Spartans Focus on Daunting Weekend Road Trip

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate volleyball team will travel over 860 miles this weekend when they take on Campbell and Hampton.

The Spartans first opponent of the weekend will be Campbell (8-8, 2-1 BSC) on Friday night. USC Upstate (5-10, 1-2 BSC) have faced each other seven times over the past decade, with Campbell holding 5-2 overall record against the Spartans. However, the two teams split the home-and-home series against one another, each team held serve on their home court.

The last time these two teams met the Spartans won a five set thriller over the Camels inside the G.B. Hodge Center. Gloria Ikenegbu led the team with 21 kills in the match, while Emily Russell contributed 14 kills in the contest. On the other side of the net Sarah Colla led all players with 28 kills on the night and recorded 10 digs to pick-up the double-double.

The last time the Spartans visited Buies Creek they lost to the Camels in four sets. The opening set could have gone either way as Campbell took the first stanza 28-26. Emily Russell and McKenna Kirkpatrick each 10 kills in the match to help the Spartans offensively. Mikenzie Young-Mullins recorded a career high 26 digs in the loss for USC Upstate. Colla once again recorded a double-double against the Spartans with 10 kills and 11 digs in the match.

Campbell is currently coming off a straight sets loss to High Point on Saturday afternoon. The Camels got pounded in the first set, losing 25-8 to the Panthers. The last two sets appeared to be evenly matched however but the Camels ran out of time before they could complete the comeback. This season Colla leads the team in kills (233) and points (269). Ananda Patterson has been a force in the middle for the Camels as she has collected 43 total blocks on the season. The Camels use a two setter system with Emily Mitter and Madee Miner. Both setters have recorded over 245 assists this season with Mitter edging Miner out with 4.50 assists per set.

Hampton (5-9, 3-0 BSC) are in the middle of a three game losing streak having lost to Campbell, High Point and Radford. In their last game the Pirates were swept by Radford 25-12, 25-23, and 25-22. Gabby Calloway and Alyah Barkley lead the Hampton attack with 158 and 102 kills respectively. Lena Reed-Petracek leads the team with 358 assists on the season and Jessica Pugh leads the team in digs with 186.

For the Spartans Emily Russell is currently fifth in the conference with 161 total kills. The junior middle blocker is averaging 3.16 kills per set. Freshman Annalisa Mendoza is nationally ranked in assists per set at 10.05 and currently has 402 total assists on the year. Mackenzie Marcum leads the team in digs with 183 on the season.

USC Upstate and Campbell will square-off at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night in Buies Creek, N.C. Live video links and stat links can be found at www.upstatespartans.com .

Follow USC Upstate volleyball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateVB), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).

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Players Mentioned

Gloria Ikenegbu

McKenna Kirkpatrick

Mackenzie Marcum

Annalisa Mendoza

Emily Russell

Mikenzie Young-Mullins

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