Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team turned in a season-best hitting performance on Wednesday evening as the Spartans opened their home schedule with a 3-0 sweep of the North Carolina A&T Aggies inside the G.B. Hodge Center.

USC Upstate picks up its first win of the season and improves to 1-6 overall while North Carolina A&T falls to 3-2 overall.

The Spartans won the match by scores of 25-20, 25-14, 25-17.

STATS OF THE MATCH

• USC Upstate compiled a season-best hitting percentage of .264 in the match capped off by a .545 mark in the third set.
• The Spartans limited the Aggies to a .039 hitting percentage including a -.059 clip in the second set.
• USC Upstate led 37-26 in kills, 35-23 in assists and 47-34 in digs.
• The Spartans also held a 7.0-5.0 advantage in total team blocks.
• Lily Dempsey led the Spartans offensively with nine kills to go with eight digs and hit .333 overall.
• Madison Haake just missed on a double-double with 32 assists and nine digs while hitting .667 on four kills.
• Payton Duncan contributed 11 digs and McKenna Kirkpatrick tied her career-high of five assisted blocks.
• Courteney Pitt had a team-high eight kills for North Carolina A&T.
• Edie Brewer dished out 18 assists and Andrea Laboy-Rivera collected 10 digs.
• The match featured 10 ties and no lead changes.
• The win marked the 348^th career victory for head coach Jennifer Calloway, moving her three away from becoming the program's all-time leader in wins.

SET-BY-SET BREAKDOWN

• Set One:  After the teams traded the opening eight points, USC Upstate recorded the next four and held an 8-4 lead on an Aggie attack error. The Spartans maintained their four-point lead at 14-10 off another attack error. North Carolina A&T came back to tie the score at 14-14 and later made it 17-17 on a USC Upstate attack error. Tied at 19-19 late in the frame, the Spartans finished on a 6-1 run, capped by back-to-back kills from Dempsey and Emily Russell, to win 25-20.
• Set Two:  The second set began in similar fashion as the first with a combination block by the Aggies tying the score at 7-7. Dempsey and Kirkpatrick would extend USC Upstate's lead out to 13-9 with their combination block, but North Carolina A&T cut the deficit to two a few plays later. Holding a 15-13 lead midway, the Spartans broke the set open limiting the Aggies to just one point the rest of the way. USC Upstate closed on a 10-1 run and secured the set 25-13 on Russell's service ace.
• Set Three:  The Spartans led by two points or less over the first 18 points of the third set, going ahead 10-8 on a North Carolina A&T service error. Duncan and Russell combined for a block to give USC Upstate a 14-11 lead. After the Aggies recorded the next point, the Spartans ran off a series of eight consecutive points and led 22-12 off an attack error. Dempsey's service ace won the set for USC Upstate at 25-17 and gave it the 3-0 match victory.

UP NEXT

• The Spartans head to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend, Sept. 7-8, to face Furman, North Florida and New Mexico at the UNF Invitational.

Follow USC Upstate volleyball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateVB), Instagram (@upstatespartans), YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics) and text/e-mail alerts (www.upstatespartans.com/list-signup).