HIGH POINT, N.C. – Engaging in a battle befitting of the team's 2024 season, USC Upstate volleyball offered a gritty effort in the opening round of the 2024 Big South Volleyball Championship before ultimately seeing its historic season come to a close with a heartbreaking five-set decision against No. 6 seed Presbyterian.
 
Facing the Blue Hose for the third time this season, the two clubs locked in a back-and-forth affair, seeing the second straight match in the series head to a decisive fifth set. In a match that saw the sides trade set victories, the Spartans twice forced extra points—doing so in the first and fifth sets—in a pair of Blue Hose set victories.
 
Game Information
Score: No. 6 Presbyterian 3; No. 3 USC Upstate 2 (26-24; 20-25; 25-22; 21-25; 16-14)
Records: USC Upstate (13-15; 8-6 Big South); Presbyterian (10-18; 5-9 Big South)
Location: Millis Center | High Point, N.C.
 
How It Happened
Behind what has become a hallmark for the club in the 2024 season, Upstate's floor defense proved its strength Friday evening as the group registered 100-plus digs for the third time this season. In the final match of her career, senior libero Julia Gladhill saved her best effort for her last match, digging a program-record 37 balls against the Blue Hose. Her total stands as the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) single-match record, tying Erin Hagemann (Sep. 9, 2005, versus Eckerd) and Brittany Harry (Nov. 11, 2005, versus Francis Marion) for the program mark.
 
Joining Gladhill, three additional Spartans ended the evening with double-digit digs, leading the defense to its 106 total digs. Freshman setter Kamyla Vega David—the 2024 Big South Freshman of the Year—collected her third straight 20-plus dig effort, closing the night with 22 balls scooped. Redshirt senior defensive specialist Caroline Cleveland and junior right-side hitter Savannah Page dug 16 and 12 balls, respectively, rounding out the quartet of Spartans with double-figure digs.
 
Complementing her dig total, Vega David passed out 48 assists collecting the 19^th double-double of her initial collegiate campaign. Page supplemented her dig total with 10 kills, registering her sixth double-double of the year, the 12^th of her career.
 
Two Spartans joined Page with 10 or more kills as fifth-year senior outside hitter Ali Jansen and junior middle blocker Ady O'Grady closed the trio. Jansen led Upstate with a match-best 15 terminations, crafting her total behind a .240 hitting percentage, while O'Grady totaled 10 kills.
 
At the service line, Upstate landed a season-best 12 service aces, eclipsing the 10-ace plateau for the fourth time this season—the second time against the Blue Hose. Gladhill landed a career-high six winners to pace the servers with O'Grady adding three.
 
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