CHARLESTON, S.C. – Continuing a three-match road swing with a trip to South Carolina's Lowcountry, USC Upstate volleyball pushed its winning streak to three as the Spartans completed a furious comeback to down Charleston Southern (19-25, 25-22, 25-16, and 25-23), including taking the final four points of the match to secure victory.
After recording just one block in the opening set, Upstate fueled its comeback with 11.0 total team blocks over its three set victories, holding the Buccaneers to a .104 team hitting efficiency (38-25-125) over the final three sets. Friday's match also marked the third match with 12-plus total team blocks during Big South Conference play.
While holding their opponent to a .104 team hitting percentage over the final three sets, the Spartans' offense found its footing, fashioning a .259 team hitting percentage (37-9-108) over the same portion of the match. Pushing the team's hitting efficiency over .250 during the three set victories, Upstate's middle blockers and right-sides posted a .375 hitting efficiency (31-4-72) over the final three sets and hit .323 (39-9-93) over the entire match, exploiting the Charleston Southern defense in the win.
Leading the Upstate attackers, junior middle blocker
Nikki Deslatte registered a career-high 12 kills, posting a match-best .478 hitting percentage (12-1-23) while adding five total blocks. Tying Deslatte for the team lead in kills was senior right-side hitter
Briana Strobert recorded 12 kills (.273; 12-3-33) and added six total blocks with the pairing combining for 29.5 points.
Finishing just shy of double-figure kills were freshman middle blocker
Ady O'Grady and junior right-side hitter
Ali Jansen who added eight and seven kills, respectively with O'Grady adding a career-high 13 digs and six total blocks and Jansen finishing the match with a .353 hitting efficiency (7-1-17).
As a team, the Spartans posted a .207 team hitting percentage (50-19-150) as the team has hit .200 or better in each match of the team's three-match winning streak. Running the team's offense, freshman setter
Savannah Page passed out a team-high 26 assists while junior setter dished out 18 helpers.
Defensively, Upstate's floor defense scooped up 73 digs with a pair of Spartans reaching double-digits. Leading the defense, sophomore libero
Julia Gladhill totaled 14 digs with O'Grady joining her in double-figures with 13 digs—a career-high total. Sophomore defensive specialist
Sami Allen and Page neared double-digits with nine digs apiece as Page nearly recorded her third career double-double.
UP Next for the Spartans
Wrapping up a three-match road week, Upstate finishes the weekend's Big South action with a trip to Winthrop Saturday afternoon. The Spartans and Eagles are set for a 2 p.m. ET first serve.
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