Box Score FLORENCE, S.C. – In a battle of regionally-ranked teams, regionally 10th-ranked Francis Marion claimed a 3-1 (27-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18) Peach Belt Conference victory over regionally eighth-ranked USC Aiken at the Smith University Center.
Francis Marion (17-10, 5-7 PBC) opened up its win over USC Aiken (17-10, 6-5 PBC) on Saturday by claiming a hard-fought 27-25 win in game one. In the second game, the Pacers bounced back with a 25-21 win.
The score tied 1-1 after two sets, Francis Marion would then claim a 25-23 win in game three and a 25-18 victory in game four to take the 3-1 match victory.
USC Aiken concluded its loss to Francis Marion on Saturday hitting .082 as a team. Francis Marion hit .147 as a team in the win over the Pacers.
USC Aiken's Shannon Byers (Morristown, Minn./Faribault HS) and Ashley Diedrich (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips HS) both claimed double-doubles in the loss to Francis Marion. Both had 11 kills with Diedrich leading all Pacers with 19 digs. Byers had 12 digs in the match.
Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst HS) claimed 12 digs in the match, while Claire Patten (Boulder, Colo./Mercer) finished with 11 digs.
Sheila Walsh and Alex Petock paced the USC Aiken offense. Walsh (Fort Mill, S.C./Nation Ford HS) ended the match with a team-best 20 assists. Petock (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge HS) collected 17 assists in the Pacer loss.
Jessica Imbimbo was the top performer for Francis Marion in its win over the Pacers. She finished the Patriot win with 15 kills and 24 digs.
USC Aiken will next welcome Lander to the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The match is the first of a regular season-closing three straight home matches for USC Aiken.
