HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Embarking on the team's longest road trip of the season, USC Upstate volleyball is returning home with a win in hand as the Spartans swept host Alabama A&M by scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 26-24 Tuesday night.
 
Leading to the victory, Upstate received strong performances in many different facets of the game, holding the Bulldogs to a negative hitting percentage—the first time the Spartans had held their opponent to a negative hitting efficiency since Oct. 23, 2021.
 
For the first time since Aug. 28, 2015, the Spartans saw a player serve up seven-plus aces as freshman right-side hitter/setter Savannah Page landed a career-best seven aces, the most since Shannon Weiss tallied seven against UNC Asheville in 2015. Page also paced Upstate, earning seven of the team's eight aces in the match.
 
Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Ashleigh Nicoll posted her third straight double-digit kill match, putting up a match-best 10 kills, doing so while hitting .217. Behind Nicoll in kills, senior right-side hitter Briana Strobert recorded six kills, hitting .263.
 
Leading Upstate to a .235 team hitting percentage, Page and junior setter Emma McElveen passed out 14 and 12 assists apiece.
 
On the defensive side of the match, freshman libero Jaci Drinnon led the Upstate floor defense with a team-high 11 digs with Nicoll's seven digs marking the next highest Spartan total. At the net, Upstate recorded 4.5 total blocks, collecting 4.0 or more blocks in all 10 matches this season.
 
UP Next for the Spartans
The Spartans next return to the Upstate for a match with regional foe Furman to continue the team's three-game non-conference week of action. Upstate meets the Paladins in Greenville Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
 
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