SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Playing in front of a raucous crowd of students from the local community, USC Upstate fed off the crowd as it battled Northern Arizona to close out the team's two-game homestand Thursday morning. The Spartans pushed the Lumberjacks in each of the match's four sets; however, the Lumberjacks captured victory.
 
Game Information
Score: Northern Arizona 3; USC Upstate 1 (20-25; 25-22; 25-22; 25-18)
Records: USC Upstate (6-5; 0-0 Big South); Northern Arizona (8-2; 0-0 Big Sky)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
Furthering the balance the program has displayed in recent matches across the box score, USC Upstate found itself with four attackers amassing double-figure kills, a feat accomplished for the first time this season. Middle blockers, freshman Kensley Haneline and senior Ady O'Grady, topped the quartet with 13 kills apiece. For Haneline, the match stands as her second straight leading Upstate with 13 terminations.
 
Rounding out the assembly of players with 10 or more kills, freshman outside hitter Summer Kohler and junior outside hitter Alyssa Hook produced 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Distributing the attempts for the Spartan offense, sophomore setter Kamyla Vega David passed out 46 assists, her fourth match with 40-plus apples this season.
 
Generating scoring from its defense, Upstate turned back eight Northern Arizona attack attempts, the team's third straight match with seven or more team total blocks. Haneline and Vega David tallied five total blocks apiece—Vega David's total tying a career high—while O'Grady added three.
 
Behind the block, freshman libero Sophia Overholt headlined the Spartans' back line, collecting a career-best 25 digs. The match marks the first since last season's finale to feature a Spartan digging 20 or more balls. Joining Overholt in double-figures, sophomore defensive specialist Hannah Campbell recorded 12 digs.
 
Notable

• Picking up 25 digs against Northern Arizona, Sophia Overholt is the first Spartan since Julia Gladhill and Kamyla Vega David on Nov. 22, 2024, to register 20-plus digs in a match. She's the first Upstate player with 25-plus digs in a match since Gladhill's 37 digs versus Presbyterian on Nov. 22, 2024.
• Vega David, behind her 46 assists versus the Lumberjacks, pushed her career assist total to 1351, moving her into fifth on the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) career assist leaderboard. Thursday, she passed former teammate Kayla Spangler (1313) for the spot.
• Recording three total blocks—one solo block and two block assists—Ady O'Grady claimed a pair of spots on the program's D1 era career block assist leaderboard, moving past Nikki Deslatte (232) and Gloria Ikenegbu (233) Thursday. Her 234 career block assists rank her third in the era.
• Thursday's match marked the first to see four Spartans with 10 or more kills since Nov. 12, 2024, versus UNC Asheville.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
The Spartans' three-game weekend continues Friday evening as Upstate makes the trip to the state capital for a meeting with South Carolina. First serve is set for 6 p.m. ET against the Gamecocks.
 
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