SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In front of a raucous crowd at the G.B. Hodge Center on "Meet the Spartans" Night, USC Upstate volleyball rode the momentum of the crowd in capturing the program's D1 era record ninth conference victory as the Spartans downed first-place Campbell in four sets Friday night.
 
Winning the match behind set scores of 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, and 26-24, Upstate improved to 13-13 on the season and 9-4 in Big South play, securing a finish better than .500 in conference play for the first time in the Division I era. The victory also handed Campbell its first loss in four or fewer sets in Big South play while marking the first such loss for the Camels since Sept. 11.
 
Four Spartans finished the match with double-doubles—the first such occurrence this season—serving as a major catalyst for the victory. Senior outside hitters Kelly Wiedemann and Breeana Gamueda and setters, senior Allie Hamsher and sophomore Emma McElveen each recorded a double-double, doing so for the eighth, sixth, eighth, and second time, respectively, this season.
 
Wiedemann provided the spark offensively as she concluded the match with a career and match-high 17 kills. She was joined in double-figures by Gamueda who finished the match with 10 terminations while sophomore middle blocker Nikki Deslatte, senior middle blocker Alexis Mareko, and junior right-side hitter Briana Strobert added eight, seven, and seven kills, respectively.
 
Pacing the Spartan attack, Hamsher passed out a match-high 25 assists while McElveen chipped in 20 helpers as Upstate tallied 49 assists on 52 kills in the match.
 
Defensively, the Spartans' floor defense tallied 20.25 digs per set across the match's four-set duration, tallying 81 in the match. For the first time this season, five Spartans finished with 10 or more digs as all four who posted double-doubles and senior libero Mackenzie Marcum corralled double-digit dig totals.
 
Marcum led the group, collecting 20 digs in the match, reaching the 20-dig plateau for the fifth time this season. Behind Marcum, Wiedemann added 17 digs, Gamueda 14, McElveen 11, and Hamsher 10.
 
Pairing with the team's floor defense, Upstate's block was again stellar as the Spartans racked up 16.0 total blocks in the match. Friday's match marked the third time over the past four matches Upstate has collected 13.0 or more team blocks.
 
Mareko led the Spartans with nine total blocks while Strobert added eight blocks and Deslatte six as the trio teamed up for a combined 13.5 of the Spartans' 16.0 total blocks.
 
UP Next for the Spartans
Following the team's momentous victory Friday night, Upstate returns to the Hodge for the final time Saturday afternoon as the team hosts Hampton at 2 p.m. Saturday's match also marks the final home match for seven seniors, all of whom will be honored prior to the match.
 
JOIN UP
Make a difference in the lives of USC Upstate student-athletes!  Donate to the USC Upstate U Club today!

Keep UP with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics
Twitter | @UpstateVB @UpstateSpartans
Instagram | @UpstateVB @UpstateSpartans
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans