Upstate Hall of Famers Kristen Korte and Lindsay Richardson. She registered her 16th double-double of the season after leading the team with 18 kills and 15 digs. Eversgerd now has 1,006 kills and 1,009 digs through her three-year career.
Lexi Gober also recorded her 16th double-double of the year as she dished out 35 assists to go with 14 digs, while Rebecca Shearer (14) and Kaleigh Kelley (10) each had 10 or more digs on the afternoon.
Jenna Ruble led all players with 21 kills for the Norse and was joined in double-figures by Tristen Simpson with 12. Taylor Snyder handed out 52 assists while Mel Stewart posted a match-high 19 digs.
The teams traded the first six points of the first set as Eversgerd's first kill tied the score at 3-3. Northern Kentucky followed with a 7-2 run to lead 10-5 on an attack error by Dominique Arnold. After the Spartans cut it to 11-8, the Norse scored nine of the next ten points, including eight straight, to push their advantage to 19-9. Northern Kentucky recorded the final four points and won the set 25-15 on Snyder's service ace.
The second set began in similar fashion as the first with Upstate splitting the opening 22 points to sit tied at 11-11 on a kill by Kayla McAvoy. The Spartans began the set with a 5-2 lead as Emily Koelling tallied two kills. Neither team held a lead of more than two midway as it changed hands a total of three times before the Norse used a kill from Snyder and Lauren Hurley's service ace to take a 21-19 lead. Jayden Julian gave Northern Kentucky the 25-21 set win with her kill.
Eversgerd joined the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig plateau in the third set as Upstate responded late to win 25-23 and trim its deficit in the match to 2-1. The Spartans started the frame on an 8-4 run when McAvoy's block of a Keely Creamer attack gave Upstate the four-point cushion. The Norse rallied with a 12-4 run to take a 16-12 lead as the rally was capped off with a kill by Ruble. The Spartans fought back to within one, 21-20, on a ball-handling error by Creamer. Trailing 22-20 late in the set, Upstate held Northern Kentucky to just one point as Eversgerd compiled three kills, with the final one capturing the set by a score of 25-23.
The Norse led the entire fourth set as it held a 6-3 lead early off an attack error by McAvoy. A combination block by Simpson, Ruble and Drew Hendricks increased the NKU cushion to 11-5, forcing the Spartans into a timeout. After the break, Northern Kentucky broke the set open with an 8-2 run when Shearer's attack error put the Norse in front 19-7. NKU won the set, and match, several plays later with a kill by Julian. The Norse took the set 25-10 and match 3-1.
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