MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Jessica Loper finished with a team-high 10 kills and the University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team bested Montevallo 3-2 (25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 21-25, 16-14) in Peach Belt Conference volleyball action at BankTrust Arena on Wednesday evening.

It was the second thriller between the two teams in the last 12 days. USC Aiken (10-12, 4-4 PBC) downed Montevallo (8-12, 3-5 PBC), 3-1, at the Convocation Center on Oct. 1.

USC Aiken began Wednesday's match by racing out to a 12-4 lead in the first set. The Pacers would be able to hold off the Falcons for the rest of the set to emerge with a 25-20 win in the first game.

In the second set, Montevallo raced out to an early 8-2 lead. USC Aiken would then proceed to score 13 of the next 19 points to take the lead at 15-14. The Pacers would continue their momentum the rest of the set to garner a 25-21 win in the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Montevallo would take the momentum from the Pacers in the third set as they raced out to a 25-18 victory. In the fourth set, Montevallo earned a 25-21 win to force a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, USC Aiken jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. A few minutes later, USC Aiken's lead was still three points at 13-10. Montevallo would then score four of the next five points to even the match at 14-14.

The Pacers were undeterred as they reeled off the next two points to take a 16-14 win in the fifth set.

In a match that featured a balanced Pacer attack, Loper (McDonough, Ga./Eagles Landing Christian) led all Pacers with the 10 kills. She also had five blocks.

Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) led three Pacers with double-digit digs with a match-high 20. Shannon Byers (Morristown, Minn./Faribault) collected 16 digs and eight kills.

Pacer setter Ashley Farwell (Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest-Rolesville) obtained another double-double in the match with 26 assists and 11 digs.

Manyi Ati of Montevallo led all in the match with 20 kills. She was one of two Falcons to record double-digit kills with Michelle Walker finishing her evening with 12.

Montevallo's Rachel Wotitzky led four Falcons with double-digit digs with 18.

Overall in the match, USC Aiken hit .120 as a team. Montevallo finished the match hitting .174.

The Falcons owned a 17-9 total team block advantage.

The win over Montevallo is USC Aiken's final match for 10 days. The Pacers will next travel to Greenwood, S.C. to play in Lander's annual volleyball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 22. The Pacers will first play Erskine at 10 a.m. before closing its final regular season tournament of the year with a 2 p.m. match against region power Lees-McRae.