SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate volleyball dominated UNC Asheville in straight sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-12) on Friday night to secure back-to-back conference series sweeps. The Spartans have now won four straight matches, which is the most consecutive conference wins in Upstate's DI era, to improve to 5-7 on the season.

Upstate has also set a new DI era record for most consecutive sets won with 12.

"It was another solid win tonight, really from a defensive standpoint. I thought they did an excellent job at the net. We put up some solid blocks all across the front line. It was really something we wanted to hone in on tonight, and I think they did an excellent job with that. I'm very excited about the composure they had tonight coming off a win and not being satisfied with just that win, but being hungry to get another one," said head coach Ronda Shirley.

The Spartans came out of the gate with four straight points to open the match and quickly built up to a 10-2 lead after another 4-0 run that began with and was capped off by a kill from Briana Strobert. A service ace by Mackenzie Marcum pushed Upstate's lead to double digits, and later, three straight Spartan kills would extend that lead to 21-10. Upstate put down the last three points of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set two started out a little closer, but after being tied up at 8-8, the Spartans went off for a 7-0 run capped by their sixth block of the night to go up 17-9. Four straight points later put the Spartans up 23-15, and they were able to secure the frame with a pair of Bulldog errors.

The third frame once against started off pretty even, but once again, the Spartans took control of the set with a big run. This time, it was six straight points that gave Upstate the 17-10 advantage. The Spartans would only allow two more points for the Bulldogs the rest of the night as they completely dominated the back half of the third set to complete the sweep.

Notes

• Alexis Mareko led the Spartans at the net tonight with seven blocks. She also had a pair of service aces and four kills.
• Kelly Wiedemann was a kill short of a double-double as she tallied 11 digs and a team-high nine kills.
• Briana Strobert and Breeana Gamueda each posted seven kills and four blocks on the night, while Gamueda added 14 digs.
• Mackenzie Marcum and Bruna Avila each had another solid night with 18 digs and 28 assists, respectively.

UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans close out their home slate with a back-to-back series against Radford next week. Match one is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 25 with match two to follow on Friday, March 26 at 4 p.m.

Spartans Win Today, You Save Tomorrow!
Save 50% off online orders at Papa John's locations across the Upstate. Use the code USCUP50 when placing online orders the day after Upstate victories. Also tomorrow, visit The Beacon Drive-In located in Spartanburg and show the win graphic posted to the @UpstateSpartans Instagram account to claim a free sweet tea as part of the "Sweet Taste of Victory" promotion. No purchase necessary.

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