Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--USC Aiken fell in the opening round of the 2003 Peach Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament today, 3-1, to Armstrong Atlantic State in Spartanburg, S.C. The Lady Pirates, the tournament's number three seed, won by scores of 30-19, 30-23, 26-30 and 30-26. The sixth seeded Lady Pacers conclude 2003 with a 13-21 record, while AASU improves to 21-12 and will meet USC Spartanburg in tonight's first semifinal match.

After falling behind two games to none the Lady Pacers fought back to win game three and nearly pushed the Lady Pirates to a decisive game five. Trailing 24-14 in the fourth game, USCA put together six straight points, part of a 12-3 run, to cut the deficit to four. Junior Jessica Lane's two service aces accounted for two of the six points. 

"We played real hard throughout the entire match," said USC Aiken Head Coach Will Condon. "I was proud of the effort throughout the whole match."

A Lady Pirate kill put an end to the 6-0 run and two USCA attack errors allowed Armstrong Atlantic to extend the lead back to six points, 27-21. 

After a service error by AASU and four straight USC Aiken kills, two by Amy Long and one each by Jenny Lloyd and Laura Williams, the Lady Pacers found themselves within one point at 27-26. Armstrong closed the door with three straight kills to end the match and USCA's season.

"Everyone done a spectacular job playing their roles," said Condon. "It was a real team effort, from top to bottom."

Armstrong Atlantic looked well on its way to the semifinal round when the Lady Pirates jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over USC Aiken following 17 attack errors and a .028 and .200 attack percentages by the Lady Pacers in the first two games.

USC Aiken put the breaks on Armstrong's quick trip into the next round by winning game three. The Lady Pirates scored first but USCA answered with three straight and never trailed through the rest of the game. Lloyd's service ace gave USC Aiken a 2-1 lead and another kill by Lane pushed the score to 9-6. Lloyd finished with 15 kills, which tied teammate Long for the match-high. 

Two kills by Long, sandwiched around a solo block by Lane, gave the Lady Pacers a 15-10 advantage. Two AASU errors contributed to a 4-0 run that gave USC Aiken its biggest lead, 22-15. Two of Long's 15 kills accounted for the Lady Pacers final two points in the 30-26 win. The sophomore added 12 digs and two blocks.

The Lady Pirates looked to be back on track after racing out to a 6-1 lead in game four. Back-to-back kills by senior Helena Jantti and Lloyd cut the AASU advantage to three, 9-6, but a 7-2 run gave Armstrong its largest lead, 16-8. 

" We could have quit during game one and two, but we didn't," Condon said. "Our intensity was the highest it's been all season and we made Armstrong work for every point."

The Lady Pacers didn't quit and answered with their 12-3 run to get back in the match.

Darcey Krug led Armstrong Atlantic with 11 kills. Candice Modlinski and Ashley Lavender added 10 kills each. Neither team hit well. USCA posted a .116 attack percentage compared to AASU's .170.

Lane finished the match with five kills, two aces, eight digs and three blocks. Williams added 11 kills while Jantti gave the Lady Pacers a match-high six blocks.

Condon will lose just one senior from this year's squad. Five freshmen received valuable playing time this year and along with six upperclassmen will look to lead USC Aiken to a winning season in 2004.