FORT MYERS, Fla. – USC Upstate volleyball dropped a pair of matches on Saturday to close out the Florida Gulf Coast Classic. The Spartans (1-5) fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20) to Florida International (2-3) before losing 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-15) to host Florida Gulf Coast (6-0).
Match One: USC Upstate 0, Florida International 3
The first set opened up in back-and-forth fashion until FIU went on a 3-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. Upstate responded with a 3-0 run of its own to even things up at 8-8, and then the Spartans took a 10-9 lead on kills from Briana Strobert and Alexis Mareko. After FIU built up to an 18-14 lead, the Spartans called a timeout, and came out of it with a kill from Kelly Wiedemann. The Spartans and Panthers traded 3-0 runs late in the set, and despite fighting back from a 24-18 deficit to make it 24-21, Upstate wasn't able to complete the comeback as they dropped the opening frame 25-21.
The Panthers used a 6-0 run to race out to a 9-3 lead in the second set, but Upstate responded with four straight points and cut its deficit to 11-9 on back-to-back kills from Renae Watson. Both teams went back-and-forth and the Spartans kept chipping away as they took three straight points to pull with three of the Panthers at 21-18, but FIU was able to close the frame out on a 4-0 run to take the set 25-18.
After the Panthers opened the final frame on a 3-0 run, the Spartans were forced to spend the entire set fighting their way back. Down 12-6, the Spartans used a timeout to regroup and spark some moment as they came out of the timeout with two straight points and soon after used a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 14-12 and force a Panther timeout. Upstate threatened late in the frame, pulling within one point of FIU after kills from Nikki Deslatte and Wiedemann to make it 19-18, but FIU responded with another 3-0 run to go up 22-18 before taking the set 25-20.
Allie Hamsher posted her third double-double of the season with 14 assists and 11 digs, and Julia Gladhill made her first start at libero for the Spartans and collected 12 digs. Kelly Wiedemann put down a team-high 10 kills, and Breeana Gamueda swung for eight kills and a .368 hitting percentage.
Match Two: USC Upstate 0, Florida Gulf Coast 3
The Eagles came out swinging hard with three straight kills to open the match and eventually built up to a 15-3 lead. Upstate took advantage of five FGCU errors to reach nine points in the match and Zelasia Edwards put down a kill to make it 24-10 before the Eagles finished the set off 25-10.
The second set started out a lot closer as kills from Deslatte and Strobert evened things up at 7-7, but then the Eagles went on a 5-0 run to pull away. FGCU took the frame 25-16 after ending the set with six straight points.
The Eagles raced out to a 13-3 lead in the third frame and later took five straight points to push their lead to 20-7. Upstate didn't quit, however, as the Spartans went on a 7-1 run to cut their deficit to 22-15, but FGCU took the final three points of the set to clinch the match.
Gamueda paced the Spartans with seven kills in the match and Gladhill hauled in a career-high 16 digs.
UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans travel to Southern Illinois next weekend to compete in the Saluki Invitational. On Friday, Sept. 10, Upstate will face Alabama State at 11 a.m. EST followed by host Southern Illinois at 8 p.m. EST. Upstate will turn around and take on Eastern Illinois Saturday, Sept. 11 at 12 p.m. EST.
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