Box Score (.pdf)

N. Charleston, S.C. – Shannon Weiss recorded a match-high nine kills Friday afternoon as USC Upstate defeated North Carolina Central 3-0 in its opening match of the Wingate Invitational inside Buccaneer Fieldhouse.

Upstate evens its record to 4-4 on the season while the Eagles fall to 0-11 overall.

The Spartans captured the match by scores of 25-18, 27-25 and 25-21.

Upstate never trailed in the opening set as it took a 1-0 lead in the match. The Spartans did not hold a lead of more than two through the opening 10 points until an attack error by Kelsey Murphy gave Upstate a 7-4 lead. North Carolina Central rallied to tie the set at 7-7, but the Spartans would break the frame open after that. Upstate opened up a six-point lead, 16-10, following a 9-3 run capped off by a kill from Weiss. Another attack error by Murphy extended the lead to 20-12, and the Spartans held their largest lead of the set at 24-15. The Eagles recorded the next three points, but Weiss sealed the set win for Upstate with a kill.

North Carolina Central raced out to an early 6-2 lead in the second set behind three straight service aces by Denni Johnson. The Eagles maintained that lead until, ahead 13-9, the Spartans rallied with three consecutive points to trail by one, forcing North Carolina Central into a timeout.  Upstate would stay within three before tying the set 17-17, and would take the lead on the next play with a service ace from Lexi Gober. The teams traded the next few points before the Eagles reeled off three straight to lead 23-20. After calling a timeout, the Spartans scored the next three points to even the set 23-23. Upstate faced set point two plays later but used an attack error by Murray and a kill from Weiss to go in front 25-24. Murphy answered for North Carolina Central with a kill to make the score equal again at 25-25. A kill from Gober and a bad set by Paige Phillips completed the Spartan comeback, giving them the 27-25 win and 2-0 advantage in the match.

Upstate carried that momentum into the third set taking five of the first eight points to lead 5-3 after an NCCU service error. The Eagles followed with a 4-1 run to lead 7-6, but the Spartans answered with the next three points to lead 9-8 after a combination block from Gober and Kayla McAvoy. Upstate led the rest of the way extending its lead to as many as five twice with last coming at 17-12. North Carolina Central fought back to get to within one at 21-20 after the Spartans committed three straight attack errors, leading to a timeout. Upstate came out of the break scoring four of the last five points to win the set 25-21, and match 3-0. Emily Koelling registered the final point for the Spartans with her kill.

Seven of the eight players that appeared for Upstate had at least one kill on the afternoon led by Weiss. She just missed on a double-double after registering nine digs, while Kaleigh Kelley had a team-best 17. Kelley was one of three players that had 10 or more digs against NCCU along with a season-high 14 by Alexa Lagaly, while Dominique Arnold tied her career-best of 11. Gober dished out a match-high 28 assists.

Da'sha Brown led North Carolina Central with eight kills and Marilyn Sherbondy added 16 digs. Phillips had 17 assists in the defeat.

The Spartans return to action tomorrow with two matches against South Carolina State and host Charleston Southern. Upstate begins the day at 9 a.m. versus South Carolina State and then face Charleston Southern at 3 p.m.

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