Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Freshman Veronica Seidle had a match-high 14 kills to go with four blocks, nine digs, and two service aces to lead the USC Aiken Lady Pacers (7-1) to a 3-0 blanking of rival Augusta State (1-7) in a rare non-conference volleyball showdown in the final match of the USC Aiken Tournament on Saturday evening. USCA has now won eight of their last nine against the Lady Jaguars and improve their commanding lead in the series to 24-6.

With their sixth-straight win, the Lady Pacers equal the best start in the school's NCAA history (dating back to 1991) when the 2000 team opened 7-1.

Senior Jenny Lloyd tallied 13 kills on the evening as she moved into sixth place all-time on the Peach Belt Conference's career kills list. With 1,266 kills, Lloyd passes Sofie Hakansson (1999-2002) of Armstrong Atlantic State by one kill. During the weekend, Lloyd passed Jayme Hodges (1994-97) to move into second place on the school's all-time list, trailing Kim Merrill (1994-97) who is also the PBC record holder. 

After both teams opened up nip and tuck in game one, a 6-0 run on the serve of freshman Mandy Gerolstein created some space for the Lady Pacers at 13-7. A pair of kills by Halley Flynn cut the margin to single digits at 22-13, but a 5-0 spurt allowed the Lady Pacers to pull away to the 30-18 win. 

Gerolstein had eight kills and five blocks for 13.5 points. Laura Williams added nine kills and 12.0 points. Seidle's 18.0 points was a match-high along with her .565 hitting percentage. 

Katie DeGreeff paced the Lady Jags with 10 kills and 13 digs. As a team, ASU hit just .097 for the match. 

In game two, USCA got its blocking game going with three in a span of four points as the Lady Pacers used a 7-1 run to open up an early 9-3 advantage. For the match, USCA had 9.0 team blocks. After a DeGreeff kill trimmed the margin to 12-8, another 4-0 spurt capped by a pair of Lloyd kills doubled up the Lady Jags at 16-8. Trailing 25-13, ASU rattled off four straight points to pull within 25-17, but the Lady Pacers picked up the 30-20 win. 

Game three proved to be a battle as the resilient Lady Jags crawled their way back in it. A 9-2 run to open the game by USCA was later negated by a 6-1 ASU spurt as they pulled within two at 10-8. A pair of Williams kills book ended a 4-0 run as USCA seemed as if it was ready to take control. But three hitting errors by the Lady Pacers fueled a 4-0 counter run by ASU to draw them within one at 16-15. 

Trailing 26-24, a kill and an ace by Ashley Abrams knotted the game at 26-26. But Seidle slammed three kills and junior libero Karen McClellan registered a service ace as the Lady Pacers won 30-27. As a team, USCA served up nine aces compared to the Lady Jags four. 

USC Aiken's next action will be Friday and Saturday, September 10-11 when they travel to Jefferson City, Tenn. to compete in the Carson-Newman Tournament. The Lady Pacers will square off against Mars Hill and Converse on Friday before battling the host Carson-Newman Lady Eagles and Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. Carson-Newman is the only blemish on the Lady Pacers record thus far in 2004. Augusta State will compete in the AASU Tournament also this coming weekend. 

Short Box Score (Match)
Augusta State vs. USC Aiken (Sep 04, 2004 at Aiken, S.C.)
USC Aiken def. Augusta State 30-18,30-20,30-27

Augusta State (1-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - DeGreeff, Katie 10-0-0; Flynn, Halley 8-0-2; Abrams, Ashley 6-1-0; Farr, Danielle 3-1-1; Elder, Brooke 2-0-1; Lowes, Jessica 2-0-0; LeGrand, Meredith 0-2-0; Totals 31-4-3.0. (Assists) - Lowes, Jessica 26. (Dig leaders) - DeGreeff, Katie 13; Lowes, Jessica 12; LeGrand, Meredith 11.

USC Aiken (7-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Seidle, Veronica 14-2-4; Lloyd, Jenny 13-1-0; Williams, Laura 9-0-4; Gerolstein, Mandy 8-2-5; Deardorff, Missy 6-0-1; Dalitz, Rachel 2-1-0; Lane, Jessica 0-2-0; McClellan, Karen 0-1-0; Totals 52-9-9.0. (Assists) - Dalitz, Rachel 36. (Dig leaders) - McClellan, Karen 16; Lloyd, Jenny 12; Seidle, Veronica 9; Dalitz, Rachel 8.

Site: Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
Date: Sep 04, 2004 Attend: 55 Time: 1:12