HATTIESBURG, Miss. – USC Upstate volleyball closed out its opening weekend of play Saturday afternoon against Southern Miss at the Southern Miss Classic. The Spartans went down in straight sets by scores of 25-13, 26-24, 25-19. Upstate sits at 1-2 on the season so far while Southern Miss improves to 3-0.
Kayla Spangler made her collegiate debut in the match and had nine assists, a service ace, and four digs across two sets. Kelly Wiedemann once again led the Spartan attack with 11 kills alongside eight digs and three blocks. Mackenzie Marcum collected a match-high 14 digs and Allie Hamsher dished out a team-high 18 assists.
The Spartans quickly found themselves down in the opening set, but back-to-back kills from Watson and Julia Gladhill cut the early deficit down to 6-4. Upstate continued to try and chip away at the lead, as Watson put down a huge kill to make it 13-8 and the Spartans later took two straight on another Watson kill and a Southern Miss attack error. Southern Miss however would eventually close out the frame on an 8-1 run to take the first set.
Upstate took three straight points off a pair of kills and a block to take an early 3-1 lead in the second set, and recovered a 4-3 lead on a kill from Wiedemann. After that, Southern Miss responded with four straight points to take a 7-4 lead, but Upstate fought right back to cut its deficit to 9-8 on a kill from Gamueda, who swung for six kills in the set. Gamueda kept the Spartans within one or two points of Southern Miss down the stretch, and Spangler's ace later evened things up at 16-16. Then Southern Miss took three straight to force an Upstate timeout, and the Spartans came out of the timeout with back-to-back kills and three straight points to even things back up at 19. A couple huge defensive plays by Upstate saved a rally and led to Wiedemann's kill that tied the set up at 23-23, but after being tied at 24-all, Southern Miss laid down back-to-back kills for the win.
The third set opened up in back-and-forth fashion, and Southern Miss took a 7-5 lead but Watson and Brianna Strobert paired up for a block followed by a Southern Miss attack error to tie it up at 7-all. Mareko later shut down a 4-0 Southern Miss run with a kill from Hamsher to pull the Spartans within three at 12-9, but Southern Miss took three more straight to force a Spartan timeout. After getting down 17-12, the Spartans went point-for-point with Southern Miss until Upstate took two straight on a kill from Courtney Coffy and a block from Mareko and Wiedemann to cut its deficit to 21-17. Southern Miss led 24-17, but Upstate put down two straight kills to stay in it before Southern Miss clinched the match on an Upstate service error.
UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans continue on the road next weekend as they head to the Sunshine State to compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament. Upstate will face Florida A&M Friday, Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. before taking on Florida International Saturday, Sept. 4 at 2 p.m. followed by Florida Gulf Coast that night at 7 p.m.
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
