GREENSBORO, N.C. – Gloria Ikenegbu was one of four Spartans with double-figure kills on Tuesday evening as the USC Upstate volleyball team recorded a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 27-25) non-conference victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies at Moore Gymnasium.

USC Upstate improves to 2-8 on the season while North Carolina A&T falls to 2-9 overall.

The Aggies recorded the opening five points of the first set as part of a 12-4 run to start the match. North Carolina A&T kept its lead at 18-11 midway following a kill by Edie Brewer. The Spartans stormed back courtesy of a 10-3 run, highlighted by five straight points, to tie the score at 21-21 on McKenna Kirkpatrick's kill. USC Upstate added three consecutive points after that to go ahead 24-21 on a combination block from Kirkpatrick and Ikenegbu. Ikenegbu completed the comeback as her kill gave USC Upstate the 25-22 victory.

For the second straight set, the Aggies picked up the first five points of set two and later went ahead 13-7 on Brewer's service ace. The Spartans responded, trailing 15-10, with an 8-2 run and led 18-17 after Ikenegbu's kill. North Carolina A&T then evened the score at 20-20 on Brewer's kill. USC Upstate outscored the Aggies 5-1 the rest of the way, including each of the last four points, to win 25-21 as Mackenzie Marcum captured the set with her service ace.

The teams traded the first 20 points of the third set as the Spartans tied the score at 10-10 following a North Carolina A&T bad set. The Aggies led by three points for most of the set midway before going in front 21-16 on a kill by Brewer. USC Upstate got as close as one point, 23-22, as Mackenzie Lauer's kill capped a 6-2 run. Following a timeout, North Carolina A&T scored the next two points for the 25-22 win.

The first 20 points of the fourth set featured eight ties with the last coming at 10-10 on a kill by Ikenegbu. The Aggies followed with a 7-2 run after that to lead 17-12 on a Spartan attack error. Trailing 23-17 late, USC Upstate rallied off six consecutive points to even the score at 23-23 off a North Carolina A&T attack error. The teams traded the next four points as the Aggies made it 25-25 after a kill from Courteney Pitt. The Spartans then got a service error and combination block from Annalisa Mendoza and Emily Russell to secure the match victory. USC Upstate won the set 27-25 to capture the match by a score of 3-1.

Stats of the Match

·         The Spartans compiled a season-high .310 hitting percentage in the match committing just 17 attack errors in 129 attempts.

·         For the fourth time this season, USC Upstate recorded double-digit blocks finishing with 10.0.

·         Ikenegbu was one of four players to collect 10 or more kills after finishing with a team-high 13.

·         Kirkpatrick had 12 kills while Lauer and Mikenzie Young-Mullins posted 11 each.

·         Mendoza tallied her second double-double of the season after compiling 42 assists and 13 digs.

·         Marcum led all players with a match-high 17 digs.

·         Pitt had a match-high 20 kills to lead the Aggies offensively.

·         Brewer compiled a double-double of 19 kills and 27 assists.

·         Addy Warfield had 24 assists.

·         Andrea Laboy-Rivera contributed 15 digs.

Up Next

·         The Spartans return home on Friday evening to host Alabama A&M at 6 p.m.

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