Box Score

AIKEN, S.C. - The regionally third-ranked USC Aiken volleyball team concluded the final match of the 2009 regular season with an important 3-1 regional win over the South Atlantic Conference's Newberry on Tuesday evening at the Convocation Center.

USC Aiken opened the match by racing out to a 25-20 win in the first set. The Pacers looked to take an easy win in the second game, but the Pacer offense stalled down the stretch in the game, eventually falling 25-19 to Newberry entering the halftime break.

The Pacers would rebound to take the next two games and the overall victory. USC Aiken garnered a hard fought two-point 25-23 victory in the third game before closing out the night with a 25-22 win in the fourth and final game.

The victory left the Pacers at .500 (15-15) in the 2009 season against NCAA Division II southeast regional opposition. The Pacers finished the regular season overall with a mark of 15-17.

Newberry ended its 2009 regular season campaign with an 18-15 record with the loss to the Pacers.

Freshman Shannon Byers (Morristown, Minn./Faribault) concluded the 2009 regular season with another top-notch performance. Byers just missed out on a double-double against Newberry with 18 kills and nine digs in the match. She also acquired two block assists.

Byers was the only Pacer with double-digit kills in the match, but a duo of Pacers finished with nine kills with Chelsey Kight (Charleston, S.C./West Ashley) and Lindsay Mortenson (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Santa Margartia Catholic) both registering nine kills. Mortenson also picked up four blocks in the match.

The Pacer setting tandem of Lauren Cedeno (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) and Whitney Tabbert (Stewardson, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg) both played strongly in the match. Cedeno concluded her efforts on Tuesday with 26 assists, while Tabbert chipped in with 17.

Pacer libero Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) was the catalyst for the Pacer defensive effort, recording a match-high 22 digs. She was one of two Pacers with double-digit digs with Ashley Farwell (Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest Rolesville) acquiring 10 in the match.

Lorena Maia was the only Newberry player to obtain double-digit kills, downing 16 in the four-set match. Brianna Blakely (16) and Kember Litchie (16) tied for the team lead in total digs in the loss to the Pacers.

USC Aiken will next participate in the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Volleyball Championship to be held this weekend (Nov. 13-15) at the Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C.

The 2009 Pacer volleyball team is the fifth seed in the 2009 PBC Volleyball Championship. The Pacers concluded their conference season in 2009 with a 5-9 record.

USC Aiken tied Lander for fifth place in the league standings. The two teams split their regular-season matches, but USC Aiken received the fifth seed due to their win over league regular season champion Flagler earlier in the year. The Pacers were the only team to defeat the Saints in PBC action in 2009.

USC Aiken will square off against fourth-seeded Montevallo in the quarterfinals of the 2009 PBC Volleyball Tournament at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13.

The event will mark the first time that the Pacers have hosted the tournament at the Convocation Center. It will be the third time overall that USC Aiken has hosted. USC Aiken also hosted the PBC Volleyball Tournament in 1994 and 2002. In the 18 years of PBC volleyball competition, the Pacers have won five PBC Tournament Titles (1991, 1992, 1996, 2006, 2007).

All of the action from the 2009 Volleyball Tournament will be available through the official tournament website on www.PacerSports.com. The official tournament website is: http://www.pacersports.com/sports/wvball/2009-10/2009_PBC_Tournament/09PBCTournamentHome

The website can be accessed by visiting the Peach Belt Conference website and USC Aiken's official athletic website.

All seven matches in the 2009 PBC Volleyball Championship will feature a free live webcast thanks to the Peach Belt Conference and Penn Atlantic. All the matches will also feature live stats. All the information and links is available on the official tournament website.