Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 AIKEN, SC--Rollins College (11-15) overcame a 2-0 deficit to hand USC Aiken (11-15) a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the unofficial championship match of the 2003 South Region Challenge on Saturday night at "The Courthouse" in Aiken, SC. Both teams entered the match at 3-0. Games scores were 23-30, 21-30, 30-25, 32-30, and 15-11. USCA finished the tournament at 3-1 while Rollins remained unblemished at 4-0.

"I'm really proud of the effort we gave all weekend," said USCA head coach Will Condon. "And I believe this is a real positive turning point in our season." 

Through two games, the Lady Pacers were in command of the match. In game one, following a kill by freshman setter Cheryl Barcas, Jessica Lane served up three straight aces as the Lady Pacers shocked the Tars 4-0. Rollins battled back quickly to get within one at 5-4, but another 4-0 run on a pair of kills from Jenny Lloyd and then Laura Williams pushed the advantage back to 9-4. Back-to-back aces by Amy Long stretched the lead to 19-9 as the Lady Pacers cruised to the 30-23 win. 

"The first two games of the match, we played better than we had all season," said Condon. "Unfortunately, we could not make the plays to finish the match. Rollins is a good team with some really great hitters. The difference was they were making the plays when they needed them and we were not."

Lloyd tallied 26 kills for the match and finished the four-match tournament with 87, an average of 5.11 per game. Lloyd, already the Peach Belt Conference leader and ranked 10th in Division II in kills per game, added nine digs and four blocks. Barcas tallied 48 assists and 17 digs while Williams had nine kills and two blocks. 

In game two, USCA led 6-5 when the Lady Pacers went on a 9-0 run, all on the serve of senior Helena Jantti. During the span, Jantti recorded three service aces to finish with a career-high five on the night. She also added six blocks and eight kills. Leading 15-5, USCA won game two with ease 30-21. 

The tide began to turn, however, in game three when the Tars got their blocking game going. Back-to-back blocks capped a 6-0 run, their longest of the match thus far, and extended Rollins' lead to 12-8. The Lady Pacers tried to fight back, but could not string a run together. The two teams alternated points from 17-14 until 21-18. Tied 25-25, Whitney Jones served up an ace and a 5-0 run as Rollins won 30-25. 

Game four again witnessed a large lead for USCA early on. Trailing 10-4, the Tars began to chip away at the lead and eventually tie the game at 17-17 on Allison North's kill. North finished with 16 kills and five blocks. Teammate Kate Ferris had 17 kills and eight blocks. 

An ace by Jantti made it 29-28 with USCA serving for the match, but Rollins got a crucial kill to deadlock the score at 29-29. A Long and Lane block tied it at 30-30 before Rollins finished off the game to win 32-30. 

In the decisive game five, USCA trailing 6-5 before a key 5-0 run decided the game and match. Trailing 11-6, the Lady Pacers battled back with two at 13-11 forcing Rollins to burn at timeout, but came up short in the end 15-11. 

"If you would have told me would go 3-1 before the tournament started, I don't know if I would have believed you," said Condon. "But hopefully we can use our success from this tournament to go into the second half of the conference play." 

USC Aiken will host Francis Marion on Friday, October 24 at 7:00 PM. The 2003 South Region Challenge All-Tournament team is listed below. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Meagan LeBlanc (Rollins)
Kate Ferris (Rollins)
Allison North (Rollins)
Amy Long (USC Aiken)
Jenny Lloyd (USC Aiken)
Brittany Harry (USC Spartanburg)
Erin Kopec (USC Spartanburg)
Jessica Chick (Lynn)
Jen Paroda (UNC Pembroke)
Lezlie Logan (Francis Marion)
Kristy Hartley (Nova Southeastern)