SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Reviving the I-26 Rivalry Series as it sought to secure its seeding for the impending Big South Volleyball Championship, USC Upstate volleyball locked up its best conference regular season finish in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) Tuesday, outlasting UNC Asheville in a five-set battle at the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
Behind the strength of its floor defense—something on display throughout the team's final homestand—Upstate dug up a program-record 120 balls Tuesday afternoon, recording a program-record single-match dig total for the second time this season. Five Spartans ended the evening scooping double-digit balls, each registering double-figures in the category picking up 14-plus balls.
 
Freshman setter Kamyla Vega David pushed Upstate to its five-set victory behind her standout double-double, her 17^th of the season, as she tallied a career-high 30 digs and career-best 55 assists, crossing over the 25-digs and 50-assist plateaus for the first time in her career.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 3; UNC Asheville 2 (21-25; 25-19; 25-19; 21-25; 15-13)
Records: USC Upstate (12-14; 7-6 Big South); UNC Asheville (11-10; 5-8 Big South)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
Fighting to close out the regular season with momentum heading into the upcoming Big South Volleyball Championship, Upstate used every available point as it faced its 10^th fifth set of the season and its third match ending with a 15-13 fifth set margin. The Spartans came out on the right side of the scoring margin in the final stanza for the first time this season Tuesday as it also snapped an 11-match losing streak when dropping the first set with its gutsy performance.
 
The Spartan floor defense averaged 24.0 digs per set against UNC Asheville en route to the program's D1-era single-match record 120 digs, a total tied for the third-most in a five-set match in the NCAA this season. Heading the quintet of players with double-figure digs, Vega David upped 30 balls, the second Spartan to post the total in a box score this season.
 
Redshirt senior defensive specialist Caroline Cleveland scooped 20 balls, joining Vega David as Spartans digging 20-plus balls. Just shy of the 20-dig plateau, junior right-side hitter Savannah Page registered a career-best 19 digs with senior libero Julia Gladhill and freshman defensive specialist Hannah Campbell recording 15 and 14 digs, respectively.
 
Complementing her defensive total, Page tied for the Upstate lead with 14 kills against the Bulldogs as she secured her fifth double-double of the season, recording one for the third straight match. Junior middle blocker Ady O'Grady joined Page with 14 kills with graduate student outside hitter Allison Palmi offering 13 kills and senior outside hitter Ashleigh Nicoll adding 12 kills.
 
Up Next for the Spartans
Hitting the court for the final time in the regular season, USC Upstate heads to Asheville to close the 2024 iteration of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry Series on the volleyball court. First serve of Saturday's match is set for 2 p.m. ET.
 
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