Upstate Finishes Home Schedule this Weekend against FGCU, Stetson
11/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team closes out its home schedule, and a five-match homestand, this weekend as it welcomes the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and Stetson Hatters to the Hodge Center for a pair of A-Sun contests.
The Spartans host Florida Gulf Coast on Senior Night Friday at 6 p.m. before entertaining Stetson at 3 p.m. Saturday in its home finale. Following Friday night's contest versus Florida Gulf Coast, Upstate will honor its four seniors in Kayla Eversgerd, Javon Gates, Lexi Gober and Shannon Weiss.
The Spartans enter the weekend with a 14-12 overall record and 2-8 mark in the conference after splitting matches at home last weekend against Lipscomb and NJIT. Madison Haake recorded her 10th double-double of the season versus Lipscomb on 15 assists and 12 digs, while Callie Yeargin added a team-high eight kills. In the 3-0 win over NJIT, Emily Koelling posted a match-high 12 kills and hit .800 for the match. Koelling's .800 hitting percentage is the highest by a Spartan with a minimum of 15 attempts since Katie Hirst hit .733 against Augusta State on Oct. 31, 2003.
Upstate turned in its best offensive performance of the season last Saturday after compiling a .461 hitting percentage consisting of 41 kills and just six errors on 76 total attempts. The Spartans also held NJIT 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 Upstate has held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage when Stetson posted a -.009 mark.
The Spartans currently lead the A-Sun this season with 149 service aces and 1,739 digs, topping North Florida in both categories. Nationally, Upstate ranks first in digs per set and attacks per set. Haake sits fifth in the nation in triple-doubles, and is one of five players to rank in the top 10 for the A-Sun in their respective category including Koelling, Gober, Weiss and Eversgerd.
Florida Gulf Coast comes in with a 19-8 overall record and 8-2 mark in the conference, while Stetson is 10-14 on the season and 4-6 against league opponents. The Spartans trail 13-0 in the all-time series with FGCU and are tied 7-7 against Stetson.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. The matches will be televised on ESPN3. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate volleyball Twitter page (@UpstateVB).
The Spartans conclude their regular season next weekend at Jacksonville and North Florida.
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