GREENSBORO, N.C. – Opening the much-anticipated 2024 season, USC Upstate volleyball displayed its grit and toughness as it responded after dropping the first set, battling Missouri State through the remainder of the four-set match to open the UNCG Spartan Classic.
The Bears took the first set by a mark of 25-15 before the Spartans fought back to push set two to extra points (24-26). Building upon its momentum, Upstate captured the third set 25-22 before nearly getting Missouri State in the fourth set, ultimately, dropping the stanza 25-21.
Game Information
Score: Missouri State 3; USC Upstate 1 (25-15; 26-24; 22-25; 25-21)
Records: USC Upstate (0-1; 0-0 Big South); Missouri State (1-0; 0-0 MVC)
Location: Fleming Gymnasium | Greensboro, N.C.
How It Happened
With the 2024 edition of the Spartan volleyball program making its debut as year two of the
Ali Skayhan-era commenced Friday, three Spartans fashioned stellar debuts.
Graduate student outside hitter
Allison Palmi (18) and redshirt freshman outside hitter
Bri Brathol (12) became the first debuting Spartans with 10 or more kills in their first match since Madison Haake in 2016. The match also marked the first since at least 2010 with two or more debuting Spartans with 10 or more kills in the same match.
Freshman setter
Kamyla Vega David passed out the most assists by a debuting Upstate setter since 2012—Allie Hamsher (19)—as she picked up 26 apples. The trio of Palmi, Brathol, and Vega David each picked up eight digs apiece, each nearing a double-double in their first matches in a Spartan uniform.
Complementing the Spartans' outside hitters, the right-side hitter duo of junior
Savannah Page and fifth-year senior
Ali Jansen registered eight kills apiece, combining for 16 kills while hitting .282 as a unit.
Upstate pressured the service game throughout the match, recording 11 service aces to reach double-digit winners in a match for the first time since Nov. 4, 2023 against Winthrop. Senior libero
Julia Gladhill and Brathol each landed three aces with Gladhill's total accompanying a team-high 19 digs.
Recording four team total blocks in the fourth set—more than doubling its total to that point in the match—Upstate tallied 7.0 total blocks in the match. Leading the way for the Spartans, junior middle blocker
Ady O'Grady turned away four shots (one solo block and three block assists) with junior middle blocker
Alona Clinansmith, Jansen, and Page each registering three block assists apiece.
Notable
- Friday's season-opening match is the first since at least 2010 to feature multiple Spartans recording 10 or more kills in their debut matches. Allison Palmi (18) and Bri Brathol (12) became the first Spartans since Madison Haake in 2016 with double-digit kills in their debut match.
- With 26 assists in her USC Upstate debut, Kamyla Vega David recorded the most helpers by a Spartan setter in her debut match since Allie Hamsher passed out 19 assists in her debut in 2021.
- Picking up a team-best 19 balls against Missouri State, Julia Gladhill recorded her 12th straight match with double-figure digs. With three service aces versus the Bears, she also passed 50 winners in her career.
- Recording four total blocks, Ady O'Grady broke a tie with Kayla McAvoy for ninth on the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) leaderboard for career blocks. She also surpassed 175 career blocks in the match.
Up Next for the Spartans
USC Upstate returns to action at the UNCG Spartan Classic Friday afternoon, competing against another first-time opponent. First serve between the Spartans and Robert Morris is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET.
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