Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Emily Koelling and Kayla Eversgerd combined for 22 kills Saturday afternoon as the USC Upstate volleyball team picked up a 3-0 sweep of the NJIT Highlanders in conference play from the Hodge Center.

Upstate improves to 14-12 on the season and 2-8 in league play, while NJIT falls to 6-20 overall and 1-9 against conference opponents.

The Spartans turned in their best offensive performance of the season on Saturday as they compiled a .461 hitting percentage consisting of 41 kills and just six errors on 76 total attempts. Upstate also held the Highlanders to a negative hitting percentage as the Highlanders hit -.024 on 19 kills and 21 errors. It marks the first time since Nov. 2, 2012 that the Spartans have held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage when Stetson posted a -.009 mark.

Koelling hit .800 for the match after recording a match-high 12 kills with no errors on 15 attempts. Her .800 hitting percentage is the highest by a USC Upstate player with a minimum of 15 attempts since Katie Hirst hit .733 against Augusta State exactly 12 years ago on Oct. 31, 2003.

Eversgerd added 10 kills and nine digs to fall just short of her eighth double-double this year. Madison Haake also came up short of her second double-double of the weekend after finishing with 16 assists and nine digs. Lexi Gober led all players with 18 assists, and Haake and Eversgerd tied for the match-high in digs.

Danica Vukotic tallied a team-high five kills for NJIT while Alyssa Armada dished out 10 assists. Adriana Nieto added eight digs.

Upstate forced the Highlanders into 10 errors during the first set as it won by a score of 25-13. The Spartans began the set by scoring nine of the first 10 points to lead 9-1 on a bad set by Emily Krachenfels. NJIT was only able to get as close as seven when Vukotic made it 14-7 with her kill. Upstate scored five of the final seven points to win by 12 as Eversgerd captured the set for the Spartans with her kill.

Upstate hit an even .500 in the second set after compiling 14 kills with just two errors while the Highlanders had six kills and seven errors for a -.048 mark. The Spartans scored nine of the initial 11 points to hold a 9-2 lead early on Eversgerd's kill. Upstate opened the set on a 7-0 run as Koelling, Gober, Haake and Alexa Lagaly all recorded kills. The Spartans led by double-digits for a majority of the set after taking a 14-4 lead midway on Anneka Harris' attack error. Koelling's kill gave Upstate the 25-10 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Spartans tallied 19 of their 41 kills during the third set as they cruised to a 25-11 win. Upstate fell behind early as NJIT led 4-1 on an attack error by Eversgerd. The Spartans responded with a 13-2 run to go in front 14-6 capped by two straight Highlander errors. After NJIT scored twice to cut its deficit to 16-9, Upstate allowed just two more points after that as Koelling picked up three kills over the final 11 points. Haake collected the final two kills for the Spartans to give them the 14-point victory and 3-0 triumph in the match.

Upstate closes out its home schedule next weekend against Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson.

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