SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the middle match of the team's five-match homestand, USC Upstate volleyball showed its toughness as it battled through one of its most tightly-contested matches of the season with all four sets seeing both sides push scores above the 20-point threshold. Ultimately, the Spartans fight fell short as the team dropped Friday's match to Winthrop Friday evening.
 
For the first time in six matches and for the seventh time this season, Upstate's gutsy floor defense scooped up 90-plus digs, concluding Friday's match with 94 balls dug as four Spartans registered double-digit digs, three of who recorded 17-plus digs. The team's 23.5 digs per set against the Eagles stands as the team's second-best per set average in the category this season.
 
Game Information
Score: Winthrop 3; USC Upstate 1 (25-22; 25-22; 21-25; 25-20)
Records: USC Upstate (10-14; 5-6 Big South); Winthrop (12-9; 9-2 Big South)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
Totaling 90-plus digs in a four-set match for the first time since Oct. 8, 2021, the program's last victory over Winthrop, USC Upstate turned to its defense as it sought victory Friday night. Four Spartans finished the evening with double-figure digs, including three with 17-plus digs, as Upstate tallied 94 total. Senior libero Julia Gladhill captured her 12^th 20-plus dig match of the season, leading the Spartans with a team-high 26 balls scooped.
 
Freshman setter Kamyla Vega David ended the night just shy of 20 digs, turning in 19 with redshirt senior defensive specialist Caroline Cleveland and junior right-side hitter Savannah Page rounded out the quartet with 10-plus digs, picking up 17 and 13, respectively. Just shy of double figures with nine digs was freshman defensive specialist Hannah Campbell.
 
Page and Vega David each recorded a double-double, giving Upstate three consecutive matches with multiple players registering a double-double. Page fashioned her double-double as she complemented her dig total with a team-high-tying 13 kills while Vega David's double-double came behind her 19 digs and 42 assists.
 
Joining Page with a team-high 13 kills, junior middle blocker Ady O'Grady fashioned her kill count behind a team-high .235 hitting efficiency. Senior outside hitter Ashleigh Nicoll ended just shy of double-digit kills, putting home nine.
 
At the net, Upstate turned away seven Winthrop attack attempts, posting 7.0 or more total team blocks for the third straight match. O'Grady led the block with four total blocks, one solo and three assists.
 
Up Next for the Spartans
Closing out the season's penultimate weekend of the regular season, Upstate is back at the G.B. Hodge Center Saturday afternoon. The Spartans host Gardner-Webb for a 4 p.m. ET first serve.
 
Connect with the Spartans 
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics 
Twitter | @UpstateVB | @UpstateSpartans 
Instagram | @UpstateVB | @UpstateSpartans 
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans
 
INVEST IN CHAMPIONS - Join the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) and enjoy enhanced benefits for your support of all USC Upstate programs! Make your gift today, click here!