Tennessee Tech Box Score (.pdf)
North Carolina A&T Box Score (.pdf)
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team improved its winning streak to three matches Saturday after picking up victories over Tennessee Tech and North Carolina A&T during the final day of The Spartanburg Courtyard Classic from Benjamin Johnson Arena.
The Spartans move their record to 9-5 on the season as they wrap up their run of four straight road tournaments to open the season. Upstate travels to Presbyterian College Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. match against the Blue Hose.
USC Upstate started the day with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23) victory against Tennessee Tech and followed with another 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 29-27) triumph over North Carolina A&T.
Upstate vs. Tennessee Tech
Upstate scored four of the opening five points of the first set and led 4-1 on an attack error by Irem Sile. Tennessee Tech managed to tie the set 7-7 after Jordan Wachowiak's service ace, but the Spartans answered with six straight points, including three kills by Kayla McAvoy, to go ahead 13-7 forcing a Golden Eagle timeout. Tennessee Tech came out of the timeout to score four straight to trail 13-11 before Upstate followed with a 7-4 run to hold a 20-15 advantage on a kill from Shannon Weiss. The Spartans limited the Golden Eagles to two points the remainder of the set to win 25-17.
An attack error by Weiss put Tennessee Tech in front 6-3 early in the second set, but would respond with three consecutive points to lead 7-6. The teams traded the next few points until, tied 8-8, USC Upstate ran off a string of five points in a row to go in front 13-8. Upstate used a Golden Eagle attack error to later stretch its cushion to 17-12. Tennessee Tech then used three kills and an Upstate error to get to within one, 17-16, only to see the Spartans reel of three straight points to increase their lead to 20-16. Upstate was able to hold off several late rallies by the Golden Eagles, including the set-winning kill by Kayla Eversgerd to give the Spartans the 25-23 victory.
Tennessee Tech rallied from four points down in the third set to win 26-24, sending the match into a fourth frame. Upstate used kills from Weiss, Eversgerd and Alexa Lagaly to jump ahead 6-1 to begin the set, but the Golden Eagles slowly chipped away at the lead to trail 8-6 after a kill by Wachowiak. Koelling later extended the Spartans lead to 16-10, and maintained that later when an ace by Weiss made the score 19-13. Tennessee Tech outscored Upstate 9-3 late to tie the set 22-22, and would sit at set point on back-to-back attack errors. USC Upstate came out of a timeout to tie the score 24-24, but the Golden Eagles benefited from two errors to take the set.
The Spartans received two service aces from Dominique Arnold to lead 6-2 to start the fourth set. Tennessee Tech came back to lead 11-10 courtesy of a 9-4 run after a kill by Cody Dodd. Both teams exchanged the next few points before Upstate recorded four kills in a row from Lagaly, Eversgerd, McAvoy and Lexi Gober to lead 15-12. Koelling later pushed the Spartans lead to 20-14, but the Golden Eagles posted another late rally to even the set 21-21. Tennessee Tech then picked up the next two points with Sile making the score 23-21. Upstate finished by scoring the last four points, with the last coming on a block by McAvoy and Weiss, to win the set 25-23 and match 3-1.
Gober and Eversgerd each had double-doubles for the Spartans, while Kaleigh Kelly posted a team-high 21 digs. Gober finished with 42 assists and 16 digs, and Eversgerd tied for the team-lead at 13 kills and added 18 digs. McAvoy also tallied 13 kills and Arnold contributed 11 digs.
Upstate vs. North Carolina A&T
Upstate led early in the first set as a ball handling error by Liz Martino put it ahead 5-3. North Carolina A&T responded with six consecutive points to lead 9-5 on Te'Borah Hawkins' kill, and the Aggies would not trail the rest of the way. Gober's service ace tied the set 9-9, and stayed close until four points in a row by North Carolina A&T put it ahead 15-11. The Spartans stuck around midway through the middle stages of set one as Koelling made it 20-20 with a kill. After Upstate cut its margin down to 23-22, the Aggies scored the set's final two points to win by three.
The Spartans answered back in the second set with a 25-23 win and even the match up at 1-1. North Carolina A&T scored three of the first four points to lead 3-1 when Jasmine Lindor and Jeana Daniels teamed up for a block. Eversgerd would give Upstate a 6-5 lead on her kill, and did not lead by more than two until the Aggies made it 9-9. An attack error by Weiss gave North Carolina A&T the lead back at 11-10, but the Spartans received two kills from McAvoy to go in front 12-11. Both teams traded the lead midway before Upstate went up 17-14 on two Aggie errors and Weiss' kill. The Spartans later made it a four-point match, 21-17, on a kill by Eversgerd. Upstate saw that lead dwindle late as North Carolina A&T used two attack errors to make the score 22-22. The Spartans managed to hold on to the victory on Gober's kill.
After Gober picked up two service aces to start set three, the Aggies saw Brooke Stamnes record two kills as they took a 4-2 lead. Upstate was behind after that until two North Carolina A&T errors put it ahead 14-12. The Aggies took the lead back at 17-14 following three straight kills by Stamnes. The Spartans stayed within two after that before a McAvoy kill made it 20-20. Upstate was forced to call a timeout two plays later as North Carolina A&T scored two straight to lead 22-20. Following the timeout, the Spartans outscored the Aggies 5-1 to win the set, capped off by Eversgerd's kill, 25-23.
The fourth set proved to be a thriller as it required extra points to determine a winner. Upstate went on a 9-4 run to begin the set capped off by back-to-back service aces from Weiss. North Carolina A&T was able to trim the lead down to two, but the Spartans would extend it to 15-9 after a kill by Eversgerd. Upstate maintained that lead until an attack error by Eversgerd shortened the lead to 19-18. Javon Gates put the Spartans ahead by three, 22-19, with her kill, but the Aggies would go on a 5-2 run to sit a set point 24-22. Upstate would not be denied as it used two N.C. A&T errors to lead 25-24, and both squads would swap the next few points. With the score tied 27-27, the Spartans took the set on a ball handling and attack error to complete the late comeback.
Eversgerd and Gober recorded their second double-doubles against the Aggies. Eversgerd had a team-high 15 kills and 17 digs, while Gober posted 44 assists and 15 digs. McAvoy added 13 kills and Kelley led the team with 20 digs.
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