BASH IN THE BORO
August 26, 2022 | 4:00 p.m. ET
USC Upstate (0-0; 0-0 Big South) vs. Alcorn State (0-0; 0-0 SWAC)
August 27, 2022 | 10:00 a.m./6:30 p.m.
USC Upstate (0-0; 0-0 Big South) vs. Stetson (0-0; 0-0 ASUN)
USC Upstate (0-0; 0-0 Big South) at Georgia Southern (0-0; 0-0 Sun Belt)
Hanner Fieldhouse | Statesboro, Ga.
 
TV: ESPN+ (vs. Georgia Southern only) | Via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN App
 
Series History
vs. Alcorn State: Upstate and Alcorn State have met one previous time on the court, matching up at the Comfort Inn & Suites Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Aug. 25, 2012. The Spartans swept the lone meeting with the Braves, improving to 2-1 on the young 2012 season.
 
vs. Stetson: A matchup of two former ASUN foes, Upstate and Stetson have shown down 20 times in the two program's histories, most recently during Upstate's final season in the ASUN in 2017. Overall, the Spartans lead the series with the Hatters 12-8 and have taken four of the past five meetings.
 
vs. Georgia Southern: Returning to a Georgia Southern-hosted tournament for the third time in five seasons, Upstate and Georgia Southern will meet for the fifth time Saturday. The Eagles have taken each meeting in the series, including sweeping the Spartans during last season's GATA Challenge.
 
Preseason Overview
The Spartans enter their final preparations for the 2022 season selected fourth in the Big South preseason poll, the program's highest preseason ranking in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.). The ranking comes after Upstate tied its highest conference finish in the D1 era, finishing fifth in the Big South last season behind a D1 era record 10 league wins and 14 overall wins—the second most in the program's D1 era.
 
Last season, Upstate ranked among the top service teams in the country, leading the Big South and ranking eighth in the NCAA in service aces per set (1.98), landing 206 winners over 104 sets. The Spartans also ranked second in the Big South in blocking, averaging 2.12 blocks per set (221.0 blocks over 104 sets).
 
Seven Spartans return from the 2021 season with senior right-side hitter Bri Strobert leading the group as the team's returning leader in kills (173) and total blocks (89). Supplementing the team's seven returners are 15 newcomers comprised of five transfers and 10 freshmen.
 
Quotable (Junior Middle Blocker Nikki Deslatte)
On the feeling in the locker room with the season nearly here…
"I think we're all just finally ready to start playing again. We're all very excited for this tournament out in Georgia. We know it's going to be a good one and really push us to our full potential. I think this is going to be a good opportunity to see where we are as a team and see where we need to go to finish up top in the conference again."
 
On the blending and connection of the team's veterans and newcomers…
"It's been really good. We all get along really well and I think there is a lot of team chemistry going on already and we've only been started for about two weeks. We're already in a great place and we can always go up."
 
UP Next for the Spartans
Following the season-opening Bash in the Boro, Upstate returns to Spartanburg for a three-game weekend tournament within the Hub City. The Spartans take on the Wofford Invitational, competing against Appalachian State, Eastern Kentucky, and Wofford.
 
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