Upstate Concludes Non-Conference Play at Winthrop
9/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team makes the short trip to Rock Hill Tuesday evening to face the Winthrop Eagles in its non-conference finale at 7 p.m. from the Winthrop Coliseum.
The Spartans head into the match 9-7 on the season after opening A-Sun play last Saturday with a 3-2 loss to Kennesaw State in Spartanburg. Upstate received double-doubles from Kayla Eversgerd and Lexi Gober, while Shannon Weiss and Kayla McAvoy had 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Eversgerd led the Spartans with 16 kills and 14 digs, and Gober had 50 assists and 14 digs.
Eversgerd and McAvoy continue to pace the Upstate offensive attack as Eversgerd has a team-high 163 kills and McAvoy is just behind her with 160. Weiss is also in triple-digit kills at 149. Gober is first on the team with 613 assists and Kaleigh Kelley has contributed a team-best 249 digs for the Spartans. Emily Koelling leads Upstate with 30 total blocks.
The Spartans continue to lead the A-Sun in kills, assists and digs, and are second in service aces. Individually, Gober tops the conference in assists and service aces, and Kelley in digs. Gober is also second in service aces per set, sixth in assists per set and seventh in digs. Weiss is third in service aces while McAvoy ranks ninth in kills. Eversgerd sits fifth in kills, sixth in kills per set and ninth in digs.
Winthrop has won its last seven matches and enters the week with an 11-6 overall record. The Eagles are under the direction of second-year head coach Bruce Atkinson, who is 28-19 during his time with the program. Alina Sopizhuk leads the Eagles with 194 kills on the season while Jessie Vicic has dished out 535 assists. Maria Volstad has a team-best 238 digs and Rachel Lenz has contributed 84 total blocks.
Upstate will be meeting Winthrop for the first time in nearly 30 years Tuesday night. The two teams last met on Oct. 26, 1985 in Rock Hill, with the Eagles picking up a 3-0 (7-15, 15-17, 14-16) victory. The Spartans last defeated Winthrop on Nov. 3, 1984 in Florence, S.C. by a score of 2-0 (15-2, 15-9).
Fans can follow the action via live stats by clicking here. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate volleyball twitter page (@UpstateVB).
The Spartans return to the Hodge Center this weekend as they host Lipscomb at 6 p.m. Friday and Northern Kentucky Saturday at 3 p.m. in A-Sun action.
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