AIKEN, S.C. – The regionally ninth-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team was unable to knock off regionally second-ranked Flagler in a 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25) loss to the Saints on Friday evening at the Convocation Center.

USC Aiken (18-11, 7-6 PBC) closed out its loss to Flagler (19-9, 11-2 PBC) hitting .142 as a team. Flagler hit .211 as a team in its win over the Pacers. 

Flagler opened the match by taking a 25-19 victory in the first set. 

Down 21-17 to the Saints in the second set, USC Aiken would rally for a 25-23 win in game two. 

Flagler would then claim a 25-16 win in the third set.

In the fourth set, Flagler was ahead 20-15 at one point in the set. The Pacers would not go down without a fight though, forcing the set into extra points before the Saints emerged with a 27-25 win to acquire the 3-1 match victory.

Ashley Diedrich (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips HS) led two Pacers with double-digit kills with 12. Danika Maggard (Maize, Kan./Cowley College) was the only other Pacer with double-digit kills with 11. 

Ashley Farwell (Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest-Rolesville HS) paced the Pacer attack in the match with a team-best 24 assists. Farwell claimed a double-double in the match as she also collected 15 digs. 

Four Pacers claimed double-digit digs in total in the match with Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst HS) leading the way with a team-high 24 digs.

Shannon Byers (Morristown, Minn./Faribault HS) was not far behind her with 22 digs of her own. Claire Patten (Boulder, Colo./Mercer) was the final Pacer with double-digit digs with 13. 

Hannah Tierney (Winchester, Va./James Wood HS) led all Pacers in the match with three blocks. 

Emilee Taylor led a trio of Saints with double-digit kills with 18. She also had 13 digs to claim a double-double. 

Flagler's Casey Gnann led all the in the match with 34 digs. Flagler's Amelia Morgan finished the match with a match-high 50 assists.

USC Aiken's regular-season will next close with the Pacers playing host to Armstrong at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10. The Armstrong match will serve as Senior Day for the Pacers.